Back Links DOT com : how I teased Google - and its reply
About 3 months ago I found out about Back Links dot com (let’s call it BLDC from now on). Seems like another TextLinkAds site, which can get you banned by Google. However, after closer inspection, seems like BLDC is more “invisible” than those other backlinks marketplace.
Basically its script is PHP script. So it’ll be harder to detect, unlike the Javascript ones. Well, theoritically.
Anyway, although it’d be harder to detect, it’s also harder to install for newbies. To my surprise, the support team of BLDC is very responsive. They are even willing to install the script for you on your website. This kind of service is not easy to find. And they treat everyone the same; even when I tried to obtain support for lower-pageranked websites.
So I thought, let’s see if Google can detect this on my blog 
It’d be cool if Google actually able to detect it as well. Therefore I installed it in this blog’s footer. You may have noticed it (or not, it was at the bottom of the page anyway)
To my surprise; more than 2 months passed, Google didn’t do anything, and the links are selling like hotcakes. Amazing.
It’s literally easy money - you do nothing, yet you kept on getting emails almost everyday telling that another link has been sold.
I thought it’s safe now to conclude that BLDC is, well, safe.
I was proven wrong very quickly. In a routine check days later, I found out that this blog got its pagerank dropped to zero.
None. Null
To make sure it’s not a fluke (sometimes this happens when Google is updating its datacenters around the world), I waited for several days, and kept checking.
It only confirmed it. The zero rank status stays.
Panic attack ! 
Just kidding… I don’t really care about this blog’s pagerank anyway, that’s why I did this experiment in the first place. My curiosity got the better of me, he he
Now is the ultimate test - I deleted the BLDC code from my site. If it’s the culprit, Google would soon lifted the ban.
And, to my surprise, it happened. Just in about 3 days, this blog got its previous pagerank back.
So, I think it’s safe to conclude that Google is able to detect even BLDC, and punishes those who are selling (and most likely buying) on it as well.
I don’t know how Google accomplish it though.
I have Google analytics installed, but it should not be able to detect BLDC’s php script. Another possibility is that a Google employee created an account at BLDC, and monitor the sellers there. At first I thought this is not feasible, but with BLDC’s < 100K rank in Alexa, it may very well is worth someone’s time at Google to do so.
Any other ideas ?
So as always, don’t sell backlinks. Google has always prohibited this, and WILL make you pay
I’ve confirmed it personally in this little experiment.
Enjoy.
May 22nd, 2008 14:52
No links to BLDC at all?
It is not safe, is it?
hahaha
May 22nd, 2008 15:24
[...] ini saya baca tulisannya Pak Harry Sufehmi, yang mengaku sudah mencoba BLDC. Ternyata… he he he… Google tahu ! Dan beliau sendiri mengalami hilangnya Page Rank [...]
May 22nd, 2008 19:23
@Darkum - I’m not crazy enough to link back to BLDC after going all the way to prove that Google’s not exactly very happy with them, he he
.
By the way, the article on your website (that tracked back here) seems to be clipped / kepotong ?
May 22nd, 2008 19:26
Oops correction, that article on your blog is fine now. Thanks.
Hope others won’t suffer the same fate as me as well
May 22nd, 2008 22:05
Hehhee.. but my experience try play in this area, content still the king
June 11th, 2008 09:04
Well, my site’s pagerank also dropped to zero since like… months ago. I do have TLA on the site though, but never thinking on removing it
July 7th, 2008 12:09
i use advancedlinkfinder to find more back link
back link finder
August 10th, 2008 09:52
i used it and three month later my blog become 0 pr.
August 20th, 2008 16:13
Holy crap they caught on fast and hard! At least they gave you your PR back though that’s the important thing IMO. I don’t think Backlinks.com pays that well so really I don’t bother with it.
August 20th, 2008 23:34
@Real Estate - oh yeah they did. I got hit before I knew it. Instant kill.
Good thing I was keeping a close watch on my blog back then
.
A bit of correction, Back Links dot com pays quite well actually. And it was EASY money - simple one-time setup, then you just watch the money pouring in.
.
But of course the risk is definitely NOT worth it
August 26th, 2008 12:12
That’s interesting that you got caught. What title did you use for the links and how many did you allow? Personally, I would say that giving it a stealthy title and putting it in the sidebar will help pass it off as more legit.
September 1st, 2008 14:17
Well I think it is hard to fake google. You know there is also a spam form that anyone can fill.
September 4th, 2008 02:54
I can agree with “estetik” about spam notifying form. But i know real stories when text link buying can improve ranking being not detected by google.
September 25th, 2008 13:53
Especially sites with less pages may be suitable to buy backlinks. No body can say google detects all sites selling links.
October 11th, 2008 16:35
I just start try backlinks.com on my blog, hope it will not dropped my PR