The True Quality Of Link Brokers / Auctions

[Anthony Parsons]

Has anyone actually had any success getting something decent out of a link broker / link auction? I have tried, and let me just say, nothing! Link Auctions just get all upset when you don't pay because the link is fraudulent, but don't have a leg to stand on, and link brokers just try and sell rubbish drug and college related links. Where exactly does any sort of value stem for clients being listed on a college website? These are the people generally living on the bones of their butts to get themselves through school. Not exactly where the money is.

Now these companies I have investigated and attempted to get some sort of quality service from are all the top ranking companies for their relevant terms. I think these people kept all the good stuff, used it themselves to get where they are and then run out of steam.

Has anyone actually got any sort of quality from a link broker on a regular basis? And something that doesn't just focus around PageRank? This is the exact reason I continue doing this service myself. Do quality brokers / auctions exist? Are there any link brokers reading this that have something more to offer than just PageRank? Do you have statistics, numbers, throughput and so forth???

[seobook]

Originally Posted by Anthony Parsons

Has anyone actually had any success getting something decent out of a link broker / link auction? I have tried, and let me just say, nothing! Link Auctions just get all upset when you don't pay because the link is fraudulent, but don't have a leg to stand on, and link brokers just try and sell rubbish drug and college related links. Where exactly does any sort of value stem for clients being listed on a college website? These are the people generally living on the bones of their butts to get themselves through school. Not exactly where the money is.

rubish + college = you are not thinking correctly.

ideally .edu means they are less open to financial influence and manipulation and thus .edu links parse out good link popularity and votes...I am estatic to think that my roommate may soon have a personal page up on the local college site

if we search google for destination weddings
http://www.google.com/search?&q=destination+weddings
the top result is a college personal page (as for now at least)

obviously google does not think that is rubbish. why do you?

Originally Posted by Anthony Parsons

Now these companies I have investigated and attempted to get some sort of quality service from are all the top ranking companies for their relevant terms. I think these people kept all the good stuff, used it themselves to get where they are and then run out of steam.

I think that is absolutely wrong. Many of the link brokers work hard to shield their customer sites and their best links from their own sites so as to preserve value and minimize risk.

Originally Posted by Anthony Parsons

Has anyone actually got any sort of quality from a link broker on a regular basis? And something that doesn't just focus around PageRank? This is the exact reason I continue doing this service myself. Do quality brokers / auctions exist? Are there any link brokers reading this that have something more to offer than just PageRank? Do you have statistics, numbers, throughput and so forth???

I rarely rent links, but know of a few people who do make good money from businesses which are greatly enhanced by the services of link brokers.

often times pagerank makes a great baseline for many pricing concepts because Google has done such a good job with branding.

based on the stuff I have been told:
http://www.textlinkbrokers.com or
http://www.patrickgavin.com
are both good link brokers to many many webmasters.

[Anthony Parsons]

There was some sarcasm in their Aaron. I have not tried the two you listed, and will give them a go. The companies I enquired did not provide .edu college sites, they where .com, absolute crap rubbish sites.

I will give them two a go though. I don't have a high opinion at present, see if these can change my mind for future recommendations.

[seobook]

Originally Posted by Anthony Parsons

There was some sarcasm in their Aaron. I have not tried the two you listed, and will give them a go. The companies I enquired did not provide .edu college sites, they where .com, absolute crap rubbish sites.

I will give them two a go though. I don't have a high opinion at present, see if these can change my mind for future recommendations.

I just say what I know...I do not like auctions, I do not usually rent too many links, but if I were to rent a bunch of links I would go with one of the brokers I mentioned.

I am sure there is a ton of garbage in the link broker field just like there is in the general SEO field...it just takes some effort to find the best ones who provide great value.

I have even been told of a somewhat popular (2nd tier as far as popularity goes) link broker who rented out links that did not even exist. After they were purchased the "broker" would not even state where the links were because they did not want to get turned into Google, which is a complete line of crap. Part of the job of a good link broker is to read the prospective advertisizer so that he / she do not put all of their publishers and other advertisers at risk.

In the past I was told that somebody from Google bought a bunch of links and then penalized all the sites, but I am sure that is rather rare.

[seobook]

for .edu text links...digital partners (http://www.digitalpartners.com/) provides the publishing software for many college newspapers.

If you contact many of the lead newspaper editors about the banner full of text links at the bottom of the pages of their newspapers many of them have never even notice them, which means that digital partners is keeping 100% of that ad revenue...bet that is an awesome business model there

[Anthony Parsons]

Now that's harsh with the Google thing. I would never stick my site up to something like that. As you already know, I sell limited ad space for marketing purposes, but thats it. I only exchange links on my site, not sell. I have purchased some recent marketing for my own site, being a PR8 + PR7 domain, 4000 daily uniques and over 400,000 impressions per month for only $200 a month across 35,000 pages. That was a good buy IMO. The site limits its links to 10 sponsors and thats it. The reason I puchased was for the 400,000 page impressions a month that my ad was to be seen visibly on the left of the page. These are the stats that sold the ad, not that it is a PR8 and PR7 site. I was already listed on them anyways, so that had little to do with it anyway.

I just couldn't get that sort of stats from the others, but I will try from the one you suggested. A good deal is a good deal, and I like to watch their space for those in a clients best interest.

If you contact many of the lead newspaper editors about the banner full of text links at the bottom of the pages of their newspapers many of them have never even notice them, which means that digital partners is keeping 100% of that ad revenue...bet that is an awesome business model there

Uuummmmmm!!!!!! Tricky.

[alexchapman]

I've worked with a few link brokers and did not have a good experience. The links usually aren't relevant and are overpriced. If you find a good one, let me know!

[roomers]

Originally Posted by Anthony Parsons

"As you already know, I sell limited ad space for marketing purposes, but thats it. I only exchange links on my site, not sell."

I'm interested in attracting new traffic and SE brownie points. I dont mind buying a few links but its confusing where to start as we are a UK-only business. Your deal sounds incredible, could you tell me who to approach for something similar?