It’s Time to Stop Selling Text Links

If you care about traffic from Google, it’s time to stop selling text links. They have confirmed that publicly now. I realize this may be pure FUD on their part, and I realize that I’m totally drinking their Kool-Aid, but if the largest source of my traffic says that they’ll penalize me for selling text links, then hey, I’m not going to sell text links. I’m going to find another source of revenue.

Now, some people I really respect have come out strong against Google for this and many other things recently, so I’m not saying it’s right nor am I saying it’s wrong. What I am saying is that they make the rules, and you better play by their rules if you want to stay in their game. Simple as that.

I don’t think it’s time for you to start promoting your site as if Google didn’t exist at all — you’d be crazy not to take advantage of the traffic they can bring you — but if your site is heavily reliant on Google as a traffic source, you better be sure you always stay well on the safe side of their guidelines. If you don’t, don’t be surprised to wake up one day to see your traffic graph do this.