Because of the number of posts being made to question Google’s reasoning behind and/or application of their policies, I just want to clear a few things up before I start in on my diatribe on this issue.

Number one, I’m not Google bashing. I hate it when people just complain idly for no purpose other than to get attention. If you’re going to stir up controversy, have a reason. That’s all I ask.

Number two, this issue is important enough to me that if speaking out meant that I would lose all my Google traffic, I’d be fine with that. I get quite a bit of it from my rankings, and it provides me with many subscribers that flow into my sales system. So it would be a hit, but not so much of one that I’d cry for my mama.

However, I would not think it was fair, or right. If there’s one thing the blogosphere and the socialsphere should be teaching us is that we should listen to our customer’s feedback whether it’s good or bad, as long as it’s constructive in nature, without threatening them with some nebulous penalty for disagreeing with us.

I’m just saying this to say, if you’re a traffic expert, or an SEO expert and you’re reading these posts about the possible unfairness of Google… and they upset you …. and you’re not talking about it for fear of losing your traffic … please don’t tell me. You’d lose a lot of respect in my eyes.

Okay, having said all that, this is the situation.

Andy Beard, an SEO expert who is doing great things for the niche marketing and blogging community online, has been penalized by Google. It used to be that if you got penalized by Google, you very clearly and distinctly were taking a hit or wrist slap for doing something borderline. You stayed in the index but lost some of your privileges.

The thing is, I don’t see that Andy has clearly violated any of Google’s policies. And meanwhile, spam is getting worse, and content people can actually use to improve their web properties is buried. If this was going down on the street, I’d say a big gang was trying to take down its rivals.

And it would be a dangerous game to play because losing your search results doesn’t have to be a major hit to your business if you know all the other avenues of being successful online. Search engine traffic is great and I’m grateful for what I have. But wasn’t the fact that Yahoo’s inclusion and exclusion policies were so unclear part of the reason Google was able to grab the top position from them in the first place? Or is that just me?

Let me give you a quote from Andy’s blog to further illustrate my point:

Fair enough, for those people who have been caught selling links primarily for boosting search engine results.

The funny thing is I have seen so many blogs today that are selling Text Links who have not received a penalty, yet lots of sites that write high quality paid reviews penalized.

I am referring to the PR6+ sites with 10 or more text links in the sidebar that are totally off topic.

As per my previous article, I don’t believe this should cover editorial links that are given during a review that is a form of consultancy. I have always made that clear that that is the purpose of my reviews.

It really does seem I am being penalized based upon the Payment processor and market-place I display most prominently, PayPerPost, though I have seen a few sites that display other Paid Post badges also hit heavily.

The most prominent PayPerPost writers seem to have been hit the hardest.

He hasn’t done anything that is even borderline, while poeple blatantly violating policies are retaining their positions.

Does Google really think it’s a good public policy to hit the types of businesses that encourage people to buy pay per click ads on Google? And why does Google hate paid links so much when that’s essential what AdWords is, paying for link placement? Do they just not realize the problem?

Is Google the only company allowed to sell links and be listed in their index?

These are not rhetorical questions — if that’s Google’s policy, they should just tell us, very clearly. At the end of the day Google can do what it damn well pleases.

So can we. If there aren’t visitors to Google, and there aren’t customers who buy ad space at Google, there IS no Google. And I’ll very painfully close all my Google accounts and take my business elsewhere.

Just in case you think I’m a nut with where I’m going, read what Jennifer at Search Engine Guide is saying when she addresses a corrollary issue that has to do with No Follow. Or this one over at Blogger’s Journey.
Read Andy’s two posts about this issue, and tell me, do you think he’s getting a raw deal? Am I crazy for thinking he doesn’t deserve this? I don’t think Andy’s livelihood is at stake here, but man, what if it was — for not doing anything wrong? What would you do?

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