Strange Situation - need your opinion

[Gomez]

In the last couple weeks, I have been inundated with link request emails from a variety of casino sites. 75% of the emails are thanking me for exchanging links and then give me a URL where I can find my link on their site. I have no idea why they are putting my link on their site, I even email them and request that it be removed. My site is not in the theme of Casinos or anything remotely close to it. I exchange links only with sites that are related in some way to what I do and am pretty strict about sticking to that rule. Do you think that because I suddenly am acquiring a bunch of links from a "shady" non-related "neighborhood" I could be penalised in G? Has anyone else experienced this type of thing?

Thanks - Gmz

[Adversity Sure Fire]

Yes it may cause decreasing page rank due to bad neighbour links.

[grandpa]

have been inundated with link request emails from a variety of casino sites. ... I even email them and request that it be removed. ...

You go one step farther than I do. I just delete them. Same for pharmaceutical sites not registered with VIPPS.

Do you think that because I suddenly am acquiring a bunch of links from a "shady" non-related "neighborhood" I could be penalised in G?

The answer to this is supposed to be a resounding NO. You have no control over who links to your site. You do have control with legit link partners, so just don't reciprocate links those sites. They'll go away eventually.

The idea behind thier scheme is to make you think that because they have provided a link to you then you should do the same for them. Feeling guilty, naive, torn between right and wrong? That's what they're using to get links, because they have little else to offer. I would venture a guess that a few innocent suckers have been drawn in with this ploy.

As far as a gambling site link hurting you... think about the numbers a minute. How many legit links do you have? How many one-way links from bad-neighborhoods would it take to overcome your legitimacy, if it's even possible. There aren't that many casino sites on the web.

The closer you get to being number 1 in the SERPs, and the longer you stay there, the more common this sort of thing will become. Develop a plan now to just delete them, and you can spend more time focusing on legitimate link sources.

[larryhatch]

Take a hard look at the unrequested 'links' provided by the casino and drug sites.
I mean look at the source code. I predict you will find a lot of casino.com.php?site=1234 'links',
or maybe even your actual domain stuffed into the address bar "on-mouseover" etc. etc.

In short, not a real link at all, though it might send a few visitors.
Look again in 2 weeks. Same page. Gone!
I agree. Just ignore them and move on. -Larry

[Marketing Guy]

Yes it may cause decreasing page rank due to bad neighbour links

Do you have any basis for this whatsoever?

[jaffstar]

Yes it may cause decreasing page rank due to bad neighbour links.

Rubbish!

If you linked to bad neighborhoods, then yes. Not the opposite way.

The sites will eventually take your link down when you don’t reciprocate. My site appears on dozens of off topic sites daily, I just ignore, or reply "not related to my topic, but thanks"

[Gomez]

Thanks to all of you! I really appreciate your opinions. Yeah it is crazy, as my sites perform better in the SERPS I get more and more bogus email. Sounds like the best plan is to set up a rule in my Outlook to automatically delete any email with the word 'casino' in it and not lose any sleep over it.

GMZ

[justdave]

Just had to throw my two cents in and say that inbound links are inbound links. As was said, you can't stop people from linking to you, and there should in no way be any punishment for someone linking to your site as long as you don't reciprocate.