Links in the independent.co.uk

[KevinHenney98]

So I was doing some research in OSE and come across links in different articles on the independent.co.uk. There are more than three but I have included three below. Do a find for "blinds" on the articles.

What I find interesting is that each article has a different author. Which probably rules out a friend doing a favour. As far as I can see, of all the many different types of advertising programmes the Independent has, this is not one of them. Which begs the question, how are they getting these links?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/ashcroft--belize-the-only-thing-he-respects-is-dollars-1811725.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/house-and-home/gardening/shooting-stars-a-new-book-by-anna-pavord-pays-homage-to-the-glorious-bulb-1785219.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/reviews/outbreak-1939-imperial-war-museum-london-1776002.html

What do you think?

[KevinHenney98]

Thanks Ryan, my "conspiracy theory radar" lit up when I come across those links.

I think i'll call the newspaper today.

[RyanKent]

Kevin,

It took me a bit but now I understand your concern. Each of the three listed articles uses "blinds" as anchor text to provide a link to http://www.roller-blinds-direct.co.uk/.

It is definitely odd. As you mentioned, the articles are written by different authors. I did a search of the site and found other articles with the term "blinds" used where there is no link involved. I was curious to determine if a site wide replacement was being used for the term. That is not the case.

What is also odd is the context is not related to window blinds in each case.

Use #1 "The blinds were down at the Ashcroft home" - In this instance at least the reference is to window blinds.

Use #2 "the elegance of the crinum's swan-necked trumpet flowers blinds you to any fault in the foliage department." - The reference has nothing to do with window blinds and is clearly an inappropriate use of text linking.

To answer your question, yes it is suspicious. It is possible, but unlikely, the site is selling links in this manner intentionally. It is far more likely that a single employee with access has made these changes under the table.

If this is a competitor you can proceed by notifying Google you suspect the site of buying links and offer the evidence. I would suggest making it a bit clearer by stating specifically the term "blinds" is being used as anchor text within the following articles even when the usage has no relation to window blocks and is taken out of context. Google may find other similar issues on the site and penalize the site's links.

Another approach you can take is to contact the newspaper directly. I would suggest not using the website as the person who receives your report may also be the one selling the links.

The above is all based on adopting the belief that your view is correct. Personally I do agree with you completely. Others may view us as conspiracy theorists

Good luck.

[KevinHenney98]

It's the website of a major UK national broadsheet newspaper Ryan. I'm not doubting the quality of the website.

The links are not relevant to the discussion, it would not be classed as a further reading resource.

Am I the only one who finds these links strange?

[RyanKent]

The site seems quite respectable with an impressive DA of 90, and over 55k facebook fans.

I looked at the first article. It is an in depth article written 2 years ago by an award-winning author who seems to have respectable credentials. This particular page has 19 likes, 9 tweets and OSE shows a total of 5 links which share identical anchor text, apparently from the article's title.

The second and third article only show 1 linking domain each.

The main site is alexa ranked in the top 1000 of all site world wide. At a glance these links appear completely natural to me.