ken_b - 5:35 pm on May 7, 2011 (gmt 0)

How hard is it to prove that the sites these supposed paid links are on are really selling links?

I'd guess that is probably not too difficult.

How hard is it to prove G discounts or ignores those links via the algo?

I'd guess this could be done given enough time and resources, but I think it could be a lot harder, unless we just take Google's word for it.

Is Google's word that trustworthy?