Google has said in the past that they defuse links and ignore any pagerank they would pass if they determine their are paid or for the sole purpose of passing p

Google has said in the past that they defuse links and ignore any pagerank they would pass if they determine their are paid or for the sole purpose of passing pagerank. So, yes, there is a difference between penalties and devaluing links. edit: here's some of that discussion http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/text-links-and-pagerank/ http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/text-links-and-pagerank/