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Google won't think it's shady... they recently released a video that says they follow multiple redirects (but if you have too many, it will reflect poorly). Why get rid of a redirect at all? I would set a canonical url as well as keep the 301 redirect.

If you noindex the short pages, Google will (or at least should) ignore them in search. This is a commonly employed tactic for large E-commerce sites to their indexed product pages to allow them to concentrate their efforts on the more mainstream product lines. Everett Sizemore covers this technique in his E-commerce SEO pro-webinar http://www.seomoz.org/webinars/ecommerce-seo-fix-and-avoid-common-issues Hope that helps

Good quetions. "Why are you creating a directory for your blog?" I already have a hand-made beginning of a directory of sorts--the major majors in some major categories. It is desirable on the site as it is a new industry and not everyone knows all the players. So, I am doing it to serve my readership and of course to then increase backlinks and visits to the site. "Is the blog an industry specific blog of some type?" Yes, it's specific, and it's a hot new industry with new vendors almost daily. "What are you hoping to gain from having the directory?" Backlinks and traffic. It's not really to get ad clicks on those page, but of course that would be nice. There really is no other good directory for this industry now. "Is it something they pay for or do you allow them to be on it for free?" Free. Although in the future I could always make it a profit center with premium placements, section sponsorship and the like. After thinking about these questions, maybe option #2 with the best. Well, it's the safest and the least amount of work. Although, I could go with option #1, and when they submit the description part I could tell them that if they want to control exactly as their listing appears they can submit unique content; otherwise we reseve the right to rewrite it in any way we like. And we can give them a Copyscape test for it so they know. Now, one other thing to consider: While many of the companies are small and not "brands" so much and I have a good chance to rank for them since my site is so strong, many are certainly brands and with Google the way it is now, I likely would not stand a chance to rank for the company names anyway.

Bizzer, First, you have to answer for what purpose are you doing this. Then, if you just want some content that is fresh, but not a lot of it, you could really go with an RSS feed. (Especially if by not in the same flow as your blog means sidebar content.) Also, as to textbrokers, etc. Here are some options: AP has different levels of 'membership' with different cost levels. You can get the type that is just getting news or you can actually be a member and rewrite their content as the newspapers do. (Frankly, some of their writers seem to get content that isn't theirs... ). You could simply hire a copywriter and give them a few parameters on what you want or don't and put out a couple of news pieces a week if cost is major consideration. You can find good copywriters who would do smaller pieces for hourly or less than big bucks. Depending on the type of news you want, use a form for your vendors to "fill out" about the story where there is enough info that you are a copywriter could rewrite for them. Then, let them use it and link back to you. (Frankly, I like this answer a lot). So, you get some basic info on the "news" they have, e.g. Bob McBob is new head of IT at supercomputers is us! They put in how long with company, education, age, three bullet points about his previous and three about new role, and you write a 100 to 200 word release on it. Company gets a nice piece for their site, you get a link and some news for yours. Well on 3 I would be curious as to where or how you are posting the news. And, you can use Adsense on a noindex page as long as it meets the other criteria for adsense. A caveat is the ads served may not be as relevant as on a followed page. Best of luck,

Now that is interesting, I'd never heard that. I thought dofollow or no follow only had to do with passing link juice. Anyone else concur with this?

Back at this, still looking.  Any help please?

DaringFireball.net must have very low time on site numbers though. There's nothing to read on that blog, and links take the user away from the site.  It's just a weird example that he chose.

Interesting that in DuckDuckGo.com and StartPage.com it is showing with the new title wording, and in increased position (#3 on DuckDuckGo.com).  Still not up there in google. Any idea if this means anything?

Thank you for the response. "I'd build a new adsense site on Lowcarddiet.com but I'd host it with a different company so I don't get penalized for having the same C block address for both sites." That damn Adsense is always a problem.  Making new entities is such a pain in California with the $800 LLC fee.  But it can be done, with or without an LLC.  I've faced this before and always end up thinking it's not worth the hassle. "Finally the most important question is whether you already have a presence on the first page for that keyword, if you've got the number one spot I would justify making the effort of getting another site there, if not then your time might be better spent improving your rank for that keyword." It's in the top five now, however, this keyword is going to be getting a ton more competition in the near future, and I'm thinking the EMD would really help.

When I have a page that is getting a lot of attention I write pages on related topics and link to them from the popular page.   Do your best to target different keywords but if that is not natural you might be rewarded with #1 and #2 listing for that keyword.