Woldhowl uncovered another in your face case of link selling by Google itself: http://www.wolf-howl.com/google/google-gives-free-pr8-links-to-paid-partners/ It's very similar to the W3C case.
Just look at the page: http://www.google.com/checkout/m.html |
It's worth noting that all the links under "Browse additional stores" are rendered using JavaScript from the below Google Spreadsheet feed, so no guice will be passed to them...
http://spreadsheets.google.com/feeds/list/o13419680420574654320.1842429693010805565/od6/public/basic?alt=json-in-script&callback=listMerchants
(I guess the companies with their logos at the top of the page, however, will be getting some link love.) |
So now you're not allowed to link to your customer's websites? Many sites feature testimonials, list of clients etc. Google didn't sell links because those companies don't use Checkout to get a link from that page.
Here's the cached version of the page: http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:www.google.com/checkout/m.html&strip=1 |
I think one of the things you've got to consider here is whether those companies signed up to be a Google Checkout partner purely to get that link back. I think the answer is quite obviously no. Would they still use Google Checkout if they didn't get linked to? I would reckon so... in which case, I don't think Google can be accused of selling those links. |
That's what I said.
<<Google didn't sell links because those companies don't use Checkout to get a link from that page. >> |