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Is it really unethical to buy PR?
I personally would sell my Grandmother for a PR8 link and have been thinking a lot about the morality of doing so.
I think the real problem people have is that they have worked very hard to get where they are and them someone comes along and buys a better rank.
Money has always and will always be a short cut - those who toil hard to achieve something always have to face that there are people who can wander in and achieve the same thing with a wad of cash - after all at some stage someone worked hard for that money - so maybe money is like a token of hard work already done?
I would appreciate peoples feedback on this - am I just convinving myself that something unethical is right coz it suits me to or is the 'unethical' stamp just sour grapes?
BTW She really is a sweet old lady - comes with a secret recipe and all, any offers? :)
My main beef with it is that its pretty fake most of the time. Advertisers spend a lot of money convincing people that they are the best for whatever. But most of the time they dont have the solidarity to back it up.
(Ill accept that there are many advertisers who promote honestly and have great support for the people that they attract, but they are in the minority).
There is a particular multinational in my industry that is owned by own of the largest advertising agencies in the world. They spent a hefty ammount on advertising. But their service and support is way below par.
Part of what I do on my site is to help advise people to look by the gloss and judge companies on the things that matter.
Back on topic:
Yes, paying for ad space or a link on a site is a perfectly acceptable business move. Yes, its not something i do, but that's just me.
My point is paying solely for PR - ie the exposure the link generates does not improve your brand, and it does not send you traffic - just PR - that is unethical (IMHO).
But like people have said here, its each to their own.
If you find it works, and is a cost effective way to generate traffic, then by all means do it. It's not like your hurting anyone.
Just for clarification - im not judging anyone (well, maybe Shurlee), Im just chipping in my 2c.
Im willin to accept Im wrong and listen to arguements for that case, but in reality there is no right or wrong for this topic.
Just a number of opinions.
Scott :)
If you aren't supposed to do something, because the rules say you can't, and you do it anyway, IT'S UNETHICAL.
If you knowingly gain an unfair advantage by doing something that is against the rules, IT'S UNETHICAL.
In this case, Google clearly states that anything that artificially increases PR is against the rules, PERIOD. If you choose to engage in an activity that artificially increases PR (Buying PR)IT'S UNETHICAL.
It doesn't matter if you disagree with the rules, it doesn't matter if you make money, it doesn't matter if everyone tells you it's ok, IT'S UNETHICAL.
That being said..... WHAT DO YOU CARE?
not a viewpoint i'm happy with, but powerful nonetheless
You are correct, except that Google's rules apply to my use of their product. I'm not using their product, they are using mine.
When you get a site indexed in Google, you are using their product. When a user comes to your site and finds what they are looking for, they are using Google's product to find you. When you make money from that user is it because of the Google product.
When a person buy's PR (a Google convention) for the purpose of increasing their standings in the Google index (Google product), knowing that that purchase, by artifiacially increasing PR, is againt the rules (TOS), it is an unethical practice.
Please don'y misunderstand me. I am speaking of ethics in a generic way. Of course Google is not the arbiter of ethics.
I disagree with you regarding someone breaking your TOS. You have a TOS because you feel that some guidelines must exist. When someone knowingly disregards your guidelines, they are being unethical.
You said that you could refuse to do business with them. Why would you do that? I mean if it doesn't matter to you, why punish them? You would punish them for breaking your rules, for disregarding your guidelines. You might think that a person who disregards your TOS may not be the type of person you would want to do business with, right?
I agree with what you are saying except the "use" part.
> When you get a site indexed in Google, you
> are using their product.
No, I don't get my sites indexed. They choose to index my sites....and they don't even tell me when they do it ;)
> When a user comes to your site and finds what they are
> looking for, they are using Google's product to find you.
Yes, and they should obey the TOS.
> When you make money from that user is it because of
> the Google product.
Yes, but the money I make is due to Google's choice to spider and list me. I still have not used Google, they are using me....and they make money from that use too.
> When a person buy's PR (a Google convention) for the
> purpose of increasing their standings in the Google
> index (Google product), knowing that that purchase, by
> artifiacially increasing PR, is againt the rules (TOS)
> it is an unethical practice.
I agree it is not right to use the term PR, as long as you don't use that you are not doing anything unethical. Especially since I still have not used Google at this point, Google has indexed my site on their own for their benefit. Their TOS doesn't apply until I *use* them.
Marketing Guy - I don't believe we disagree on principle.
My previous post was a cooling off thing
The thread itself is about ethics - and whether PageRank is of more value to the purchaser than the actual link.
To me... it's the same thing.
But buying PageRank isn't really the problem here... selling it is, or rather "advertising the sale of PageRank".
As far as PageRankTM you can not legally benefit through sale of another companies trademark, without that company's expressed permission.
To expand further - if you use the term PageRankTM a registered trademark... Google can use the full extent of the law to stop you.
Therefore the only thing you can "legally" do is promote the sale of the link... and discuss behind close doors the benefits (bonuses) of PageRankTM.
In general terms -- and IMHO buying PR is as ethical as purchasing hosting with virtual IPs, add CCS to your site and using H1 Tags with an appealing look, or buying a "link" from Yahoo. It's simply "added-value".
Advertising PR for sale in the expressed form of the trademark is illegal -- ethics really doesn't have much to do with it.
I see what you are saying. It's a good argument as long as you do nothing to increase your Google rankings. This would include buying PR.
Good argument though.
Fathom,
Ethics apply to all a person does. If I follow your argument, and take it to the extreme, you're saying that a drug dealer is unethical, but the person buying drugs is still being ethical. Is that a correct analogy?
I see you've been around WW a long time. I can only imagine that this is not the first time this has come up.
However, we are not talking about what is technically "legal". We are discussing what is ethical, two completely different things.
I assert that any person, who uses the product "Google", and knowingly violates their TOS, for personal or business gain, is being unethical.
In the end a new, more realistic consensus was reached. Gee, I hope it doesn't take us another 30 years or so.
