wolf-howl.com — "I’m not exactly sure what caused all this secondary fuss about no-follow and reviews lately but I think it’s time someone pointed out that Google is being extremely hypocritical about the entire thing and using fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) to corral web publishers to their way of thinking."
Jan 25, 2007 View in Crawl 4
belasco99Jan 25, 2007
I agree with Michael. Let's get a clear stance from Google once and for all.
m3mn0nJan 25, 2007
I guess so... after reading that stupidity packed up and disguised as an article, I couldn't help but think "why the f**k am I wasting my time reading this pointless rant needlessly bashing something I like?"And so, this baby is getting buried as lame
rpphotoJan 25, 2007
The page is gone, or is it my computer? When I click the link a single phrase "No input file specified" appears. What's strange is the last Digg link I clicked went to a Google service page, and now this one is gone altogether. Very mysterious. Is this a Google event?
robotsuJan 25, 2007
Okay, here is the break-down as I gather it.Initially, the rel="nofollow" tag was created to combat comment spammers who simply linked to their own websites from popular websites, thus "passing reputation/PageRank" (because of how PageRank works. i.e. when a popular website links to you, you get more points).Now, advertisers have realized they can do what they already do with other media (such as television, newspapers, magazines, radio) and just pay people to say what they want. So essentially, there are services that hook up bloggers with advertisers. The advertisers pay the bloggers money to mention their products in posts and to link to them.Google is saying, "okay, you are using our system in a way that is basically just the same as comment spamming." Only this time they do it on purpose and get paid for it. Google thinks that this will corrupt the integrity of their search results by giving better PageRank to sites that haven't "earned" it or something.And this guy is all pissed off because he probably makes money this way.Either way, it just makes me hate f**king advertisers even more. You can't trust a single damn thing anyone says because they are probably getting paid for it. I'm so glad I'm not a party of this whole bulls**t semi-scam-artist sphere known as "blogging" :P
rrascoJan 25, 2007
<a class="user" href="http://duggmirror.com/tech_news/Google_s_Policy_on_No_follow_and_Reviews_is_Hypocritical_and_Wrong/">http://duggmirror.com/tech_news/Google_s_Policy_on_No_follow_and_Reviews_is_Hypocritical_and_Wrong/</a>
aaronwallJan 26, 2007
yeah, because the link structure of the web is stupid
geofan49Jan 28, 2007
Local, small business websites need to get some inbound links, just so they can be found in Google, and other search engines. Links are like votes that pass along some page rank value. There is no way for an algorithm to truly assess the reputation of these websites or value of these links. There is too much secrecy and FUD regarding links. What's a small business to do? Why can't Google, etc. make it simpler?How can a local, small business get a few inbound links? 1. Post useful comments in relevant blogs or forums. (Does NOT work if they get NOFOLLOW links.)2. Request links in free directory listings. (Seems like DMOZ/ODP, the granddaddy web directory, is broken. Impossible for a small business to get a link there, even in the most relevant category... thus, thousands of alternatives have sprung up.) Google does not seem to follow links from most directory sites, finding one that works is like finding a gold nugget.3. Buy links in paid directories (like Yahoo and hundreds of others.) That's like buying a listing in the Yellow Pages. Expensive, and perhaps not valuable. How can the small-business customer assess the value of any paid listing?4. Get reciprocal links, by trading links with relevant sites. (Google does not seem to count reciprocal links.)5. Get one-way links on sites that post reviews from satisfied customers. (How can Google assess the validity?)Bottom line, no algorithm can make a human judgment on the validity of a link. Every time Google discovers a new class of problems, they try to implement an algorithm that will fix that, but nothing really works, ultimately.
thebassmanFeb 9, 2007
Well put, Andy.