Great Article on Google Linking Stategies

If you are a webmaster trying to figure out a linking strategy in Google for you site, this is the article for you.

The author, Jake Lowrey, evidently spent a lot of time reading through one of Google's patent applications and has gleaned valuable information out of the legalese.

Lowrey, an accomplished writer and editor, explains the hidden nuggets in the application in clear, easy-to-understand language.

Excerpt:

The age distribution of a document's links is one area where the discerning webmaster will pay particular attention. According to the patent:

... the dates that the links to a document were created may be determined and input to a function that determines the age distribution. It may be assumed that the age distribution of a stale document will be very different from the age distribution of a fresh document.

The very next paragraph in the application expands on this and warns against "spam," but at the same time says any large spike in the number of back links may indicate a topical event, specifically mentioning the CDC and an illness outbreak. The application does not say how Google will determine if a sudden increase is natural or the result of spamming, but it does leave the implication that they know when a webmaster is purchasing or exchanging links.