Here at the official blog of Amplitude Digital, we’ve written a good bit about the hard-working, fair-minded genius that is Google Webspam Czar Matt Cutts.
We’ve also covered some pretty good ground on the general topic of “link-building,” with our general position being that you should generally avoid this not-so-smart practice.
Well, people being people, and trends being trends, not-so-hot SEO practices like link-building, link-buying and underground link networks continue to proliferate out there in cyberspace.
And also not surprisingly, Google and Cutts continue to catch them in the act. And punish them accordingly.
The most recent Black Hat Bad Boys of SEO to feel the deep Cutts of Google’s ever-sharp, every-ready e-knife?
That would be Anglo Rank and Backlinks.com.
The Anglo Rank bust was first reported by Search Engine Land on Dec. 6. Cutts himself confirmed the Anglo Rank punishment on his Twitter feed, directly quoting the questionable link network’s own marketing materials in his patented low-key yet no-nonsense style.
Cutts also told Search Engine Land blogger Barry Schwartz that Anglo Rank is not the only link network recently targeted and penalized (or about-t0-be-busted) by Google, Tweeting, “we’ve been rolling up a few.”
Not long after that, some Anglo Rank customers reportedly began receiving Google penalties (and huge drops in rankings), and the owner of Anglo Rank – who goes by the alias “bluematter” on the site Black Hat World – reportedly began reversing link orders.
And not long after that…Schwartz and Search Engine Land reported on the penalties levied against Backlinks.com. Once again, Cutts cleverly quoted the offending company’s own marketing materials in announcing the bust.
Just as we’ve opined here in this blog space before when it comes to many matters involving Google and its Top SEO Traffic Cop Cutts, we have the following to say about these most recent developments:
Good for Google. Bad for Black Hat SEO companies. Who got exactly what they deserved. Once again.
Our position here at Amplitude Digital always has been – and always will be – that SEO is, at its heart, a collection of best practices that everyone should use to build, maintain and grow their site. Even if Google didn’t exist, and there was no Cutts to crack down on dastardly digital marketing practices and practitioners, anyone who really wants to see true, long-term success and growth with their site and the business it represents should do their best to “do the right thing” on a daily basis.
Of course, Google very much exists, and now has so much money and reach, it’s casually purchasing things like “a mechanized cheetah”…and other military-designed robots. And Cutts very much is alive and well, and remains ever-ready to dole out punishments to those he deems deserving of them.
Of course, if you want to stay out of the Google jail – along with the Google jungle – the best advice is rather simple, straightforward and enduring.
Work hard. Play fair. And do your best to do the right thing.
