In the UK, there are thousands of local sports clubs that have links to their sponsors. You can buy these links for small sums of money. This is the same as you

In the UK, there are thousands of local sports clubs that have links to their sponsors. You can buy these links for small sums of money. This is the same as your apache example in theory but the intention is different, it's a clear attempt to manipulate rankings while the apache links are just a side benefit. I doubt microsoft and such would care either way?