Firstly, it violates their rules.
Secondly, I have had large-scale marketers who have come to me telling me that Google has caught them, and asking me to remove what I thought was an innocuous link. Many sites have been pulled from Google ratings for artificial SEO.
Finally, for those who use InLinkz, there are comforting words...
Are InLinkz links nofollow?
Will Google penalize me for using InLinkz?
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.
The following are examples of link schemes which can negatively impact a site's ranking in search results:
- Buying or selling links that pass PageRank. This includes exchanging money for links, or posts that contain links; exchanging goods or services for links; or sending someone a “free” product in exchange for them writing about it and including a link
- Excessive link exchanges ("Link to me and I'll link to you") or partner pages exclusively for the sake of cross-linking
- Large-scale article marketing or guest posting campaigns with keyword-rich anchor text links
- Using automated programs or services to create links to your site
Additionally, creating links that weren’t editorially placed or vouched for by the site’s owner on a page, otherwise known as unnatural links, can be considered a violation of our guidelines.
