Comments on: Do Bloggers Even Know They’re Breaking Google’s Rules?

By: geekbabe

geekbabe — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 09:03:41 +0000

Just wanted to add here that my site is about a mix of everything but is primarily all about product review both non-sponsored & sponsored. This SEO stuff is confusing as hell to begin with & takes away precious time that I need to use to produce content, engage with followers & in general manage the site. People come to the site for product review & giveaways, how is that spam?

By: geekbabe

geekbabe — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 08:56:22 +0000

My site is fairly new, after reading this article I ‘ve just checked only to find out my page rank fell from 2 to 1 I had no idea about this rule. I do a full FTC disclosure in every sponsored post I make, I’m not trying to trick or manipulate anyone.

In order to comply with Google’s rules I’ve just installed a “no follow” plug in that makes sure that nO link in any post I make follows till I can figure out exactly what is/is not allowed. I had comment Luv enabled & would like to reward my regular readers with a little juice, plus what about reviews I write that aren’t sponsored or giveaways I pay for?

By: Christina

Christina — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 02:20:26 +0000

Calliope,

You don’t have to worry about that. If you want to cover yourself, you can disclose that you spent your own money to buy the CD and have not received any form of compensation for posting about it. Of course, you can use an affiliate link to earn a commission when people buy the CD from Amazon using your link if you’d like. I disclose my own use of affiliate links so I’m covering my butt for the FTC, although I’m not sure it’s legally necessary to do so.

Don’t be afraid of links! Just educate yourself.

By: Calliope

Calliope — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 20:15:41 +0000

ooooh! here from twitter (@calliopeblogger)
I think I missed getting the handbook on blogging when it came to links. If I talk about something I usually link to it. And I am not a giveaway gal and not paid to do any linkage. But if I talk about liking a new cd and link to the cd on amazon is that a no no? Do I not do any links?

By: Type-A Mom Conference – Blogger Town Hall Meeting - Cutest Kid Ever - A Mommy Blog

Sun, 26 Sep 2010 19:04:13 +0000

[...] my PR review policy states that I nofollow text links. I’ve written a post about this: Do Bloggers Even Know They’re Breaking Google’s Rules? I’ll tell you about [...]

By: Type-A Mom Conference – Creative Ways to Monetize Your Blog: Thinking Outside the Widget - Cutest Kid Ever - A Mommy Blog

Sat, 25 Sep 2010 13:33:38 +0000

[...] thousands of dollars a month to find links for their clients.) I wrote a post about this last year: Do Bloggers Even Know They’re Breaking Google’s Rules? It focuses on links in product reviews and giveaways, but it’s more directly applicable to [...]

By: Brandy

Brandy — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 06:09:09 +0000

I have read this too, and understand it but I say whatever! Is that bad? My PR is 4 right now so when it drops down if it does .. then maybe I will change my tune .. but been a year doing paid links, paid posts, giveaways and product reviews without too much of a “bad ranking” for it yet .. so IDK …

By: Jessica

Jessica — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:55:08 +0000

I am guessing I am one of the few in the know. I have been using a plugin on my wordpress blog to no-follow all links in any post except other blogs that I want to give link juice to.

But I did not know google really cared.

By: MIMI

MIMI — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 19:08:40 +0000

I still have no idea what “no-follow” is. Is there a kindergarten version of what the definition is? The more I read in your post, the more lost I felt. Are you saying that if I link to the company that sent me a product to review that I’m violating some “rule”? How in the world would a common person even know they are breaking it? It is somewhere I would’ve read about when I started my blog? Is it in some fine print where I wouldn’t have even understood it to begin with?

When I’m creating a review, I should be in my html editor? And that changes things how? This is so confusing and I don’t get it. I have no idea what an “anchor tag” is or where I’d put this code in my giveaway posts.

Will I have to tell the companies I work with that I am putting in a “no-follow” something or other on my giveaway posts? Will that possibly change if they work with me?

How will Google even know what I’m doing? Do they have a dept specifically going through Blogger and looking at every single product review site and doing something to their ranking? I haven’t even paid attention to all of that before and really am not concerned about it at this point. That seems like an endless job for someone to do.

I have never done a sponsored link or been given any $ to put someone’s link on my site. I have seen bloggers who offer a spot on their site. Is that what you are talking about? So if company XYZ contacted me, asked me to put their logo on my site and sent me some form of monetary payment, then I would be in violation of Google rules?

Is that part of the “no-follow” issue.

As you can clearly see, I’m still utterly confused about this issue. I saw it one other time quite a while ago and didn’t get it then either. You are welcome to contact me personally to explain it more if you’d like. Thanks for trying to help us unsuspecting and uneducated bloggeres!

By: MandyP

MandyP — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 18:54:36 +0000

I had no idea about any of this! Thanks for the heads-up