Purchased links

[ColoradoHomeHelper]

I read allot of stuff about how google hates purchased links. Im wondering how do they know what is purchased and what isn't?

I understand "sponsored link" is probably a give away is there anything else to watch out for?

[JennSellsFast]

I think thats why many directory sites call them "featured" links now instead of "sponsered links". It is impossible for Google to know exactly which are natural and which are paid. They can only filter out so much.

[Ryan Ward]

I have purchased 2 links and I won't put any on my homepage. I think it looks a bit messy. I won't ever purchase another link as I don't think it is necessary. You just need good quality, relevant links. Some may tell you otherwise. For my site's age I think it is doing pretty well. Also, you don't get much from forum links as they have been devalued so your real weight comes from relevant content links from high quality sites.

[drewnick]

I just bought a footer on 17,000 pages - PR4 - PR0 - a real estate site. We'll see what happens! Even if it's one "vote" it will make my backlinks improve to the point of making it harder for folks to use site explorer on me.

[Micheal Pannell Realtor]

where did you buy them at. i have some paid link on articles from got links. but i havent really seen anything from them i dont think

[drewnick]

A source is www.textlinkads.com or www.textlinkbrokers.com - this is an expensive and risky proposition I don't necessarily recommend.

[webmaster]

And you don't think this will raise a flag with Google?

I just bought a footer on 17,000 pages - PR4 - PR0 - a real estate site. We'll see what happens! Even if it's one "vote" it will make my backlinks improve to the point of making it harder for folks to use site explorer on me.

[drewnick]

And you don't think this will raise a flag with Google?

I'm not too worried about it... obviously! My belief is that they will NOT penalize sites. This is not a point I'll argue. They could not do it. Too many people would sabotage competitors. Bad links are cheap.

The good news is, unrelated to SEO, I've already seen traffic from this site on day one. It was a good strategic purchase. My main goal was to add the number of backlinks so that folks studying my link profile would have a lot to wade through.

[webmaster]

Haha to funny, certainly not going to argue with you - but "if" you were counting on a lot of link juice, don't. That many links that fast will cause good Google to likely look at it, hmmm looks like they are selling sitewide links, lets givem a PR passon ban and there goes their ability to pass pagerank. They don't penalize the recipient (Your reason above) but they certainly will penalize the seller if they find him (And as I said, it's not hard to do)

[drewnick]

Yes, and I agree that what you describe is happening. For that reason, I'm weary of buying links. They're usually obvious as all get out. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around buying blog posts, which could possibly be a strategy.