What is the difference between advertizing and a paid link?

[casper434]

I have been told that google frowns on paid links yet I see many site charging for advertizing and the advertizing consists of an anchor text link. What is the difference between a paid link and this type of advertizing?

[stefanok]

Hi Brett

Great question. Firtly let me start off by saying clarifying some terms : Pey Per Click(PPC) and CPM cost per 1000 impressions. These are the two most basic forms of "advertising" which can be found on Google and Google Networks.

Google Ads

Google is a search engine - duh! So the PPC and CPM campaigns are geared towards returning results and adverts which are related to that users specific rearch requiremnts. These adverts can be very effective, asd they appeal directly to that users search patterns and search criteria. Keeping this in mind, the "advertisers" have more of a likely chance to attract targeted traffic which in turn can be converted to a potential sale.

CPC campaigns genarally are associated with companies trying to get high convesrions for really competitive markets on a limited budget. Not a rule just though at all.

CPM campaigns are genrally used to be in your face advertising and branding campaigns as if done correctly, the overall longterm running of these adverts can be low.

For both of these types. Remember quality of advert and research is vital to improve conversions and lowering costs over time. Research , Research, Research is key.

General Website Advertising

Advertsing on other website is very broad. Form what i can gather you are refering to buying sponosred links on other websites. This can be very valuable if done correctly. However, if not done correctly then you could do much harm on your website.

Choose webistes that are relevant to your market. The difference here is that the link can add an authoritive link pointing to your website which in turn ups your authority.

For more information please have alook over this great articles and the refernaces:

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/paid-links-can-you-rank-well-without-them

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/our-stance-on-paid-links-link-ads

Hope this helps, regards Stef

ps. Edit: Misread your question..lol..apologies but im sure the refreances below will answer your question.

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/paid-links-can-you-rank-well-without-them

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/our-stance-on-paid-links-link-ads

[watchcases]

To be in compliance with Google's guidelines, advertisements should be clearly labeled as ads and should not pass link juice. There are a number of ways to do this, such as using the nofollow attribute. These links can be good for generating traffic directly. Google has no problem with paid links that are clearly labeled as ads, but they will do nothing for your SEO.

Other types of paid links hide the fact that they are paid for. This can help the rank of the page linked to and make it appear higher in the search engine results. These paid links can also hurt your SEO if not done carefully, as they violate Google's webmaster guidelines.

[casper434]

As I understand this issue, if the paid link is aimed at getting traffic and not aimed at getting link juice it should be ok but how does one know if link juice is being passed by the link before the link is placed. It can certainly be checked after for no follow.