rogerd - 5:00 pm on Jun 13, 2002 (gmt 0)

Google used to like links directories quite a bit, and favored them with good traffic when the keywords were relevant. It made sense to keep them prominent, and of course have good hooks into your site so that visitors to the links page might stop and visit your site, too. This was really a win-win situation, as the linked sites got traffic from clicks and the host site got extra exposure.

Now, it seems that links directories don't do as well in the Google algo, and may even represent a risk factor (either from the tool used to generate them, e.g., zeus, or from linkage to sites that Google decides are spam sites). I am leaning toward keeping Googlebot out of any links pages, though I haven't implemented this on all sites. If you DO let GB surf your links, I'd suggest a regular program of checking them to be sure none have been taken over by spammers or porn operators.

Reciprocal linking will end up going back to its original purpose - people clicking on relevant links - and PR won't be a consideration.