Links disguised as text

[Itagnc]

Has anyone had any negative experience with links that are not underlined, and also 'same color as body text' in order to the mask the appearance of the links? We are trying to achieve some level of internal link relevancy, but the client doesn't want those ugly underlined links messing up the flow of the body copy, so we're considering this as an alternative solution. My educated guess is that there should not be any issues from an SE standpoint.

Once again, these are not hidden links, and there is no hidden text, no 'same color text/background'. I'm interested to know if anyone has had an algorithmic penalty (or perceived to have had a penalty) for the same color link/same color body text.

The most recent info I've found is a couple years old, so recent experience is appreciated.

[jimbeetle]

Putting user experience aside, of course, no, there shouldn't be any problems with the SEs regarding any algorithmic hit or anything along those lines.

Though that comes with what might be a big but...

There's a lot of supposition that the SEs might be using or planning to use visitor behavior as indicators for certain factors. So, if there's a link on a page that visitors can't really see as a link and that therefore might not be followed, does that link have any relevance or value?

Just something to think about down the road. What you're planning will probably help somewhat for now.

[larryhatch]

If the link text (font) is the same, and the same color as plain text, and not underlined,
then yes visitors could read more easily. A big plus.

IF the reader should happen to mouse-over the anchor (link) text, it should CHANGE COLOR
however, to indicate something click-able.

Would that be a reasonable compromise?

I've never tried to blend links in like this,
and I can't recall or really imagine any sort of
penalty for trying to better serve the visitor. -Larry

[caveman]

Agree with above. The one issue is that in cases where this IS being done for SEO/sneaky reasons, and is not for graphic/user reasons, then during a handcheck from a SE, this would not help the site be seen in a very good light. Even then though, if the text is visible, I'm not sure how much the SE's would care. My guess is it would be one small piece of a much larger pie.