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Could a site owner be penalized for selling backlinks to others?

# SEO
January 17, 2015
Kirin Author Level 1

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I would like to earn a little extra money from my website by selling links on site. Would Google know these links are paid links? Is there some type of penalty?
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Comments 5

January 20, 2015
Beverly
If Google finds out you are selling do follow links, (links that pass page rank), they can penalize your site by removing it from Google search. If you are solely dependent on search engine traffic, that could be a big deal. If not, then you can do as you want.


Buying or selling links that pass PageRank can dilute the quality of search results. If you believe a site is engaged in buying or selling links that pass PageRank, please tell us about it. Buying or selling links that pass PageRank is in violation of Google's Webmaster Guidelines and can negatively impact a site's ranking in search results.



source: https://support.google.com/webmast...swer/93713?hl=en

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Corzhens
It is a disaster if the site is removed from the Google search which means the site cannot get any traffic anymore with whatever SEO work done on it. As I see it, the only recourse is to abandon that site or better yet delete all the contents and move it to a new site so you can operate legally again. Therefore it is not a good way to earn by selling backlinks. Perhaps some people think of selling because there is a demand.

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January 25, 2015
Tandy
Google could find out you have sold links on your site, but only if someone reported you. And, what's the chances that someone visiting your site can tell the difference between an organically placed backlink and one that was paid for?

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January 26, 2015
EveAngeline
Just sell links to sites that are similar to yours, in that way they won't look out of place. For instance, if you are an internet marketing blogger, it would be perfectly natural to sell links to other webmasters who blog about SEO, webmaster and social media services. However, it would seem odd if you sold links to pet care websites.

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January 9, 2018
vinaya
If you are selling unrelated backlinks (for instance giving backlink to a game blog from your health blog) or sharing excessive links on your website, you might be penalized. Furthermore, if you are using too many links on your page, you basically giving away your traffic, which might harm your website.

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