Google Display Network

[TP_Marketing]

Hello!

Ive been analyzing  my competitors backlinks and see a large number of their google display ads shows as (alt text).  I do have a google adwords account but stayed away from it in the past opting to use the search network only to keep cost down.  Do the images count as a backlink if I can see them in the Seomoz tool?

Thank You!!

[BenFox]

Images from the GDN don't count as "real" links whether you can see them in Open Site Explorer or not.

[TP_Marketing]

HELLO!

So event though I can see them google will NOT count them?

Thanks!

[TheSEODR]

If the image links or any links are from the Display Network, Google can identify this and will not pass any link juice to the site.

Essentially, if those links counted then it would be like buying links to rank higher on SERPs. I would also thoroughly search the page to make sure that your competitor's image link isn't also in the body of page.