Some of the biggest buzz out of SES San Jose revolves around the panel named “Are Paid Links Evil?” Our own Mike Murray is speaking at the conference and he reports several attendees let it be known they have a problem with Google’s stand on paid links. Matt Cutts was on the panel as Google’s representative. He must have felt like Michael Vick at an ASPCA convention.

In any respect, there was a thread at our search engine marketing forum on this very topic back in October. I stand by my statement at that time.

Are paid links evil? In a word, “no”. Don’t fool yourself. If you only consider paying a site to link to your site so as to make it look like tons and tons of sites link to you…sorrow may follow.

Do you look at every opportunity to promote your website? What makes a paid link any different from other forms of advertising? I am thinking about banner ads, sponsorships, and even text links. Think about the value the link has intrinsically in regards to promotion of your site. Think in terms of traffic and qualified leads. Just don’t look at paid links as a cheap way to buy false popularity.

I can certainly understand the emotion that was displayed. However, I also respect Google’s position that webmasters can do what they see fit, as long as they realize Google can do what they see fit with their own search engine results page.

Michael Gray stated that “Google is not the Government”. I agree, and thankfully. I would also assert that Google is not a public utility. They need the market’s support (users and advertisers) to be successful. If we don’t like the service Google provides, we are free to go elsewhere.