Google seems to be reducing the PR of sites that sell links and possibly reducing their rankings this week. We have seen some high profile cases where this was suspected but until this weekend it wasn’t confirmed.

Why Google chose to confirm it to a blog rather than on their official webmaster help page isn’t clear but I assume they will make some kind of announcement soon.

The main issues for people who sell links is a clear case of how much income you make compared to the income you might make once Google catches up with you.

The really interesting debate comes when you consider how link buyers will be affected by all this. We have seen several sites stop ranking for their own name which is a pretty easy penalty to spot. All link buyers should check that the page they are getting a link from ranks very well for the terms in its title tag – if it doesn’t then don’t buy the link unless you have very good reason.

Google isn’t giving the same penalties to every site however, some people are noticing no change in traffic or Google rankings but are noticing a small drop in PageRank. It is fair to assume that any site that suffers a reduction in PR after Google catches them selling links isn’t going to be a good place to buy a link from, but how can you tell?

The key method I use is to conduct a thorough analysis of the site through the eyes of a Google engineer. Search the site for things like “loans” or “mortgages” and any terms you think might appear in paid links. Check every single page of the site and avoid any site which has sitewide external links unless they exist for a very good reason.

At the end of the day you want your link to look 100% natural when Google decides to take a look at it. If you can’t make it look natural don’t waste your money.