Does Only First Anchor Text Count - if target pages differ?

[irldonalb]

Hi,

At pubcon last year, various experts proved that the first link counts.

- Page A to Page B with "Widgets"
- Page A to Page B with "Cheap Widgets"
- Page A to Page B with "Buy New Widgets"

Anchor texts "Cheap Widget" and "Buy Cheap Widgets" will be ignored.

How about this scenario?

- Page A to Page B with "Cheap Widgets"
- Page A to Page C with "Cheap Widgets"
- Page A to Page D with "Cheap Widgets"

As Page A has ready recommended another page for "Cheap Widgets"...

- Should Google ignore the 2nd and 3rd link?
- Are the devalued?

Although probably not seo best practice, I can why a html page would link to various pages with the same anchor text. Particularly in sub-menus.

Thanks
Donal

[tedster]

Although I haven't tested this rigorously, my gut check and my experience says all the anchor text will be taken into account.

I can why a html page would link to various pages with the same anchor text

Exactly. It may not be the best thing to do, but it certainly happens, especially on large, fast moving sites. Google would want to use those relevance signals.