One of the things that I've had to remind myself (and others) about Google is that first and foremost, it's a business.  Plain and simple.  They're not out to make the world a better place and they're not out to help anyone but themselves.  It's the nature of business and you can't really fault them for their corporate ambitions.

That being said, a number of posts at Google engineer Matt Cutts' blog has many in the blogosphere up in arms.  While there's still some speculation as to the exact nature and future consequences of his comments, Cutts has made it clear that Google is going to start looking at paid links more closely in the future.  But he didn't stop there.  He made a point of addressing sponsored links in WordPress themes and then asked for help in reporting paid links to Google.

The Gist of the Message

It's no big secret that Google doesn't like paid links.  They created an industry for paid links by creating an algorithm that weighs linkage in determining a site's rank.  And as Michael Gray points out, they didn't plan for such an industry so they're doing some back-peddling.  The problem is that Google's computer-based algorithm sucks at figuring out which links are paid and which aren't.

But as Rae Hoffman points out, asking webmasters and Internet users to report websites that may be selling links is akin to creating a group of Mountain View Witch hunters.  Google can't always determine which links are paid and which aren't so they want you to tell them when you think another website is selling/buying links.  It'd be very easy for competitors to game the heck out of Google to hurt one another.

Basically… Google wants you to advertise using their system and no one else's.  This is simply one step toward that goal.  If you're surprised at this move… just wait.  I'm sure they're not done.  While I doubt they'd ever come out and explicitly say it, they want it to be so inconvenient and so much hassle to use non-Google advertising services that website owners simply go with Google because it's easier.

What it Means

We don't know for sure, yet.  Cutts didn't explicitly say that websites selling links would be delisted or otherwise penalized.  But if memory serves me well, I'd guess that penalization will eventually result from these changes.  Google doesn't often start cracking down on something unless it plans to take action against whatever it is they don't like.

Cutts suggests using "rel=nofollow" tags on paid links and other non-organic linkage on your site.  And while Google has always said the best thing for the web is what's good for the user (as opposed to what's good for the search engine), it now appears they're back-peddling on that as well and asking website owners to put machine-readable disclosures on all paid links.

And as I mentioned before… this new focus also means you could be turned in by an over-zealous competitor as a link seller… and be forced to confess your sins and apologize to Google.

What Should We Do?

My honest, gut reaction is to simply ignore this.  No, I'm not crazy.  I'm irritated.  If Google thinks it can dictate how website owners use their own space, they've got another thing coming… I hope.  If Google wants to start penalizing all of the sites out there that get reported for selling links, so be it.  Let them do it.  I mean, it is their search engine.  They can do whatever they want with it.

If website owners out there just ignore this policy crack-down and keep doing what they're doing, Google's index will be the thing that suffers in the long-term.  If they delist or bump or whatever every site out there selling links, the Google index will become garbage.  Sure… it'll hurt us all for a while.  But eventually enough becomes enough and folks have to put their foot down.  Google isn't the only search engine / service provider out there, people.

If Google keeps chipping away and restricting what website owners can and can't do with their private property… and people let them… nothing will ever change.  And before long, Google won't just be the start page of the Internet.  It will be THE Internet.  All of the scare mongering and conspiracy theory surrounding Mountain View could be become a reality if we let it.

Seriously people… stop and think about it.  Who controls the Internet?  The people using it do.  Not any government.  Not any regulatory board.  And certainly not Google.  But if webmasters continue to fall over themselves to respond to every beckon and call from Google, that will change… and we'll all be writing for Google in the future.  Cutts already suggests that the FTC and Google are equally powerful bodies in a comment on his blog.

I'm not sure what's worse:  Google in control of the Internet or the federal government…

Further Commentary:  Pandia Search Engine News, johnon.com, Marketing Pilgrim