Linkbuilding - Suspicious? Seems like they still help!

[Impact-201555]

I know we should be careful of suspicious links, and that google may davalue them or even penalize, especiallysince the latest update.

It seems though, however it really hasnt caught up to alot of them yet.

And alot of competition is still benefitting from what seems like all garbage links in their backlink profile

So could someone give their opinion about links form pages like this, assuming it is a mix of this along with other  "better" types of links?

http://www.bmxplusmag.com/index.php/member/4817/

See the bio at the bottom. "At least" it is within copy, and only one link to the page?

(Please do not reply with a simple "be careful" message)

Also, does anyone have any update, on the benefit of TextLinkAds, since the recent algo update?

Thanks

Sam

[flowsimple]

Eventually they may, especially if too many people start to exploit it. It took them over THREE years to negate the link farms. And that's the main frustration. You can stay purists and avoid any/all unnatural or black hat tactics, but in the mean time it feels like a missed opportunity too.

[Andy.Drinkwater]

"but could there be a way of Google gauging this and maybe counting number of posts/replies within each of the forum to see if the person is actually active?"

I think that is something that only Google could confirm, and aren't likely to. Best thing is steer clear of anything remotely black hat and sit back and laugh at those that suffer when Google does start targetting these - because they might at some point!

Andy

[DanHill]

I'd agree that it's unnatural - but could there be a way of Google gauging this and maybe counting number of posts/replies within each of the forum to see if the person is actually active?

Just a thought

[flowsimple]

You mean the link in the profile bio? I don't think Google is devaluing or negating those types of links yet, and may never. So far the current news and attention has been specifically on link farms and .edu links. Forum profile links will likely still boost rankings.

And while there's no official definition or framework on what types of links are considered "natural" I'd say creating a boat load of forum profiles for link value is an unnatural tactic.