tedster - 5:06 am on Jun 12, 2009 (gmt 0)

Yes, I've read about this, and it doesn't seem exactly like news to me. I always assumed that when an SEO gains a degree of visibility, then Google would track their projects as best they can -- and they would take note of whatever approaches they use. They track site owners this way, why wouldn't they track site optimizers?

Here's some transcript from the conversation with Matt Cutts that seems to have tripped off the buzz:

Michael Gray: I have a Web site...that gives free gifts to bloggers to get them to write about it...We’re doing the exact same thing that Google did with the Android phones, but we had to go through an extra level (putting nofollow on all the links). It seems like you’re stereotyping projects just because an SEO is inovlved. Matt: The closer you get to money for links, the higher risk we consider it. You&A with Matt Cutts [outspokenmedia.com] from SMX Advanced