WebProNews

Want someone to take you seriously?  An effective (if inelegant) way of getting attention is to flash some cash.  That practice may also, as it turns out, get you a link from Google.

Send $2,000 to Dell, which both manufactures and sells the Google Search Appliance, and you’ll get a yellow piece of hardware in return.  You’ll also likely be listed on a page of “Mini Customer Success Stories.”  Some of the companies named there obviously aren’t in it for the link - what does the Arizona Federal Credit Union care about search engine rankings? - but others probably are.

Barry Schwartz points to Neutralize, which is in the business of search engine marketing.  And more than one company’s name ends in “.com” - it’s hard to believe they didn’t notice what they were getting into.

That’s not to condemn this practice - I find it more odd than objectionable, and Schwartz doesn’t believe any nofollow tags are necessary.  He points out, though, “I think Matt would think otherwise.”

Whatever anyone thinks, a change in the near future is unlikely - Schwartz also points out that Scott Woodard documented this practice about six months ago.