Page 17 - The Dark Side of Back Link Building
P. 17
THE DARK SIDE OF LINK BUILDING 17
Introduction To
Private Blog Networks
A private blog network (PBN) can be simply defined as a network of different
websites owned by the same entity for the purpose of creating links to
other websites.
The idea is pretty simple: Buy a bunch of different domains, put content on them,
and then use them to link to a target site. SEOs would look for existing domains with
history to make it easier. In theory, their collective influence improves a target
site’s rankings.
This was common before 2012, and many PBNs were filled with automated, poor-
quality content. But they worked, and very well at that.
PBNs pretty clearly fall under Google’s definition of a link scheme. It’s in Google’s first
words about link schemes:
“Any links intended to manipulate PageRank or a site’s ranking in Google search
results may be considered part of a link scheme and a violation of Google’s
Webmaster Guidelines. This includes any behavior that manipulates links to your
site or outgoing links from your site.”
This is a very broad definition, but it pretty clearly includes PBNs. Google’s Search
Advocate, John Mueller, has confirmed this:
