Google Policy

What Is Link Spam?

Link spam is Google's term for links created primarily to manipulate rankings rather than to help readers: links bought or sold for ranking credit, excessive exchanges, automated link creation, and links from networks built for the purpose.

Why it matters

It is the policy the entire paid placement market sits next to, so knowing what it actually names — and what the stated remedy is — lets you read a seller's promises accurately instead of relying on forum lore.

Example

A vendor offering five hundred contextual links a month across sites you are not allowed to inspect is describing automated link creation, which the policy names directly.

Common misconception

That every paid placement is link spam, or that spam links always bring a penalty. Google says its systems mostly discount links they do not trust rather than acting against the site, and links marked sponsored or nofollow sit outside the policy. The risk concentrates in undisclosed links built at scale.

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