Can hotlinking images from multiple sites be bad for SEO?

[OptiBacUK]

Hi,

There's a very similar question already being discussed here, but it deals with hotlinking from a single site that is owned by the same person.

I'm interested whether hotlinking images from multiple sites can be bad for SEO.

The issue is that one of our bloggers has been hotlinking all the images he uses, sometimes there are 3 or 4 images per blog from different domains.

We know that hotlinking is frowned upon, but can it affect us in the SERPs?

Thanks,

James

[TomRayner]

Hi James

A lot of this will depend on the site you're linking to.

It's long been a part of the ranking algorithm that if you link to sites that are seen negatively by Google, due to spam/malware/etc, then your site may be viewed negatively itself.  Without knowing where your blogger has been linking from, it's hard to say - but it's worth running a check just in case.

[TakeshiYoung]

You are definitely missing out on image traffic by not hosting your own images. Plus, hotlinking is poor netiquette since you are using someone else's bandwidth without their permission. If the images are copyrighted, then you could be hit by DMCA requests which can negatively impact your SEO.

[OptiBacUK]

Surely that only works if it's an actual link, right? Simply using the tag shouldn't be regarded as a link by Google?

[Alex-Harford]

Takeshi is right. Bandwidth can cost money, so there's that as well as the copyright theft. You could also fall victim to a 'switcheroo': http://www.deuceofclubs.com/switcheroo/index.html - I've done this myself before by adding a polite message asking someone not to hotlink.

Google don't include hotlinked images in Google News so it is something they may take into account when ranking a page in their general search.

[CreativeJar]

Create and host your own image or use a royalty-free image so you won't suffer from someone claiming copyright, this should be your biggest concern here.

[TomRayner]

Sorry, I assumed you meant you were hotlinking images, rather than just embedding them.  If you're just using tags with no <href> defined (so just embedding, not hotlinking), then you're right - this won't cause a problem.</href>

[djlaidler]

Another thing to consider is that requesting images from multiple sites will create a lag in load times.  Most modern browsers will download multiple files in parallel from the one host. Multiple hosts will mean the page load will occur in series (not parallel) and this will create a slower load time.

Hope this helps!

Dan

[irvingw]

Excuse me, it's late in the day. Embedding is still referencing the sites image URL right?

Also, what if the site changes the directory or something and all the images on your site now 404.

[Alex-Harford]

That's confused me too! Embedding an image from another site is hotlinking. A href doesn't have anything to do with it.

[OptiBacUK]

Okay, so hotlinking is the wrong terminology to use. Do you think embedding images is taken into account by Google?

For example, would Google see spammy sites embedding lots of images, and therefore use it as an indicator of spam?

[OptiBacUK]

Sorry, hotlinking was the wrong word to use, we're actually just embedding the images.

Is it possible that Google recognises that spammy sites (as an example) tend to embed lots of images and therefore use it as an indicator of spam?

Also, is poor netiquette ever taken into account? Again, maybe because Google is trying to find spammy sites?

For the record, it is something we'll be fixing (especially from a copyright point of view), but we're trying to prioritise this. If there's a potential SEO impact, we'll sort it quick, if not, then we'll do more pressing things first.