Can a spam site with a link to my article damage my rankings?

1. 81

   vox vocisposted 7 years ago

   Can a spam site with a link to my article damage my rankings?
   
   I found a site called Ramirezz (which is obviously a spam site as it redirects you to commercial sites without even clicking on titles) with my article title and link included on some kind of a list and the link leads you to an amazon page to buy ipod or a computer game or something third (every time you click on the title it's sth else)...
   
   Can this damage my rankings and what am I supposed to do? I wanted to send an email, but of course, that's not possible!

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2. 75

   MPChrisposted 7 years ago

   Yes. Google actively discredits any site that uses false content or tricks. Mostly because users don't want this, and google constantly seeks to make their algorythymn fit the needs/wants of users. Users don't want spam sites, therefore they are discredited.
   
   How that will affect your SERPs and PageRank is variable. It will hurt you though.

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3. 57

   deblippposted 7 years ago

   I partially disagree with MPChris. If Google was busily discrediting sites based on what kind of sites link to them, then all anyone would have to do was place sleazy links on sleazy sites, and point those links to their competitors.
   
   Oh what fun for the florist wars that were recently featured in the New York Times! Pro-Flowers just puts a whole bunch of cheap links on a porn site, and makes sure those links point to FTD.
   
   Yet this doesn't happen, and the reason it doesn't is because Google knows that you have less control over others than you do over yourself.
   
   There is a small amount of harm that sometimes seems to occur from these kinds of links, but mostly this is when they're your *only* links or when they're in a link wheel formation, connecting you back to the sleazy site *from* your site (even if indirectly).

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