Samizdata - 3:42 pm on Feb 8, 2013 (gmt 0)

Go ahead and try it, and see how far you get.

I wouldn't underestimate the amount of paranoia and stupidity out there, and as the old saying goes "A fool and his money are soon parted" - he may well make a few bucks.

But it really is a false premise - links do not "harm" a website in any way.

Webmasters will naturally be unhappy if they see reduced Google traffic, but they have no entitlement to that traffic and their website will remain exactly as it was (unharmed).

The only actual "harm" would be to Google's reputation, assuming that their algorithms could be shown to be so easily manipulated (as they have been in the past).

If there is a problem with Google's system, it is up to that company to fix it.

Otherwise people will lose confidence and go elsewhere.

And rightly so.

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