Old Google Link Allows Page Rank Sales

[Garrett]

WebProWorld's been buzzing with talk of a link on one of Google's pages to a page (with PR 9) that sells links. That's right - it appeared that Google was deliberately sending PR to a page whose business was selling text links to the highest bidder.

The link was apparently taken down on the 27th.

Here's the Google page where it appeared: http://www.google.com/options/defaults.html.

Here's the page that Google linked to: http://gu.st/proj/SearchGoogle.html.

Google has a cache of the page with the link existing.

Rumors of how this happened ran from a disgruntled employee selling PR to a super hacker who discovered a back door into Google.

The truth, as discovered by Daniel Brandt of Google-Watch, is not so dramatic.

It started with Jack Gust, a programmer from St. Louis, Missouri. "Over two years ago, Gust wrote a program for the Apple Mac that allowed easy searching on Google. He began distributing it for free, and Google linked to it without asking him."

Gust moved the application and informed Google of the change, but the link from Google's site remained (of course he could have sold links on the page with the download too).

According to Brandt, two months ago an advertiser offered to buy a link, and he soon received more offers from other advertisers.

Bill Hartzer, who posted this first in WebProWorld, found the ad page Google was linking to by "checking backlinks and using Optilink to analyze all the backlinks of a site that had a PR8 that didn't really deserve to have a PR8--it was very suspect."

Read Daniel Brandt's account.

I first heard of this on SEORoundTable.

[bhartzer]

This has certainly been an interesting turn of events. Nothing ceases to amaze me, though.

[Daniel Brandt]

Google has a cache of the page with the link existing.

Not anymore. They cleaned up the cache copy too, just within the last 12 hours.

This is why we always grab screen shots as soon as we find something interesting that is within Google's control.

[valenkim]

I think its funny. It doesnt sound like he did anything wrong per sey.

I say more power to ya! I love it when the underdog gets a good bite in. ;)

Kimberly