If you haven't checked out Sage Lewis's daily commentary on all things Internet marketing at Web Marketing Watch, I encourage you to do so. I hooked up with Sage earlier today to discuss the site and its benefits to his SEO business.

Labels: Internet marketing, video

Is it just me, or is Google taking longer to count a backlink once it finds one? Granted, there are a lot of variables here, such as the level of trust from the site linking to another, but in general, Google seems to be initiating some sort of timing filter for new links.

With the advent of such sites as Pay Per Post and Text Link Ads, this was inevitable. And considering the recent stink at SES about link acquisition, the issue is obviously on Google's radar in a big way.

The funny thing is how much less importance link popularity may have in Google's future when they look at ranking sites. The company is clearly moving toward a world where popularity is counted in more ways than backlinks by tracking things like time spent on a site, number of RSS feeds and loyalty.

To put the smackdown on links almost seems like a diversionary tactic, keeping SEOs focused on links while they gradually give more weight to other things. Don't get me wrong, backlinks will always be in Google's DNA. However, by initiating some filters and focusing on other initiatives, they'll catch a lot of SEOs asleep at the wheel.

Labels: search engine strategies