Google May Trust Links Less After They Are Modified

Jul 2, 2014 - 8:39 am 32 by

Google LinksPedro Dias, a former Google employee who worked on the Search Quality and Webspam team for years, said on Twitter that Google is less likely to trust a link after it is modified.

He wrote:

Did you know Google is less likely to trust a link once it has changed from the 1st time it was seen?

I tried to probe Pedro on how he knows this. Was it from a test he conducted or was it from his past work experience at Google? My impression, but I do not have him saying this on record, was from his past experience:

So how much does Google drop the trust in the link? David Naylor asked Pedro and he implied, not too much:

He even added that less trust, in this case, is not a bad thing. I don't see how that is possible:

Anyway, this is a former Googler saying this who worked closely in web search. He did not say if this is based on his past work experience with Google or via new tests he is running based on him now being an SEO consultant.

Either way, I am sure the SEO community will have a field day with this.

Forum discussion at Twitter.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
- YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: April 22, 2025

Apr 22, 2025 - 10:00 am
Google Ads

Google To Allow Same Advertiser To Show Ads In Top Ads & Bottom Ads

Apr 22, 2025 - 7:51 am
Google

Google Tests Shaded Blue Gradient Site Name & Favicon

Apr 22, 2025 - 7:41 am
Google Maps

Google Local Panel Tests Get There & From Your Location

Apr 22, 2025 - 7:31 am
Bing Search

Bing Copilot Answers Tests Read More Link

Apr 22, 2025 - 7:21 am
Google Ads

Google Ads PMax Campaigns 90 Characters Of Text For All Descriptions

Apr 22, 2025 - 7:11 am
Previous Story: Google Structured Data Testing Tool Also Drops Authorship Image