Thread: Buying Links Based on Google Authorship

We're all used to buying text link ads--which have been around for years now.

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Now you can buy a review or a "link" based on someone's Google Authorship status. The higher the number of followers they have, the more it costs for a link or a review of your site with a link:

Author Links

I guess since now Google is putting plenty of weight into Google Authorship, it was bound to happen.

Would I buy?
Heck no!

Why should I buy to promote some other person?

Like to see how they do in the next year.

Originally Posted by bhartzer

Now you can buy a review or a "link" based on someone's Google Authorship status. The higher the number of followers they have, the more it costs for a link or a review of your site with a link:

Why would the number of followers matter? 1) I have not seen any evidence that the number of followers has any affect on rankings or authorship status, 2) Matt Cutts recently said that they have not found a way to use Google Plus social signals, and 3) followers is another signal that is easy to fake.

It is more likely that Google may focus on the number of articles attributed to an author, rather than the number of followers.

I see potential traffic, but no real evidence of anything beyond that.

It is, however, an interesting and probably fairly safe approach, given the black eye that the link building industry is currently sporting due to their traditional crappy link building tactics.

Originally Posted by TopDogger

I see potential traffic, but no real evidence of anything beyond that.

I wonder how many links are placed on each page?

Why should I buy to promote some other person?

iowadawg, I"m not sure if you completely understand it. You're actually paying for someone who has a bunch of followers to write an article about your site and link to you--you're not promoting them.

I wonder how many links are placed on each page

Typically one or two outgoing links to your site.

I see potential traffic, but no real evidence of anything beyond that.

That's not what I'm seeing. Google is putting a lot more weight now into sites that have verified authorship.

Originally Posted by bhartzer

iowadawg, I"m not sure if you completely understand it. You're actually paying for someone who has a bunch of followers to write an article about your site and link to you--you're not promoting them.

I also did not understand that you are buying a custom article about your site with a link, rather than just simply a link in an article. That actually sounds very similar to what many link sellers were doing in the past with custom site reviews containing contextual links. Google penalized most of those types of sites 5+ years ago. I am a verified author with over 300 articles with my name on it, but I would not touch this one if I had to write reviews about other sites and post the articles on my sites with a link to each reviewed site.

Originally Posted by bhartzer

That's not what I'm seeing. Google is putting a lot more weight now into sites that have verified authorship.

We do agree with the new emphasis on authorship and the strength picked up by a specific author, but that does not necessarily translate to anything special as it relates to link juice for outbound links. That is why I said that I see traffic potential, but nothing beyond that. Some of the followers may read the article and that can translate into traffic.

There is just way too much speculation and misinformation being put out by the link-building industry. I prefer not to invest in smoke and mirrors. I need to see some evidence or proof that something works.

That is why I said that I see traffic potential, but nothing beyond that.

So, wouldn't it make sense to go after targeted traffic? Perhaps find an author that writes on your subject and get an article written or content written? With an included link to your site?

From what I'm seeing, links on sites that have traffic are more valuable than a link on a site with no traffic.

Originally Posted by bhartzer

So, wouldn't it make sense to go after targeted traffic? Perhaps find an author that writes on your subject and get an article written or content written? With an included link to your site?

From what I'm seeing, links on sites that have traffic are more valuable than a link on a site with no traffic.

I absolutely agree. I am just wondering if Google is going to decide to go after these sites, just like they did with site review websites, blog networks, etc. Unless this is distributed widely enough to avoid detection, the concept could be flawed. If all of the reviews appears on just a couple of sites, the concept is already doomed.

You're right, TopDogger.

Google would have to figure out a way to detect those sites, though. The authors are already transparent, and I'm not sure if a review would work. Would be interesting if it was just a link on a current/archived blog post rather than a new "review" per se.

Google may not want to do anything at this time, because they are trying to promote Google +1