The Evolution of the Text Link September 28, 2007
Posted by Sonia Chen in advertising, ranking, text link ads.add a comment
When search engines such as Google began to rank Websites based upon the number and quality of sites that linked to them, those search engines created a digital cottage industry called link placement. Emailing for link swaps was wildly popular with some, while others placed banner ads containing direct links to their own sites. Both solutions fit well with search engine’s immature algorithms.
Since then, search engines have vastly improved their systems for the filtering or removal of paid advertising links. Some of these steps have turned out to be unfair to many smaller Websites that are not connected to the larger Web publishers. As Google changes its algorithm, so the shape of the Web changes with it.
However, text link ads, or sponsorships as some call them (excluding Google Adwords ads, which Google can screen automatically), fit into the Web page less obtrusively than other ad units, and are often less easily identified as advertisements by the search engines. To this day, the search players have real difficulty distinguishing between a purchased link and a normal hyperlink. This will undoubtedly change in time, though, as the search engines’ objective is to produce relevant search results that aren’t influenced by advertisers’ money.
Text Link Ads: Buy Your Way to the Top? September 28, 2007
Posted by Sonia Chen in SEO, advertising, ranking, text link ads.add a comment
Why get involved in heavy search engine optimization when you can get the same results with text link advertising? Many site owners face this conundrum right now. The truth is that if you do both, your site may be unbeatable. Or, you may enjoy no benefit whatsoever, as the search engines strive to avoid counting paid text links in ranking any given site. Text link ads are, therefore, a very hot topic.
Yes, text links taint results, and the search engines haven’t quite found a way to deal with them as yet. Until that happens, text links will continue to be the ranking technique of choice for many site owners. Why? Because text links can work to increase a site’s rankings with the search engines.
The ethics of this decision deserve your consideration. So, rather than try to encourage you to use, or avoid, buying text links, I’ll simply state the facts and let you make up your own mind about this particular practice.
