Link in the footer

[puremobile]

we have a sponsored link in the footer of a website, and since that footer is displayed on each page of that site, it shows that we have thousands of links coming from that site.

my question is : does Google consider this as spamming? and does it help us , harm us, or has no effect?

[SanketPatel]

Yes... Google considers this as a spamming.

Read this blog, here you can know more about other bad link techniques : http://www.searchenginejournal.com/25-ways-to-get-penalized-in-2012/47245/. 9th point is about Footer Links.

Hope this will helps you..

[irvingw]

Yes lose it, you can get penalized for it. Is it only on that site and not a sponsored theme i hope? Ask them to make it a homepage only link and even better if they can put it in the content instead of the footer.

[cogbox]

I would be really surprised if you were to be actually penalized for a sponsor link like this. Particularly if the site is not a super-spammy link fest, and related to your industry. What is more likely to happen is that the weight of those inbound links will be discounted -- they just won't give you much benefit from an SEO perspective.

But, if it is a worthwhile sponsorship, meaning you get customers from those referrals, then by all means keep it!

If you are really paranoid you could ask them to add a no follow attribute to the link to your site.

[irvingw]

nofollow makes it safe because it takes away all PR being passed.

so if this is some sort of prominent button or link that brings you traffic and that is your objective then nofollow it.

If you are doing this for SEO (assume you are because this is a SEO community) it is not recommended to have sitewide footers and can get you penalized. I have seen it happen many times.

[cogbox]

You're probably right. No-follow would be the best solution.