related: question - an imp issue

saw something

[AjiNIMC]

Hi all,

Today I was doing related:http://www.xyz.com for one of my friend, he has many sites

1) one financial site
2) one directory
3) one webhosting site

and none of the sites have a link to the other, but still they show under related ones why?

IMO this is due to,

(1),(2) and (3) are placed on single page on many sites, like when he asks for links he forwards all the sites and people link to his sites from a single page. Is this the reason. Does it have some neative side?

Waiting for your reply.

Thanks
Aji

[darkroom]

I've observed this as well. Dont know how it happens. In fact i use the "similar sites" feature to find out more sites belonging to the same person as the original site :-)

[Marcia]

I've had that happen with sites that link to a site that links to me showing up. No relation topic wise, but related by connectedness.

I think it shows just how far our connectedness through linking defines us and can so easily be detected.

[jcoronella]

If you have site A having a link to site B and site C, site B and C will often show as 'related' in google. There may be other ways, but this is one common theme I've seen.

[mosschops]

But to go back to the original question - Does it have a negative side. I.E. - will linkage from related sites be ignored/penalised?

[steveb]

Only anecdotal observation here, but I think it matters a lot. I had one site that showed two pharmacy sites among its related sites, apparently because one of the sites linking to it was attached to a pharmacy link web some how. As soon as the pharm sites disappeared from the related sites, the page went up 100 points in a very competitive search.

It may be micromanaging a bit, but if you are being linked to, you would rather that link is on a page with quality sites because you will be seen as related/similar to them.

[webnewton]

Intresting observation Steveb. You seems to have a point.I'd noticed this many times in the past but never tried to decipher the significance. I'll devote some time on it today to see what exactly is the significance of this command in terms of SERP's flutuation.