Effects on Google ranking of 1x1 px image in Amazon affiliate links?

[JeffOstroff]

I was generating a link directly to a specific book title and using the option to create a Text Only link on their web site in associates central.

I went to cut and paste the html code and noticed that they have an IMG SRC command for the text only book link that ends like this:

width="1" height="1"

border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />

Looks like they are using a nearly invisible 1x1 image to track page views, and this makes me very worried, because I know one of the old black hat tricks of old was they used to make 1 x 1 pixel images and comment the heck out of them with keyword stuffed alt tags.

What do you folks think about this, is it dangerous to use their code for Google rankling with these 1x1 images?

I would think it 's a one way ticket to sandbox town.

[tedster]

1x1 gifs (sometimes called "web beacons") are in pretty wide use around the web. If you don't stuff the alt attribute with spammy content, it's unlikely to cause any problems - especially when it's a standard offering from a major corporation like Amazon. Today's algorithms are quite nuanced and are not likely to have any code that punishes a site simply for a 1x1 image file.

[Sgt_Kickaxe]

If you don't care about tracking number of pageviews reported in your amazon control panel you can remove the 1x1 pixel. amazon will still record the sale and set the cookie. Some do this as a matter of course simply because they don't want to provide traffic stats to Amazon for ALL pageloads where no click may occur, clicks are already being recorded via the link.