Google Fighting Back Against Link Spam
One important way that search engines such as Google can rank web pages is by analyzing the structure of the internet. By analyzing links that go from one website to another, search engines can score websites; this allows the search engine to determine the best authorities for certain topics and the best hubs of information for those topics. While this is a highly effective and intuitive way to rank websites, it is not without its flaws. As we saw during lecture and in the homework assignments, it is possible to create multiple websites linking to your website: effectively creating artificial links to boost your ranking. This practice is known as “link spamming” or “spamdexing.” The article that I will be discussing today is about Google’s recent efforts to combat this exploit of search algorithms.
Google’s update to its algorithms will involve the detection and nullification of spam links. This process will involve re-assessing any websites that were previously involved in link spam, giving these websites a new ranking. One important thing to mention in regards to this update is Google’s explicit use of the word “nullify” as opposed to “penalize.” What this means is that the changes will most likely involve Google removing any beneficial effects that come from link spam without penalizing websites for doing it. I believe that this is the best solution to the problem, as penalizing websites for link spam could lead to a different exploit: where websites spam the links of competitor websites to harm their rankings. By simply nullifying the spammy links Google can remove some of the incentives for taking part in the practice of spamdexing, without allowing innocent websites to get caught in the crossfire. In other words, Google’s change will only directly impact hub scores. While some site owners may find their rankings slightly dropped by this update, the lost ranking will only be points that were gained through improper means.
Source: https://searchengineland.com/google-search-link-spam-update-rolling-out-now-350770