claimsweb - 6:51 pm on May 5, 2008 (gmt 0)

Following the recent Google update, like most webmasters Ive seen an influx of sites into an established sector that have a presence purely and simply because of their sponsored link campaigns.

New generation sites with NO Trust, NO authority, NO content of any use (rehashed same old same old) and very little to offer in a competitive business area. Yet they are doing just fine thanks to Google's apparent inability to spot the bleedin obvious.

These sites are seriously flawed and even a cursory glance at the link history reveals - in some cases - completely unrelated blog links in their thousands. The blogs are obviously owned by the same people in many cases because certain phrases / patterns / image ads keep cropping up.

Now normally I wouldnt give a toss because I do very nicely in Google regardless of one or new diners at the top table. But this is different. Were not talking one or two but probably around half a dozen sites in the top 15.

Maybe Google is offering enough rope before they act. Maybe this latest update has something wrong with it - work in progress possibly. Or just maybe they are fighting a losing battle and it really is that easy to game this search engine.

Its hard to turn away from cheap, simple tactics like this when others are doing so well. I dont intend to screw my top sites but I may just gamble on a few low profile ones just to see what can be done.

[edited by: tedster at 10:16 pm (utc) on May 5, 2008]
[edit reason] moved from another location [/edit]