Is it true that including attributions on your images can make your google ranki

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   btulloh098posted 12 years ago

   Is it true that including attributions on your images can make your google ranking go down?
   
   I read someone's comment on hubpages that by including attributions on your images, you are potentially hurting your chances with google's search engines. If the attribution is related to your subject, you are fine. But if not, it's does more harm than good. 
   
   I thought all free images (istock, etc.) had to be attributed, and I also thought that the attribution only included information about the person who originally took the photo (not subject-related information).
   
   Anyone know anything about this? Couldn't find answers on hubpages.  Thanks!

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2. 79

   ThePracticalMommyposted 12 years ago

   Perhaps they meant self-attributions, as in they claimed ownership of their own photos. I would think your ranking would go down if you weren't attributing photos that weren't yours and thus claiming them illegally as your own.
   
   The person making this comment may have also misunderstood the meaning of attribution pertaining to a photo. Maybe they meant 'caption' instead? That would make more sense. I could see how posting a photo of a puppy with a caption 'win free car' could hurt your ranking since the subject matter and caption don't match (bad example, but I hope you get it).

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   1. 0

      Casimiroposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I think you have it right. I don't see how attributions in and of themselves could hurt rankings. Of course, I also don't see how Google could actually tell (automatically) if a caption didn't match the photo. That pretty much requires a human eye.

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   2. 79

      brianrockposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      It's amazing what Google can do these days. Drop an image into Google image search, and it can find similar images (not just the same one) and "guess" pretty well what the image is about. They've got algorithms and data for everything.

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3. 0

   JThomp42posted 12 years ago

   Yes, any photo that is used owned let's say by Photobucket has to be given credit to them. Always do this, as you will have to edit the photo later on if you do not do so. It is also good to write a caption explaining your photo. Your photo, of course, should represent your hub. Say you write a hub about puppies, then of course you would place a photo of puppies. Good luck!

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      Casimiroposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Careful. Editing someone else's photo and not giving attribution to the original is not cricket. Copyrights cover derivations, too.

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      JThomp42posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Casimiro..... I don't think I said anything about changing someone's photo. I meant if you don't give credit, Hubpages may in the future expect you to do so. No editing of the photo itself.

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4. 79

   brianrockposted 12 years ago

   Not sure what the original commenter was trying to say. Without more context, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
   
   In general, there is a perception that including images improves your rankings in Google. In addition, there is some consensus that including an alt tag (a description of your image) will help strengthen your on page SEO and therefore improve your rankings.
   
   By including an attribution that is an external link (which it is on HubPages), then you are "giving away" link juice, so to speak. You're taking some of the authority of your page and giving it to whatever page you link to (a Flickr page, an sxc.hu page, a Photobucket profile, whatever).
   
   In the extreme, too many outbound links can have a negative impact on your rankings and SEO. However, it's unlikely that this one link would have much impact.
   
   The only situation that _might_ have an actual impact is if the person you're attributing hosts a bunch of not-nice content. There are certain "bad neighborhoods" in the search engine world (porn sites, scam sites, spam sites, etc), and linking to these sites can have a negative impact on your site. It's possible (altho unlikely) that you link to Artist Bob, who in turn links to a whole bunch of porn, scam, and spam websites. Therefore, you're viewed by Google as supporting those sites, and you get penalized.
   
   To sum up, it's complicated, but it's unlikely that attributing an artist for an image has any impact on your the rank-ability of your hub or webpage.

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