Link or Ad

[CHiP_RuN]

I recently requested a link back from a site that is ranking 2nd for a term that i'm working on and they said they would gladly give me the link and remove my competitors but would also like me to have an ad on the same page for an annual fee that i could link to a landing page. I know that paying for links is no good and google can penalize you.

so do i pay them and do a no follow to the landing page from the ad and call it a day? and how does google differentiate an ad from a link?

[danatanseo]

Hi Claude. I think this is a great question. I don't think Googlebot, in most cases, can tell the difference between an ad or a link. I say that because I see both the sites I manage and our competitors showing inbound links from sites that, when investigated, often turn out to be banner ads or even Google display ads.

If the site you are striking up this relationship is reputable, I wouldn't worry about it. I would ask only one question: Does linking to this site, either via a paid ad that links to a landing page or any other way, hold any value to visitors of your site? Will it do something for them? Will it add to your credibility in their eyes? Will it offer them something? (Even if it;s just information that's relevant to them) ??

If the answer to all of those is no...I wouldn't do it. If the answer to any one of them is yes, I'd do it and I think you'll be just fine.

This is just my opinion. I am interested to hear what others have to say about how Googlebot sees paid ads that produce links versus a regular text link scenario.

Dana