Want someone to take you seriously? An effective (if inelegant) way of getting attention is to flash some cash. That practice may also, as it turns out, get you a link from Google.
Send $2,000 to Dell, which both manufactures and sells the Google Search Appliance, and you’ll get a yellow piece of hardware in return. You’ll also likely be listed on a page of “Mini Customer Success Stories.” Some of the companies named there obviously aren’t in it for the link – what does the Arizona Federal Credit Union care about search engine rankings? – but others probably are.
Barry Schwartz points to Neutralize, which is in the business of search engine marketing. And more than one company’s name ends in “.com” – it’s hard to believe they didn’t notice what they were getting into.
That’s not to condemn this practice – I find it more odd than objectionable, and Schwartz doesn’t believe any nofollow tags are necessary. He points out, though, “I think Matt would think otherwise.”
Whatever anyone thinks, a change in the near future is unlikely – Schwartz also points out that Scott Woodard documented this practice about six months ago.
