Last week, Matt Cutts set the Internet aflame when he announced on Twitter that a “large guest blog network” was penalized. He didn’t even mention the network, but MyBlogGuest (MBG) came clean when the owner, Ann Smarty, responded with her own tweet. You can read all about it at Search Engine Journal.

It wasn’t hard to see this coming. Matt Cutts declared guest blogging dead in January. That was a pretty clear warning to watch your steps. And I’d be willing to say it’s entirely possible that Google singled out and pursued MyBlogGuest solely to make an example of them. I’m not saying that as a matter of fact. I’m saying it’s possible.

One of the contentious issues in guest blogging, from an SEO and a potential spam problem perspective, are dofollow links. Ann Smarty stated publicly that MBG doesn’t plan to give up on allowing users to have dofollow links in their articles. But if that’s something that Google says it doesn’t want to encourage, then sites that cater to guest bloggers should take note. By encouraging the use of dofollow links, they are making themselves a target. That doesn’t make Google a bully as some people have referred to them.

What Google Is To You And Me

Google is a business. Their primary concern is to turn a profit for their stockholders. In order to do that, they must make sure their product is top-notch, which means the free service they provide for searchers has to be optimum. That means fewer spam results and more valuable search results.

Any site that publishes consumer content, including forums, article directories, and social media platforms, is going to have risks. It’s up to the site owners to clean up their own spam. Large article directories learned that the hard way when Panda and Penguin pulled a Lorena Bobbitt on them.

It’s important to understand that guest blogging arose en masse as a result of the great article directory slapdown.

Guest blogging is just another form of article marketing. Every SEO and Internet marketer in the world has written about how to rank websites in a post-Panda and Penguin world. It’s become its own little cottage industry. From that wave, MBG grew into its niche status.

So what’s that got to do with Google?

Google’s job is to index and rank Web pages to make it easier for searchers to find information.

That Herculean task is dominated by the search engine’s infamous algorithm. In truth, Google has thousands of algorithms. No doubt, some are competing while others are complementary, but Google’s policy (and I’d argue their obligation to the world) is to not disclose their secret sauce to anyone. Google’s secrecy keeps a relatively level playing field.

Nevertheless, some rock star SEOs have made a career out of complaining about Google’s policies while benefiting from those policies. There is an entire industry of early SEO pioneers who run together and constantly complain that Google doesn’t favor them in its policies. They have an unhealthy dose of rank envy. The difference between them and Google is that Google’s arbitrariness is a part of its business model (as it should be).

I’m not saying Ann Smarty falls into that category, but she did say

(Source) Matt Cutts is using us for the PR game: To get more people scared. We are the hugest guest blogging brand out there: He could not have got more publicity by hitting anyone else.

And so the FUD police come out in full force. Reading the comments on the SEJ post are downright hilarious.

Dictator? I don’t recall any algorithms that gun people down in the streets or chop their heads off. Where is the Guillotine Update or the Gas Chamber Update?

Mafia? Do these people even think before posting?

Now, here’s a good one. This unnamed freedom fighter doesn’t even have a name. What are they afraid of? Running afoul of Google’s quality guidelines and being confined to Page 100 on the bottom 50 SERPs of all time?

If all else fails, get personal.

This guy doesn’t like Matt Cutts. So clearly, SEO communism is the answer.

I’m not a Pollyanna. I know Google isn’t perfect. But this isn’t a Google problem.

Okay, Let’s Not Be Sanctimonius

I’m talking to all the hawkers who think they know how to run Google’s business better than Google does. Let’s mention a few inconvenient truths:

• Without Google, most people wouldn’t know what a ranking is
• Google isn’t perfect, but it is the best search engine the world has
• All these SEOs barking about how evil Google is were singing Google’s praises 15 years ago. Think of any A-lister right now and they were all singing and dancing about Google’s new search algorithm in 1998. They were talking about how accurate Google was and how much better Google was than Excite, Alta Vista, or any of the other umpteen search engines struggling to come up with a model that cataloged the entire Web. No one succeeded. But Google did. And the entire SEO community was happy.

What happened? What changed?

What changed is that certain self-proclaimed SEO gurus started writing books and convinced people how smart they are. And they were good at SEO. So good, in fact, that they could get any web page to rank for any keyword. Then Google got tired of the web spam and changed their algorithm. OMG, these self-styled experts had to rewrite their books!

This circle repeated itself. Like, every two years or so. Google kept changing. SEOs kept adapting. And spamming. And Google changed again. And again. And yet again.

SEOs just can’t win for losing. Every time they get good at ranking with Google’s new ranking policies, Google changes the game. How unfair!

Except that it’s Google’s business.

So What’s The Answer?

Instead of whining about how Google is being unfair to all the people we like, wouldn’t it be more fruitful to try and understand what Google’s ultimate goal is?

Let’s explore one more inconvenient truth.

None of us have to play Google’s game. We all have the option of blocking Google’s bot and refusing to be ranked in Google’s search engine. We can totally ignore their quality guidelines. We can all promote Bing or any of the smaller search engines that can’t compete against Leviathan. No one has to play the game that Google has rigged in its own favor. Not you, not me, and certainly not Ann Smarty. So why do we?

We do it because if we don’t, we can’t hope to rank in Google’s index.

Imagine that. Fail to follow the search engine guidelines and you can’t expect to achieve high rankings nor can you expect to escape penalty. The fact that Google frequently changes its guidelines or chooses to penalize sites willy-nilly even when they do follow them is no defense. It’s Google’s business. Anyone who doesn’t like it can start their own search engine. Good luck!

This is not a defense of Google. It’s a defense of common sense. You don’t have to like Google or its policies, but if you want to rank in its search index—just as you have to follow the proper legal procedures if you want to obtain a drivers license—then you must take common sense measures to guard against being penalized, de-ranked, de-indexed, or see your rankings fall. Focus yourself on doing the right thing and running a good business based on integrity and a strong work ethic.

I know it’s the 21st century, but a strong work ethic and integrity are still worthwhile values.