Like most SEOs, I track the rankings of a myriad of sites, both client and competitor. I follow trends and when something weird happens, particularly on Google, I try and figure out what variable may have caused such a change in rankings, either positive or negative.

A recent event makes me believe that Google is penalizing sites that have signed up to be reviewed on Pay Per Post.com, the controversial service that enables bloggers to get paid for writing about a site of their choice in PPP's client database.

Surprisingly, many believed PPP had the blessing of Google and other engines after recent responses at SES in Chicago claiming such services were OK. The conference, however, may have been the red flag Google needed to put the smackdown.

A penalty certainly wouldn't be surprising. Getting the list of sites that have signed up to be reviewed and written about, complete with exact anchor text required in each post, only takes signing up as a blogger.

It's too early to tell if this penalty is a "for sure" thing, but knowing Google's history, it wouldn't surprise me one bit. And if it comes to light that this is happening, it will probably be the end of PPP as we know it today, as well as stifle the creation of other such services.

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Labels: pay per post, payperpost, review me