Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : SEO / SEM Discussions : Putting paid text links on your site and Google?

[noodle2u]

Hi everyone
Does anyone know for sure? Do you get penalised by google if you have paid text links on your site.
I thought it may be ok as I am not the one paying for text links to help out my page rank...
I want to sell links, or advertising on my site.. I do not want to buy them?

What does everyone think?
Will I be in trouble with Google?

[~ServerPoint~]

You as web master and as owner of the web site allowed do everything what you like or want, unless you have illegal content on it.

Look at the problem with google from this side

[DevMonkey]

I read that this had been added fairly recently, yes.

A quick search on Google:

http://searchengineland.com/071007-173841.php
http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/text-links-and-pagerank/

You can still provide paid text links, use rel="nofollow" or whatever it is

[noodle2u]

Thanks st-mike
I read both of these articles and it seems to be a risk putting paid links on your site. I am not sure if people want to put text links on your site when they will be "nofollow" anyway..
What about if your site is totally related? Like both free computer help sites. That would just look like an ordinary link?
What do you think?

[DevMonkey]

I'm not sure really, but if people are only paying to increase their rank at search engines etc then its probably not going by what Google accepts. Probably best to sell links to people who actually want visitors through your website, not just a rank increase!

[noodle2u]

People want to pay to put links on your site when you have a certain page rank, however google may not like it..This is deffinately a catch 22.

[itsonlychand]

As a web master you can do what ever you want but Google has some contact form to report any web site selling links. It can be found in Google sitemap thing

There are many big names, like blogs and authority sites, still selling the links.

[shakir]

i am confused whether Google like or dont payed link. My PR degreased due to link buying. but increased traffic. So i am also have doubt on it. I think natural link dont have problems.

[MrCat]

SO long as those paid links does not influence PR and SERP, and it is purely for traffic generation - then there won't be any problem

[noodle2u]

It is a bit confusing!!!
But I think it is best for me to keep google happy because they provide most of my traffic.

[Kalin4y]

I recommend you to put links without troubles. When you putting link set apart from your site and rename the sector "Related sites" or "Friends".
We have no penalties for this

[MrCat]

Originally Posted by Kalin4y

I recommend you to put links without troubles. When you putting link set apart from your site and rename the sector "Related sites" or "Friends".
We have no penalties for this

Are the links you are referring to on your site are dofollow or nofollow?

[Kalin4y]

I dont like nofollow
I use nofollow to back in the index site who was thrown out from google.

[hamdusa]

it will be ok if you use rel="nofollow" in your links, to tell google that this is either spammed link or paid one.