Can poor backlinks links push sites down the SERPs?

[superclown2]

I put up a new page on a successful site and some scraper sites promptly linked to it. I've had a few clicks from these sites but they are of no value because the scraper sites have no relevance whatsoever to my site content so every visitor bounces straight out. Now I believe that bounce rate is factored into Google's algo, so I wonder if these links are actually damaging this page's status? Just to be on the safe side I've started an adwords campaign, on the theory that at least the visitors from this should spend time on the page even if they are only competitors sniffing around. Are these poor links likely to prove detrimental? Should I remove Google analytics from this page? Am I being paranoic?

[soxos]

Poor links can push a site down - but probably not in the way you think. They can push a site down the serps for your target phrase in several ways I know of.

There may be more, but these are all part of the algo, and whilst google tracks clicks from their serps - it doesnt (to my knowledge) track clicks from other websites - although it no doubt will in the future.

[edited by: tedster at 10:39 pm (utc) on June 5, 2008]
[edit reason] edited by member request [/edit]

[dolcevita]

My experience from several sites tell me that "poor links" can not push site down.
Some of them maybe will not count but i do not believe in theory from soxos that it will push your site down in the serps.
If it will be true then competition in related keywords genre can easily buy a couple hundred "poor links" and push rival site down.
Too easy to be true.

[WiseWebDude]

If it will be true then competition in related keywords genre can easily buy a couple hundred "poor links" and push rival site down.

That's very true...and if that WAS the case, Google's index would look more like the crap on Yahoo!.

[proboscis]

It does seem too easy but I was just noticing something yesterday.

I have a 10 year old site with one page that has been at number one for a phrase for at least the last 6 years, now it is at number 7 so I looked in webmaster tools and I saw that there are around maybe 75 weird websites linking to this page that weren't there before.

They're all different domains but a similar set up - they just look like random letters with three subdomains then my keywords and a dot html.

Could something like that be related to a drop at all?

[guru5571]

Not buying the argument that poor links will bring you down. Blackhats would be running mega-automated link generators for the sole purpose of torpedoing sites. Then they would charge for the service. If that was the case, Google would be subsidizing an industry with the sole purpose of demolishing competitors and the site owner would be left completely impotent.

[idolw]

it may happen that your very new site gets filtered for a while if too many links applied.
however, if the site is trusted it is impossible to hurt. that would be not logical!

[tshirtdeal]

from my experience, this is one of Googles biggest problems, so I say no....

If "bad areas" in the sence of one way links could drag a site down, then everyone, or at least most, would turn black hat and try and drag down competition by simply trying to one way bad links to the site...

in my opinion a "bad" one way link cannot hurt you to bad...I would think that slow building bad links would not trigger anything and that a very fast quick flux of fast "bad" one way links would not either...

simply because either can occur to a GREAT site, in a natural manner or in a not natural manner, either or, the webmaster would not want either option...

That is how I think anyway... a great site can have some bad links out of their control, by hurting a "great" site for that does not play in the interest of great search...

A great site can have many "black hat" enemies who may try to link bomb the site, fast and harsh...this would not make the site bad, because what webmaster would be such an idiot...

anyway....this is my theory...I feel that one way links cannot hurt you to bad, since they are out of your control, but recips are clearly in your control and can only tell Google what a sloppy or greedy webmaster you are...

as I have said before...the older and wiser I get at this webmaster stuff....(I said this many moons ago) the more I feel the only thing a webmaster should do is keyword research and building quality content around the keywords with a SOLID niche based focus...

everyone feels like getting links are instant cash...but as time moves on , links can hurt more then help, and the links you get just from some solid on page opts and letting the marketing take care of it's self will probably pay off more in the long term and with stabilty...

Every one thinks Google wants links, it is clear what Google wants is the best results for the people searching for information they type in...and that was clear at least 5 years ago...it is much more clear today...

[annej]

My impression is that inbound links don't hurt a site. But I do wonder if the pattern is such that the Google algo thinks you are buying links couldn't those inbounds hurt?

[CainIV]

I can assure you, without going into too much detail for obvious reasons, that the right subset of inbound links with various properties, pointed at the right pages of most 'non authority' websites, can do harm.

It's an unfortunate effect of the methodology for ranking websites in the search engines, including natural link build speed, canonicalization issues, geo targeting and such.