Google have been very naughty!

[CaseyM]

I assume you all heard about this but I didn't see a thread anywhere so just in case...

Google Chrome Penalized for Violating Quality Guidelines | Search Engine Journal

[PokerFelts]

The situation has been blown out of the water with the fact that Google are the company involved and although it looks like they have been paying for links it seems to stem from their use of a video advertising network called Unruly Media, a situation that saw the link placed with a follow attribute rather than the usual no-follow relation.

Although not everything is clear over how it happened, you have to praise Google for taking the steps to punish themselves for the incident but that will now mean that they will be firmly on the look out for sites that are both buying and selling links, so expect to see some movement within the SERPs over the next few months.

[Mr-AJ]

I highly doubt that!

[Newjabber]

Without reading the article i can only say that i like naughty, and i like google, so sounds like good stuff

[Peter Willis]

Complete over-reaction by most industry commentators and it has inadvertently probably increased Chrome's market share, rather than hinder it.

They paid a company to distribute videos, and that company made a decision to do so in sponsored blog posts. The posts were clearly marked as sponsored and they did not request anyone to place any links. One of the bloggers did, however, add a contextually appropriate link, which is what has sparked all of this hoo-ha.

Just think how many more people are talking about Google Chrome now than if the sponsored videos had just been left to run their course.

[Michael Martinez]

I think it was overblown, myself, but I'd rather not get into commenting on the people who blew it up out of proportion.