Overstock.com Gets a Google Slap

That loud smacking sound you just heard was Google penalizing the heck out of Overstock.com. Google “slapped” the online retailer for trying to artificially boost their rankings in Google’s search results.

Overstock’s pages were ranking at or near the top of the search results for lots of everyday household search terms, but their rankings dropped drastically this week after incurring the penalty.

It seems Overstock was caught trying to get websites of colleges and universities (the often-valuable .edu domain names) to post links to its pages. In return, students and faculty would then get discounts on their purchases.

That type of artificial link-building is a big no-no as far as Google is concerned.

Overstock says it terminated the program on February 10, even before Google penalized them, but some webmasters have been slow to remove the offending links, they say.

“Google has made clear they believe these links should not factor into their search algorithm,” said Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne in a prepared statement. “We understand Google’s position and have made the appropriate changes to remain within Google’s guidelines.”

Google is remaining tight-lipped on the subject, citing a company policy against discussing specific websites.

A Google spokesman said only that its goal “is to deliver the most relevant information possible.” He added that “attempts to game Google’s ranking go on 24 hours a day, every single day.”