• The Link Spiel , Wednesday, February 20, 2008 1 PM

Debra Mastaler has seemingly found the consummate example of how Wikipedia pages can be erroneous, outdated or otherwise misleading--the entry titled "Methods of Web site linking" she found while doing a search for "link popularity."

The entry contained sections on tactics like "incestuous linking," "link doping," and "free for all linking," as well as references to paid links and link exchanges. Mastaler points out that there was no info on Google's recent changes to its paid links policies--nor were there any disclaimers or links to the engine's official guidelines for "safe" link building strategies.

There was also no information on anchor text--and a small, inadequate paragraph about "link popularity" itself--which led Mastaler to wonder why the entry ranked so highly for the phrase when it didn't contain enough pertinent, authoritative info. "People new to SEO and who want to learn about link popularity and/or link building methods shouldn't give this page on the Wikipedia a second glance," Mastaler says. "It's inaccurate, outdated, uses terminology no one in the business uses and is mismatched for the title. This one's a dud."

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