Valuing the incoming links to a site

[paladin]

I've been asked to consult on the purchase of an existing website. Currently the site has been banned from Google, although I think I know why and how to get it back (duplicate content on a domain owned by the same company). The question is, what will the Page Rank and Google traffic be once we get it un-banned (making the assumption that we will do this)?

In MSN, the site shows some 9,000 back links. Do you guys and gals have any ideas on how to quickly see if they are of any value, or if they are all just part of the same network/webring/hub?

Needless to say, if the majority of the sites listed as back-linking to the site in MSN are part of the same are part of the same network/webring/hub, they I will probably advise against the purchase of the website.

[jsavvy293]

dealbreaker = "Currently the site has been banned from Google"

It's hard enough getting penalised sites cleared, banned sites should really only be evaluated on what type of traffic they can deliver from Yahoo, MSN or other engines.

$0.02 ;)

[paladin]

should really only be evaluated on what type of traffic they can deliver from Yahoo, MSN or other engines

I agree. They have been banned for about a year now. The amounts we are discussing, take into account their current revenue.

What I am trying to assess is if we will be able to get away from the dark side. In either case I know we can it is a question of time and money. If they have legitimit links great, but if they are manily through their own domains/hubs/link farms that makes it much harder to work on.