Getting SiteLinks Under Control

[arikgub]

For a long time we've had SiteLinks for few competitive 2-word keywords. This is great, of course, but we were not happy about the choice of Sitelinks and the anchor text.

Last week I used GWT to block 2 SiteLinks out of 8 we had, hoping that Google will choose different 2 links from the home page. Few days later Google responded by reducing the overall number of SiteLinks from 8 to 6.

I am wondering if anyone has an experience of manipulating SiteLinks in GWT. Is there a chance Google will pick a different 2 links, or am I gonna stay with 6 links now?

I am quite sure, we could boost our traffic from Google significantly just by putting different links above the fold and using the proper anchor text. Did anyone try this kind of "SiteLinks optimization"? How long does it take to Google to switch the SiteLinks it assigns when the page changes?

I also wish Google gave more control to a webmaster in the SiteLinks anchors choice. Of course, we can change the anchors on the home page, but why?! The link "Read reviews" makes perfect sense on our home page where it is placed, but it looks absolutely ridiculous when it is put out of the context and placed as a SiteLink ...

[tedster]

There is always a chance, especially because the text and choice of links do shift over time. But so far it hasn't happened for the one client where we nixed one of the Sitelinks choices Google put in place. They did get their own sitesearch box under the sitelinks since our veto, but still only 7 sitelinks are showing - nothing got plugged into the vacant #8 spot.

I can see that giving webmasters more direct say in the sitelinks process would a pretty intensive step for Google. I'm not expecting it any time soon.