Is Zemanta Still Safe
-
I have a quick question, I have been watching a conversation on Google+ where someone pointed out that they have found someone using Zemanta (free) but someone have republished the same article over and over to lots of websites. I think they mentioned 12 detected so far. He was concerned that these links would start to be considered spam because they are all identical content on different urls.
I know Zemanta has been lauded as great and safe before, but John Mueller from Google has commented and stated that it could be considered a link scheme and therefore he "would not recommend" that it is used.
Be good to hear some others thoughts on it!
Paul
-
Looking at some Zemanta links in the wild, it doesn't seem too aggressive. Take for example, the bottom of this blog:
It depends on your goals. From a traffic perspective, as long as the links are relevant, it's fine. I can't tell you whether Zemanta will drive traffic to your particular site (I haven't used it), but it's certainly plausible. It probably depends a lot on your niche and the population of sites using the system.
From an SEO standpoint, my gut reaction is that it's fairly low-risk but may also be low-gain. Google could easily recognize these plug-in links and simply devalue them. I doubt a block of four relevant links is going to get outright penalized - it's more likely Google will just see this as a link-exchange of sorts and simply dial down the volume on those links.
That's not to say it's risk-free (we've certainly seen many link networks get hit in the past year), but I suspect that John was speaking in generalities and not about Zemanta in particular. On the other hand, no tool like this should be seen as some kind of panacea for link-building. It's just one piece of the puzzle for getting exposure and traffic.
-
hi guys,
thanks for the link, it seems that your question posted here, and the one in the Google+ conversation are not the same.
i thought you were asking about duplicates, and just wanted to stress that we simply suggest related content, and that what publishers do with them is entirely up to them. if spammers or anyone else takes that content and re-publishes it, it's a problem that we all have online these days.
the lower-quality links question from Rich is different. I have to defend our user base here, their profiles and their editorial control. we are making sure that only real-life bloggers are using our tools, for real-life posts. of course they will be of different quality, but we've learned that 'quality' is actually not easy to define, so we decided to rather focus on authenticity.
and on the other hand, of course seo professionals would prefer to have control over their links, but we will not allow for it, because the choice to publish something or not has to be editorial decision of the author.
i hope i'm not missing something
best, b
-
Hi Marcus,
Well perosnally I have been using it for brand building, but there is also the fact that it links back at the same time. I publish a lot of content so I get a fair few people linking back to me and it has been great but I need to be 100% as I dont want to unwittingly invoke a penalty.
Paul
-
Hey Paul
You have this straight from the horses mouth as it were, not that I am calling John Mueller a horse.
If you take one article, then duplicate it across other sites this is going to be at best pointless and at worst a negative equity.
I am no expert on Zemanta but you could possibly use this as a way to put more content out there as a branding exercise but I would not add links and you still can't get around the duplication issues.
Some questions to ask:
Do they use canonical URLs to the original source?
What are you trying to achieve here? If it is just links, then this is not the droid you are looking for.
Have a look and report back but I would be very careful.
Marcus
-
Hi Bostjan,
It was a comment made by Rich Voller at this discussion on Google+ where he spotted multiple links from a redistributed article while checking GWMT latest links.
I have emailed Rich and actually he has said that he loves Zemanta but wanted more confirmation before turning it back on. I think the fact a Googler jumped in and said it was bad was why he wanted the confirmation.
Rich was saying that a few lower quality links are not a problem in his case as if there were too many he could either contact webmasters to remove links or disavow them.
I see what Rich was saying but I don't always have time to check my "latest links" section too often and I would be concerned that if that happened too many times it could be detrimental to my sites.
Paul
-
hi all,
i'm bostjan spetic, ceo of zemanta,
thank you for the question, i'd love to hear more about that conversation, but the basic answer to your concern is that this problem isn't really tied to Zemanta in any way. If some someone links to you and someone else takes that article and reproduces it on 12 different sites (with that link included) then you cannot do anything about it. You can hope that google correctly notices stealing of content and ignores those 'same' links.
we are an editorial assistant, we take quality of recommendations as our primary concern, and manual editorial control of our users as the key product principle. I am happy to discuss the 'link scheme' question with anyone, because it simply is not correct or fair in any way.
thanks,
best, b
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Are niche directories still helpful as good links to have to help ranking in the serps?
Are niche directories still helpful as good links to have to help ranking in the serps or has Google discounted directories? The Niche directories that i would be using are not spammy at all and are quality sources of info. Thanks mozzers!
Link Building | | Ron100 -
Is Back Link Building still Good Practice
Since all the updates from Google I'm unsure as to whether I should be pursuing good quality back links and how many per month?for my website www.polesandblinds.com . We don't have a very large back link profile and its at least half of some of our competitors, we are currently active on blogging and the 4 main social sites. Many Thanks I look forward to your suggestions/advice/criticism.
Link Building | | JonnytheB0 -
Blog commenting still ok for 2013?
im trying to rank for some keywords but more importantly increase my Domain Authority its only a 15 and my Page Authority is 28 I need to increase those what would be a good way to start doing that. I do rank well for some keywords just not all Any ideas to help me build links and become a more relevant source. We have TONS of content compared to our competitors site name is www.greensidelawncare.com
Link Building | | gslc0 -
Google still allows massive link building in my country.
This is really messed up! I've been investigating this issue for almost a year now. I had discussion about this in SEOMoz before and people told me that my site was not optimized for SEO. However, I've finally come to conclusion that massive back link building is still the best way to rank in Google Turkey. Many high PR content websites do not seem to get their unique content ranked here because some shitty website can be ranked on the top by using back links with targeted anchors for the keyword they want. I've spent a lot of money for content but no it does not get listed unless I provide back links for each article. This does not happen in the US anymore. Google catches you for massive back link building and penalize you. SEOMoz authors suggest using social media more but it seems to have no effect whatsoever in Google Turkey. I really want to open a ticket for this in Google but don't know how to do it. Think about searching "urology" keyword in the US, would you see an informative website about urology or a site that contains a small article and wants to sell a bullshit product to you? If anyone knows how I can contact Google regarding to this, please let me know. Thanks.
Link Building | | mertsevinc0 -
Anyone Still Use Article Directories?
Thinking of phasing this out. Too many spammy links in these. Does anyone still use article websites for 'white hat' SEO? E.g. create a high-quality article, then post it using 'branded' anchor text, e.g. link is the name of the business or URL.
Link Building | | qlkasdjfw0 -
Is it safe to do a lot of links to a new post on an old domain?
Hi, I was wondering as far as being aggressive in link building can you add a lot of links to a new post on an aged domain? How many would you say is too much for the new pages if the over all domain has about 40k links? I am just wondering of a safe round about number monthly that can be done although I do realize this is site specific. I would trust your best guess. Thanks, ~JImmy
Link Building | | dreamfire0 -
Any one have a list of directories still good idea to submit too
I have a client who's competition is in the BBB, yahoo directory, best of the web sort of the standard ones. My client is empathetic about being in more places than their competition so a i am hoping for some help. I wasnt sure if the seomoz content of this is really relevant, seems a little dated on this specific topic.
Link Building | | EvolveDigitalLabs0 -
Are Linkwheels still a good thing to do?
Hello , readers. I have been making a website and trying to promote it now. I have these questions: Are Linkwheels still a good thing to do? Are they good to do for a new domain site? Thanks in advance
Link Building | | voitenkos0