In a recent Q&A with Matt Cutts, several SEOs on a sort of ‘watch list’ questioned how what they did was any different then what Google itself has been known to do from time to time.
Watch list, you say? Apparently so. Google has been stereotyping SEOs as having less than stellar intent when it comes to acquirring links, and points the finger at anyone who gets links and doesn’t no-follow them – even if they were obtained through similar actions to what Google has done!
The most glaring incident happened when Google gave away a bunch of Androids – the current term is now ‘Oprahing’, after the TV hosts habit of doing mass giveaways on her show. The Androids almost all ended up on EBay, auctioning for over $700, and Google got a zillion free links back to Android. Were these free or paid?
Google says they were free, because they had ‘no idea’ that the links would come flooding in like that. They didn’t give away the phones with ‘intent’. In similar situations, however, SEOs have been singled out for giveaways that resulted in links, and that is what is causing the uproar.
Many SEOs actually call themselves grey hat, and know they play with fire – they get enjoyment out of pushing the envelope and are willing to take a hand slap now and then. They are infuriated now, however, because Matt Cutts said this:
“If you’ve got a bunch of reporters, you’re hoping you’ll get coverage. You’re probably not hoping for keyword rich anchor text. It’s about people who do it deliberately for links. That’s a higher risk endeavor. Just to be absolutely clear, you can do whatever you want on your site. It’s your choice. But they use a litmus test at Google to choose what they display in their index. If you want to show up in their index, that’s what they keep in mind.”
A lot of people felt that this was a singling out of SEOs, unfairly stacking the deck against them, since anything they do can be construed as ‘intent’ to gain links. Is this ‘profiling’ really fair of Google? Should they scrutinize and penalize SEOs for copying proven tactics Google itself uses?
Tags: Android, black hat, Google, paid links, SEO