How much value would this link provide? Is it legitimate tactic or spam?

[Squizzel]

10 Big Myths about copyright explained

links to pokerlistings, that page is pr7 and has over 45k links to just that page. Clearly has nothing to do with poker but the paid link text tries to make it somewhat releveant to poker.

Thoughts on the legitimacy of this, effectiveness and whether google is pinging people. Im sure that in alot of spaces getting links like this would get you banned, but its ok because gaming is so competitive? Or is it just ok because pokerlistings is huge and the power of there brand allows them to do what the fuck they want and not get touched by google.

Im never going to be a pokerlistings competititor, no way i can match there the volume of links they have but its very interesting to see if in spaces like gaming whether this is an accepted practice or not. Id love to hear what an engineer would say about things like this.

[addaminsane]

Google is not in cahoots with poker listings. If someone correctly reports a site then allegedly Google will indeed penalize sites. Poker Listings i believe has had a penalty in the past according to Steve Badgers Poker Seo site.

Whats interesting is that it seems they are even more susceptible to penalty nowadays, its just that no competitors have done anything but complain about them and assume they are just so big.

[Randy Ray]

I don't know that "getting links like this" will automatically get you "banned." I think it's more likely that the ability of the page in question or the site in question to pass PageRank or anchor text might be limited in some way. It's not a "one link and you're out" kind of thing. A site with a lot of really great links and a great brand reputation can get away with stuff without getting penalized more easily than a brand new site with no brand reputation can.

It's hard to tell how much or how little credit they're receiving from that particular link, since presumably we don't have any before/after data.

[MJ]

Am I really the only one who thinks that link is an acceptable sponsor ad? It's fairly clear thats what it is - "this page brought to you by" - I see it as legit even if unrelated, they surely aren't hiding what it is either.

(I'm sure the webmaster is going to have a lot of email come monday morning too).

[Randy Ray]

There's nothing wrong with an acceptable sponsor ad like this. In fact, it probably drives some traffic. I think the original question was related to the link's effectiveness as an SEO tactic.

[Squizzel]

i have no question that PL is getting benifits from links like this, i can throw up another 10 similar to this but it serves no purpose.

The real question is, is this acceptable in gaming because its such a competative space? I can say with a fairly high certainty that people have reported them for such activity. So its safe to assume that google is not penalizing them for it right now.

I remember seeing something written in an SEO article one time about BMW doing something that was considered blackhat at the time but they got away with it and were re-included in the index because having BMW listed in the serps is good for the quality of the index.

To me what it seems like is that if you add value or are an established company you can get away with more or less anything you want.

[Squizzel]

also i want to add. they pay enough people for links so if they want to do a bit of reputation management there more than welcome to pay me to not talk about them.

lol..

[addz123]

I don't really see how it's in google's interest to punish anyone in this industry, which is heavily built round illegal links. What google gonna do, tell off PL, then they tell of pokernews, then they tell of PND, then raketherake..and so on lol.

I don't really understand how google reacts or views this industry. End of the day, google wants to bring high value results in their index to the user, and websites who pay alot for links, like PL, give the customer what they want. So in that respect, someone who pays alot for links kinda provides better quality in serps then small affiliate like me who doesnt no?

[Squizzel]

yes and no. it does increase barriars to entry and stops anyone small with good content from competing though, atleast without having alot of money to invest and alot of time aswell.

[ramchip]

yes and no. it does increase barriars to entry and stops anyone small with good content from competing though, atleast without having alot of money to invest and alot of time aswell.

I don't agree! There are always ways of competing. The internet is evolving, gamlbling is evolving so good affiliates have to evolve.