9 ms·

Is rule 1 of trying to game PageRank not to avoid Google email addresses?

jermaustin1 6y ago
I didn't say I was smart. Also if you block @google emails you will just get them signing up with another email address, so why even try to block them. And once they pay for a service, you cant not deliver, because that would constitute fraud. We tried to just fly under their radar, and avoid any automated trigger that would arouse their suspicion.
- jfk13 6y ago
  And your conscience still allowed you to sleep at night? All this seems like a nice illustration of how the web ecosystem encourages parasitic behavior on so many fronts. It's sad.
  - jermaustin1 6y ago
    What do you mean? We sold links on websites filled with unique content we paid for... We were masking those domains from google because google penalizes selling backlinks to justify paying for their ads. My conscience is quite clear. When google delisted our network, we refunded our customers and moved on to a smaller invite only network that ran well for years. I left that company 6 or 7 years ago, but I'm sure they are still making some money off hosting and managing private blog networks.
  - konjin 6y ago
    > And your conscience still allowed you to sleep at night? The average American endorses slavery in their clothes, Christmas decorations and electronics. By comparison creating some bad links in a search engine is so low on my list of moral failings it doesn't even register.
    - RandoHolmes 6y ago
      endorses is too strong a word here. I get your intent, but as an American I don't endorse anyone having slavery in their supply line.
      - ilovetux 6y ago
        I agree, perhaps "facilitates" might be a better fit
- ValentineC 6y ago
  > And once they pay for a service, you cant not deliver, because that would constitute fraud. Underperform, and then offer them a goodwill refund if they ask for it?
  - jermaustin1 6y ago
    SEO is already to snake-oily to do something like that. We had principals, we did our best for our customers and our clients. If we did fail in trying our best at least we could sleep knowing we weren't actively trying to screw over our paying customers.

I didn't say I was smart. Also if you block @google emails you will just get them signing up with another email address, so why even try to block them. And once they pay for a service, you cant not deliver, because that would constitute fraud. We tried to just fly under their radar, and avoid any automated trigger that would arouse their suspicion.

jfk13 6y ago
And your conscience still allowed you to sleep at night? All this seems like a nice illustration of how the web ecosystem encourages parasitic behavior on so many fronts. It's sad.
- jermaustin1 6y ago
  What do you mean? We sold links on websites filled with unique content we paid for... We were masking those domains from google because google penalizes selling backlinks to justify paying for their ads. My conscience is quite clear. When google delisted our network, we refunded our customers and moved on to a smaller invite only network that ran well for years. I left that company 6 or 7 years ago, but I'm sure they are still making some money off hosting and managing private blog networks.
- konjin 6y ago
  > And your conscience still allowed you to sleep at night? The average American endorses slavery in their clothes, Christmas decorations and electronics. By comparison creating some bad links in a search engine is so low on my list of moral failings it doesn't even register.
  - RandoHolmes 6y ago
    endorses is too strong a word here. I get your intent, but as an American I don't endorse anyone having slavery in their supply line.
    - ilovetux 6y ago
      I agree, perhaps "facilitates" might be a better fit
ValentineC 6y ago
> And once they pay for a service, you cant not deliver, because that would constitute fraud. Underperform, and then offer them a goodwill refund if they ask for it?
- jermaustin1 6y ago
  SEO is already to snake-oily to do something like that. We had principals, we did our best for our customers and our clients. If we did fail in trying our best at least we could sleep knowing we weren't actively trying to screw over our paying customers.