Google warning: Blogging about gifted products

[enlytend]

If you blog about or review products or services you receive as gifts, heads up: Google just announced that they want you to disclose that the product was a gift and to nofollow any links to the related site. This suggests that there soon may be a flurry of new manual actions for bloggers who don't heed this advice (and get caught . )
Full story: http://searchengineland.com/google-...w-links-when-reviewing-gifted-products-244533

 

[iowadawg]

I see nothing on how google would know that maybe a blogger wrote about a product with a link to the manufacturer or seller.
And the blogger gets nothing, no free product, money, etal.

 

[deez007]

I wonder though how will Google know if the reviewer received the item as a gift or not.

Google really need to back off and stop deliberately making Internet Marketers lives difficult.

 

[enlytend]

Falls under the category of paid links, which is why they want the nofollow.

Per FCC regulations, you're already supposed to disclose if a review was solicited or if you were compensated for it with merchandise or money.

How would Google know? Have a proper disclosure statement that you were given the product for review but the link is followed, tipped off, product blatantly solicits bloggers, product and/or blog participates in a service that matches them up (I'm thinking of one in particular but forget the name of it) No way to make it an algorithmic penalty so anything they do will be manual.

Like many other things, whether it works or not will depend upon how discreet everyone is.

 

[iowadawg]

So I use a product, a vape unit, and I blog about the whole story of how my wife and I got one, use it, etc.
Including pictures and specs of what we bought.
Then a link to the manufactures site.
And that is not okay with google?

 

[enlytend]

So I use a product, a vape unit, and I blog about the whole story of how my wife and I got one, use it, etc.
Including pictures and specs of what we bought.
Then a link to the manufactures site.
And that is not okay with google?

Did the manufacturer give it to you in exchange for writing a review about it? Then they want you to nofollow the link because it's essentially a paid link.
Otherwise followed, no followed - doesn't matter. If you're at all concerned, it won't hurt you to nofollow it.
Linking is fine, they just don't want companies bribing bloggers to get a followed link.

 

[enlytend]

Follow up: Last weekend Google handed out a bunch of manual penalties to bloggers and websites who posted followed outbound links in return for free products or services

http://searchengineland.com/googles-manual-action-penalty-weekend-free-product-reviews-247122

(Doesn't mean you "can't" do it, but the risk has gone wa-a-ay up.)