rekitty - 3:57 pm on Apr 20, 2007 (gmt 0)

I'm wondering if all those pages with outbound links that now have nofollow on them somehow helped boost the site?

Quite possibly. This used to be known as hording and manipulating PageRank. It can work but it is specifically against Google's terms of service. Quite the pickle, yes?

I think you should be more worried about your users than about Google. Based on your previous post quoted below I'd be concerned that your users and community may go away.

On my sites, most of the links submitted are by users and though I do visit each one to make sure it's OK before publishing it, things change over time - links go 404, get redirected or worse. I'm rolling the dice on this nofollow biz because so far, Google has been very good to me and my sites - I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt unless I see evidence to the contrary.

Sounds to me like you are giving Google the benefit of the doubt over your users. Why might that be? This quote from you explains it:

Google is responsible for nearly 80% of my search referrals. How about you?

There is the problem. I respectfully suggest you have chosen Google over your users, and as many here will attest that is almost always a bad long term business decision.

By adding nofollow yesterday you changed the deal with your users. The previous deal was they gave you free content and you gave them a link. Seems like it was working well for both sides. In the new deal your users no longer get the link popularity benefit from giving you free content.

Don't be too surprised if your users and free content start to dry up now that they don't get a link in return.

It's your business and your decision... who is more important to you in the long run, Google or your users?

Yours is the same story as a website where I have been advertising for years. It's a very relevant website that has driven good traffic through the link. The link also passed link popularity, making it even more valuable.

One day I noticed they had added nofollow to all their outbound links. Suddenly the link is not as valuable. While the link still brings traffic, they changed the deal. I probably won't renew that ad since there are plenty of other sites where I can advertise that bring both traffic and link popularity. Why not get both?

If you are a publisher, you need to decide... who is more important to you in the long run, Google or your advertisers?

[edited by: rekitty at 4:19 pm (utc) on April 20, 2007]