Google+ profiles and Rel Author. Extensive question

[IPINGlobal54]

A bit of a mammoth question for discussion here:

With the launch of Google+ and profiles, coupled with the ability to link/verify authorship using rel=me to google+ profile - A few questions with respect to the long term use and impact.

As an individual - I can have a Google+ Profile, and add links to author pages where I am featured. If rel=me is used back to my G+ profile - google can recognise me as the writer - no problem with that.

However - if I write for a variety of different sites, and produce a variety of different content - site owners could arguably become reluctant to link back or accredit me with the rel=me tag on the account I might be writing for a competitor for example, or other content in a totally different vertical that is irrelevant.

Additionally - if i write for a company as an employee, and the rel=me tag is linked to my G+ profile - my profile (I would assume) is gaining strength from the fact that my work is cited through the link (even if no link juice is passed - my profile link is going to appear in the search results on a query that matches something I have written, and hence possibly drain some "company traffic" to my profile). If I were to then leave the employment of that company - and begin writing for a direct competitor - is my profile still benefiting from the old company content I have written?

Given that google is not allowing pseudonyms or ghost writer profiles - where do we stand with respect to outsourced content? For example: The company has news written for them by a news supplier - (each writer has a name obviously) - but they don't have or don't want to create a G+ profile for me to link to. Is it a case of wait for google to come up with the company profiles? or, use a ghost name and run the gauntlet on G+?

Lastly, and I suppose the bottom line - as a website owner/company director/SEO;

Is adding rel=me links to all your writers profiles (given that some might only write 1 or 2 articles, and staff will inevitably come and go) an overall positive for SEO? or, a SERP nightmare if a writer moves on to another company? In essence are site owners just improving the writers profile rather than gaining very much?

[EGOL]

Just within the past few weeks I've started to see lots of "author photos" showing in the SERPs.  A couple people who I trust tell me that they are getting big traffic improvements where their author photo is showing.

I still don't have an author page (I don't like to build content on other websites unless I enjoy it or am being paid) but am starting lean towards making one.

I think that it is a mistake not to have one.  It's on my job list.

[NTM]

It's been a few months, I'm curious to see if you've stepped into the Google+ world, and if so, how you handle those rel=author issues as a company. I am facing a very similar situation as described above and landed here in my research.

[EGOL]

I don't have a google profile as I post anonymously and they don't allow anonymous profiles (those dummies!).

I own a website where most articles are written by staff and no author is listed.  (guest content does have author information)

I have thought about creating author pages on the site and pointing author links to them with rel=me.  However now it seems that google wants their Google profile pages as the target for rel=me links.  (what a way to demand links!)

Eventually, if I see that people are getting definite ranking benefits from Google profile pages, I will create a real profile page on Google.  I have tons of content that I could point to it.

[IPINGlobal54]

Thanks for your input EGOL, I was hoping you would spot this and chip in having seen your comments on Cre8asite.

Do you use g+ profiles in this fashion on any sites your run/manage? (or anyone else reading this for that matter?)

For those that have got it implemented - have you seen a rise in traffic from plus.google as a result? and/or a rise in ranking?

It might of course be a little early to tell yet - and googles promise of company profiles on g+ might have a workaround built in.

[EGOL]

Thank you for this question.  I think that it is interesting from multiple perspectives.

I think that we have a technology perspective in... "How will Google handle this?"....

But we also have an employer perspective in... "What do they think that they own and what will they permit?"

As an author I would like to think that I "OWN" the simple fact that I authored an article.  The employer might own the article, however, I would like to have credit for writing it.

Some employers would have no problem linking to my profile page with rel=me.

However, other employers might insist that they paid me for the article and "own" all credit for it - since they funded the time that I used to produce it.  Some will not want to display a link to my profile page because they worry about losing visitors through it... or PR through it....  and other might allow a link to a profile page but insist that the profile page be located on their domain.

This is a mucky problem, made sticky with issues of ownership, ego and more.

I think that the only solution for authors who write for multiple websites is to be sure that your expectation of a credit link is made very clear when you make a contract for work.  That will at least establish your expectation formally but there is no guarantee that a IT person, designer or an SEO will remove your link or the rel=me at some time in the future.

If you are an established author you might be able to explain how the link to your profile page will benefit the websites where your articles appear - as the search rankings for your articles might benefit from your personal authority as an author.... and if they want to control the benefit then they should be the buyer for all of your work.

The best solution (and my personal favorite) is to write only for your own websites where you have total control.