7 replies to this topic

[chrishirst]

So it has finally happened, the blog networks (link wheels etc) get canned!!! And about time too!!!

http://www.potpiegir...sky-is-falling/

Here's my take on it
http://webmaster-tal...k-networks#3133

[Hichem]

http://webmaster-tal...k-networks#3133

Good idea , WT back

[Michael Martinez]

I don't think Google is going after link wheels (which are normally built through social media profiles). They are just going after the SEO blog networks that are used for link building. You COULD try to use these networks for link wheeling but you'd have to have extraordinary posting privileges. Many of the networks won't allow the sites to cross-link to other sites in the network; and the subscribers usually have no idea of where their posts will be published in advance.

As best I could determine by the end of last week about 10 networks had been publicly accused of having suffered Google's wrath. Only 2 or 3 of them had confirmed the deindexings but a couple of others simply went offline.

[Jill]

Seriously. It IS about time.

[OldWelshGuy]

I have had so many emails/enquiries about the old 'we have detected un-natural link pattern' that I am going nuts. I think that Google has pulled all the target urls from the blog networks and sent webmaster tools messages to every single person in there.

It really is about time, but I have been told of a few honest blogs that got de-indexed also. need to check it out.

[Michael Martinez]

There is always a chance for a false positive in a system as large as Google's index. As I convert more of my personal sites to blogs I am trying to be careful to monitor Google's reactions to them in Webmaster Tools. So far, so good.

[Hichem]

Many of the networks won't allow the sites to cross-link to other sites in the network;

on a side note, is cross linking crucial in link wheels ?

Edited by Hichem, 31 March 2012 - 08:14 AM.

[Michael Martinez]

A link wheel is a fairly simple set up. Say you have five Websites: A, B, C, D, E. A links to B, B links to C, C links to D, D links to E, and E links to A. Some people now use link wheels to have all the sites in the wheel link to a "hub" that doesn't link back.

These structures are actually stupid. The people who set them up don't know why they are doing it -- they just follow dumb advice they find on SEO blogs and forums and they think they are getting something past the search engines.

The black hat forums are filled with threads where people complain about having their Websites deindexed or penalized after using these tactics. And of course there are always "old timers" who laugh at them and tell them they don't know how to do it "right", "right" being knowing that you're going to get dumped and you need to be constantly creating new Websites to replace the ones that go down.

Is that really SEO? Nope. It's just a way of life for some people who don't mind spending their time on a treadmill.