Stanford’s newspaper tries to game Google
Do you expect Stanford’s student newspaper to spam Google? This is very disappointing.
It’s hard to vocalize how absolutely disgusted I am, and on how many levels. First of all, the dozens of links that pad the side and (especially) the bottom of every Daily article do not constitute mere “advertising,” despite what it says on the label. Nobody is expected to click on these links. The links are intended to boost each page’s ranking in search engines like Google that place a high premium on inbound links from credible sources. It’s hard to get more credible than stanford.edu. Which brings me to the second reason this is disgusting: that Stanford, of all places, is being used to game Google. (I realize Stanford itself doesn’t condone this, which makes it all the more frustrating that the Daily is leeching off its clout toward these ends.)
