Are newspapers buying links now?
March 10, 2011
2 Comments
An interesting email thread has been passed my way. It started off with the standard sort of link building approach:
I'm from newspaper X [I've removed the names / subjects to protect the innocent]. I love your site. Here's a post I've read to prove I like it. I see you've written about Y. Is there any chance you could link to our page about Y? Thanks - did I say I loved your site?
The site in question replied asking if they could return the favour. The answer was no - with a follow up that said "If there's anything else you would require in return then please let me know, and perhaps we can come to an agreement."
Sadly, the email exchange ended there, so we'll never know whether money would fall under the category of "anything else" ...
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That would be an ironic twist on the recent newspapers who have been caught selling paid links. Fingers crossed someone catches them out.
On newspapers said to be selling links, do SEOs understand newspapers' business models? They don't take cash for the editorial their publish but they sell space alongside to advertisers and that advertising might be a list of keyword links headed Resources or it might be display ads. It's their pages and as long as they aren't taking cash for their editorial they can sell whatever format legal ads they like around it.