.edu links going nuts!

[Chatmaster]

Hi everyone

I don't know about you but I have noticed a sudden increase on the amount of .edu links in the serps for less competitive gambling terms, for example the keywords, 'slots', 'casino slots' etc. most of which simply redirects to casino affiliate sites. This guy casinos777portal.com seems to be sitting behind it all in the gambling industry. Anybody else seeing this?

I honestly feel that Google should review the value they put on .edu links. Any opinions?

[Koz]

I've also noticed an increase in ".edu" links in the serps.

Though I don't realy blame Google for "favouritism" as it looks like they want to provide "information websites" more than anything.

But I also think when a user users keywords such as "slots" or "casino slots", they are probably looking more for the online games and not info. Google should take this into account too.

Please forgive the "prominence" of "bunny-ears"! Its just one of those days :cool:

[Paz]

Hi,

I'm not convinced that Google does put value on edu sites as backlinks. Sure I see them ranking well, but that's different. I think there's this general perception that they do give a boost so a lot of people go for them.

With .gov sites it's a different matter though, for sure.

Cheers,
Paz.

[Chatmaster]

Matt Cutts actually mentioned the importance of these extentions in this video http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1756437348670651505
Apparently they are no different, just normally obtain much more natural backlinks.

[daniel]

I agree with both points, however i havent made my own decision yet.

If you have a look at sopme of the high ranking sites, competitor seo clients in very competitive industries and somewhere along the line, there are edu backlinks.

mmm

[Chatmaster]

Well Matt in that exact same video admitted previous error in declaring that <b> are more important than <strong> lol Whilst infact they have the exact same meaning to Google as one of the Google programmers prooved to him afterwords. He has made several mistakes before so I still leave judgement open this issue, all I know is that the top sites do have .edu backlinks most of the time...

[Paz]

Well if Matt Cutts says that they are no different, then I will have to correct myself and say that they probably do give a boost...

Whenever Matt Cutts does a blog, I print it out and use it for toilet paper... :toilet: