does spamming guestbooks, phpbbs and wikis work

can google penalize you

[itraykov]

Apart from the "moral" viewpoint on this matter, what do you guys think about spamming in order to get backlinks? does it work and can you get penalized for it?

have you used such techniques and are they worth it?

[MarkHutch]

No, it doesn't work.
Yes, you can get punished by G for doing it.

[itraykov]

Im asking this because I came across a competator that is using such shady practices thanks to which he got 300+ backlinks and good PR... HOw would Google penalize for this, I'm pretty sure they can't do it manually?

[JeremyL]

Let me just put it this way. Don't do it on a long term domain. But that being said, it can be very effective on throw away domains. Just stay away from GoDaddy as a registrar, go with pretty much any other.

[Pradyumna]

I think it does work but for a very short term. This gives instant results in google. But you need to be genuine for a long term results

[larryhatch]

If I see some blog using my images, I register and make sure that my URL is included too.
I can't say if this helps or hurts with Google, but it may have led to new organic links. - Larry

[ogletree]

It can't hurt you at all. If it could then everybody would be doing it to their competiters. All they can do is make it not help you they can't hurt you for it.

[larryhatch]

Hi Ogletree:

That was my impression. The engines could simply ignore blog links if they prefer.
Moderation is good insurance in any case.
I set my URL into related blogs only, and not very many of those.
Usually, I wait until somebody refers to my work first. That happens often enough. -Larry

[jaffstar]

There are tons of people using this method who succeed, on the other hand, there are tons of sights that have raised a red flag doing this, and are here today, gone tomorrow.

I am in two minds about this.

[iblaine]

what do you guys think about spamming in order to get backlinks?
It's not making the internet a beter place but search engines still treat it favorably so what do you do...

does it work and can you get penalized for it?
Yes and yes.

have you used such techniques and are they worth it?
Yes in the past and sometimes.

However, don't take my word on this. Do some research by analyzing some competitive keywords.

[itraykov]

Interesting, very interesting.
MarkHutch has said:
No, it doesn't work.
Yes, you can get punished by G for doing it.

On the other hand ogletree and larryhatch say:
It can't hurt you at all. If it could then everybody would be doing it to their competiters. All they can do is make it not help you they can't hurt you for it.

How would the Big G know that you're cheating? Do they spider for standard blogs/guestbooks and designate them as "bad linking zones"... and when you get too many of these "bad backlinks" they would drain your PR? That's the only way I see how they could monitor for this. And would they remember you WhoIs info and kill other sites that you may own?

[jaffstar]

would the Big G know that you're cheating? Do they spider for standard blogs/guestbooks and designate them as "bad linking zones"...

They have a blacklist :)

[1milehgh80210]

A lot of the people who think they got penalised for doing this probably were using other questionable tactics (who knows?).
If 90% of your links come from spammed guestbooks though, G may not look upon your site favorably..

[Finger]

JeremyL,

Do you mean GoDaddy is bad for throw-away domains or for long-term domains or both - and why?

[ThomasB]

I think what Jeremy means is that GoDaddy (DomainsByProxy) is kinda known to de-activate domains of spammers, especially the ones spamming guestbooks, phpbbs, ... Tough a lot of people say that it doesn't work.

[conor]

Do a search for some pharm keywords and check the backlinks of some of the more 'spammy' looking sites - you will see Blog,wiki,log,forum and guest book spam abound. Granted, most of these sites rarely stay at the top for very long but there are a few that combine these techiques with more 'conventional' link building that have been around for quite some time.

[JeremyL]

What I mean is GoDaddy has been known to take domains away from spammers. I have heard stories of them doing this for both link trade emails and for log spamming.

[phantombookman]

I don't believe Google gives much credit at all for these links, if indeed any (presumably the generate PR though)

The impression that they work is perhaps because any site that has huge numbers of these links are obviously running an aggresive link gathering campaign so will pick up more acceptable links than those just waiting for them to come naturally

[mikec]

actually i dont think it could hurt you. but the links could be discounted. if it could hurt you, what would stop you from spamming a competitor's url?

[JuniorOptimizer]

It could hurt. Maybe not a death penalty, but what's stopping Google from adding a penalty to links? Say its makes your site 3% less lovable to Google, that could be enough to drop you off the first page.

Considering Google always says that "buying links" could hurt you, its easy to infer that some sorts of inbound links could have penalties.

[siteseo]

"...Google always says that "buying links" could hurt you..."

Does anyone else see a conflict with Google encouraging webmasters to get a listing in Yahoo (which generally costs $299)?

[conor]

Blog, log, wiki etc. can add benefit. PR transger isn't the issue though, anchor text is.

"Buying links" from the wrong place can hurt, from the right place in the right way it can be very effective.

[mikec]

really? then what would be considered "the wrong place"

[elklabone]

Wouldn't it be safe to say that inbound links can NEVER hurt? If they did, competitors could hurt you.

Also, Yahoo and Disney rank highly for term "exit"... how come? Because porn sites have enter/exit page that link to these types of sites. If these aren't a "bad neighborhood", I don't know what is.

Of course, you're always better off with relevant inbound links from related sites...

[Philosopher]

I wouldn't say that inbound links can NEVER hurt you.

I think it's more accurate to say that they can ALMOST never hurt you.

If memory serves me Googleguy said that many months back when he was still quite active (pre-IPO).

[WebGuerrilla]

The day that Google roles out automated penalties for blog/guestbook spamming is the day I click a button and destroy Google's database within a week.

[top5jamaica]

The day that Google roles out automated penalties for blog/guestbook spamming is the day I click a button and destroy Google's database within a week.

lol. webguerilla, you're killing me here.

[nuevojefe]

I think it's more accurate to say that they can ALMOST never hurt you.

That's what the google website says as well.

[conor]

"the wrong place" remember searchking?

[swoop]

"the wrong place" remember searchking?

Can you please clarify?