Google Bowling

Have you heard about the latest "sport" in dirty online business?   It's called Google Bowling and it represents a gaping flaw in   Google's system that allows your competitors to sabotage your   site to the point of getting it banned or penalized. 

   This can't happen, right? I mean, Google would have us believe   their algorithms are not easily manipulated and that your rankings   are safely under your (and their) control. But in fact there's a   chink in Google's armor that can have massive consequences for   any web business unfortunate enough to have aggressive and   unethical competitors.    Here's the loophole, explained    It all began with Google's aggressive attempts to curb link   popularity manipulation by penalizing sites that purchase   site- wide text link ads to get lots of incoming links in a   hurry. (eg: If the ad selling site had 1,000 pages, the   advertiser's link would instantly be on 1,000 pages.)      

Google began filtering sites that indulged in this kind of   linkage and either penalized or flat-out removed the site from   its database. Bad news for that business. Excellent news for   their competition. Can you guess what's coming next?    Certain scoundrels began thinking: "If buying site-wide text link   ads en masse will get my site into hot water with Google, why   not buy them for my competitor's site instead? Then just sit back   and wait for Google to solve my number one business headache...   the competition." (Cue evil laughter sound track.)    This, ladies and gentlemen, is Google Bowling. Simple. Devious.   Devastating. And not just in theory; it's really happening out   there.    Here at eTrafficJams.com, we are hearing from a lot of businesses   whose sites once enjoyed great rankings (ours included) and now   don't even show up in Google for their own company name.    A small loophole has turned into a devastating black hole,   sucking in and wiping out countless quality websites in the   process. And it just may be their competitors sending them into   the abyss.      

Is your head spinning yet? I mean, it was bad enough knowing that   with every Google update, your business may go up or down in the   rankings depending on the whims of the Google geeks. But now add   into the mix the fact that your competitors also have a hand in   your search engine health and wellness... well, Houston, we have   a problem.    Although this would be a fortuitous time for me to suggest that   the solution to this problem is hiring a reputable SEO firm   (like www.eTrafficJams.com) to watch over your rankings, I shall   resist the temptation. Instead, I'd like to offer Google - as if   they're listening - a simple solution to this nasty problem.    Right now, Google hands out either rewards or harsh penalties for   linking strategies - good rankings to reward good linking   techniques, and penalties, such as the now-infamous sandbox, to   punish un-cool, manipulative linking practices. But there isn't   any middle ground.    I say why not create a neutral response... a filter that simply   ignores questionable links, neither rewarding nor punishing   them?   

• 1) Innocent victims of Google Bowling don't get hurt.   

• 2) If the dubious links actually were perpetrated by the business   at the receiving end of them, Google would exclude those links   and the site would gain nothing. It would simply be throwing ad   money out the window (unless, of course, it was buying site-wide   ads in vehicles that generated relevant traffic).  

• 3) Google's reputation for delivering accurate and fair search   results would be restored