Negative SEO - Should we pay to have bad links removed?

[naveedlee]

Hey Guys,

I had lost almost all my rankings during the penguin / panda updates in April / May this year. Never recovered.

Today I was going through webmaster tools and realized that I have over 500 links from a linkfarm, freelynx.org

When I visited the freelynx.org homepage , it asked for a payment of $15 for have the links removed.

What do you guys think, should I pay them?

[Test-ok]

Try Good ol Doc.
Dr. Marie
at Web Traffic Dropped
She's specializing in it.

But on your specific question...all you can lose is another 15 dollars. I'd do it if thats one of the problems.

[naveedlee]

Try Good ol Doc.
Dr. Marie
at Web Traffic Dropped
She's specializing in it.

But on your specific question...all you can lose is another 15 dollars. I'd do it if thats one of the problems.

Thanks for the referral and recommendation!

Another question just popped up:

If I pay them, then they will know that I am a "paying victim", woudn't they then try to negative seo my site again using another of their linkfarms?

[Test-ok]

I hope not, they already did it once, But then I wouldn't put it past them to make what ever they could..they were scrupulousness to start with. Those kinda people are hard to figure out what they'll do..it falls under a tiger can't change their stripes kinda thing...if they wer to rip ya off I would assume they might not do anything, and just take the money but for 15 dollars, I would give it a shot.
Sorry you got sucked in by them.

[DarrenHaye]

Jeez No I wouldn't pay them.

One site linking to you wouldn't hurt you.

I had lost almost all my rankings during the penguin / panda updates in April / May this year.

What one is it? or do you believe it could be both.

Have you got google analytics or another analytics installed tracking visitors? when date or dates did your traffic drop.

[DarrenHaye]

EGOL agrees: "One site linking to you wouldn't hurt you."..... Are you willing to bet the entire income of a
website on that?

With penguin id say 100% yes, one site linking would not be a pattern, they couldn't make it that easy to hurt a site.

In a different circumstance, perhaps a manual penalty for a paid link, obviously that would be a different story.

[Test-ok]

If it's a link farm, which I'd make sure of first. and they are devalued then getting rid of 500 links from one place is a real option...especially if he got hit by Penguin...However I would consult with the Dr. first before doing anything.
But I would definitely make sure first.

[drwillie]

Thanks for the referral and recommendation!

Another question just popped up:

If I pay them, then they will know that I am a "paying victim", woudn't they then try to negative seo my site again using another of their linkfarms?

You raise a really good point. Since Negative SEO is now a reality, the door is really left open to all sorts of extortion schemes... One piece of good news is that I've read that Google discounts huge bursts of backlinks at any one time. So I guess that offers SOME protection, right?

[KernelPanic]

Hey Guys,

I had lost almost all my rankings during the penguin / panda updates in April / May this year. Never recovered.

Today I was going through webmaster tools and realized that I have over 500 links from a linkfarm, freelynx.org

When I visited the freelynx.org homepage , it asked for a payment of $15 for have the links removed.

What do you guys think, should I pay them?

File a reconsideration request (I know it's algorithmic, stay with me here) and include the extortion attempt in with it.

Just a thought

[naveedlee]

File a reconsideration request (I know it's algorithmic, stay with me here) and include the extortion attempt in with it.

Just a thought

I did file one, did not include the extortion attempt though, the reply was "No manual spam actions found"

[Belfast]

With penguin id say 100% yes, one site linking would not be a pattern, they couldn't make it that easy to hurt a site.

In a different circumstance, perhaps a manual penalty for a paid link, obviously that would be a different story.

I think I agree.

I'd still want rid of it though, but wouldn't pay them if I didn't put it up in the first place - would leave you open to scams (especially if it seems like one in the first place - so many scams thrive on lists of 'gullible' being passed around, and paying could add your site to a list).

When does this 'disavow links' tool come out for Google anyway - If they're struggling I have mates who could knock them one up in 25mins to a day - depending on how complicated it would be.

Maybe they're teaching people a bit of a lesson first - not to mess with the one and only Google - "mess with us, lose your income".

[terriwells]

Don't know if it's even possible to do, but...wouldn't it be neat if someone could make a tool that PREVENTED a site from actually linking to you? It would flag the link until you could examine the website linking, and if you liked the site you'd approve the link; if not, you'd tell it not to link to you, and the link wouldn't happen.

[gazzahk]

I did file one, did not include the extortion attempt though, the reply was "No manual spam actions found"

Then it is not the links. You will not recover by removing them. It is more likley you have seen the juice from your links devalued.

Therefore what you probably need is more juice.

Panda falls were for thin/duplicate content (mostly). If this affected you then you need to get rid/rewrite the thin/duplicate contnet...

[Belfast]

Don't know if it's even possible to do, but...wouldn't it be neat if someone could make a tool that PREVENTED a site from actually linking to you? It would flag the link until you could examine the website linking, and if you liked the site you'd approve the link; if not, you'd tell it not to link to you, and the link wouldn't happen.

Yeah, or sign up to something in WMT where they count NO links until you 'pass' them. Then webmasters would potentially be a bit more 'rightfully' responsible for their links - it's their own fault for 'accepting' a bunch of comment spam, directories, etc. - there would be no case for claiming 'negative seo' ever again.

[Dr.Marie]

I would be very doubtful that this is negative SEO. As others have mentioned, you need to be certain that this is Penguin before removing links. Now, in my opinion you still can have a Penguin issue even if google says no manual action was taken.

I think it's possible that one sitewide could trigger a Penguin filter but my guess is that if this is Penguin you've probably got a pile of other links that *you* think are natural but are not.

With that being said I've also seen too many webmasters that are chopping links thinking their issue is Penguin when it is not.

Oh yes, and regarding the $15, if this truly is a link that needs removing then that's a pretty small price to pay. But again, it's unlikely that this link is your only problem *if* you have a penguin issue.