Google Link Spam Update Is Here: What Is It?

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In an interview, Google Inc.’s Duy Nguyen, a search quality specialist, said that a link spam update would be sent out from the last week of July to the second week of August. This link spam update focuses on spammy links in a broader sense and a variety of languages.

Google announced that to improve the quality of search results, they will implement a new link spam-fighting upgrade known as the link spam update. This algorithm update, which has been in place for a week and will continue for another week, is even more effective at detecting and eliminating link spam across many languages.

google link spam update
Google Link Spam Update

Furthermore, Google’s algorithms will re-evaluate the links used in link spam, causing changes in search results.

Google went on to say that site owners should make sure they’re following best practices for both incoming and outgoing attachments. When it comes to managing links, focusing on providing high-quality content and improving user experience always wins out.

As a result, website owners should use adequately marked links to raise awareness of their sites. And monetize them with appropriately tagged affiliate links.

Nullifying Link Spam

In their release, Google used the word nullifying, which does not necessarily mean penalize, but rather disregard or not count. Since the release of Penguin 4.0 in 2016, Google’s efforts to combat link spam have ignored and not counted spammy links.

google link spam update
Google Link Spam Update

Furthermore, while Google may not punish your site for these spammy links, it may feel like a penalty if Google ignores or nullifies connections that may have helped a site rank well in Google Search. In essence, if you notice a decline in your grades in the coming weeks, it may be due to this update.

As a result, Google’s Duy Nguyen wrote a blog article regarding link spam and best practices. Which you can find online.

Google Link Tag Best Practices

When linking out to other sites, Google encourages site owners to classify links appropriately. Where there is a value transaction between the two domains, websites must include tags to links.

Thus, affiliate links and links from sponsored and guest posts get single out by Google. Therefore, here’s what Google suggests for each link type:

Affiliate Links

Google requires affiliate program participants to tag their links with rel= “sponsored”. Regardless of whether they were made manually or dynamically.

affiliate links
Affiliate Links

Links From Sponsored Posts

You should use the rel= “sponsored” value to markup links that are advertising or paid placements.

sponsored posts
Sponsored Posts

Links From Guest Posts

You should use the rel= “nofollow” for links from guest articles.

guest posts
Guest Posts

Conclusion

The information scattered throughout Google’s announcement suggests focusing on sponsored, guest, and affiliate content links. The announcement that Google made started with a kind reminder to use rel values when marking up affiliate material.

However, the news regarding this algorithm modification isn’t disclosed yet. As a result, this indicates that Google wants site owners to pay heed to its recommendations for handling links within material where there is a value exchange.

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