MBG helped blogger and guest blogger get together and it was one of those services that made you say, ‘Now why didn’t I think of that?’ So why has Google banned it?
Google has hit one of the largest blogging networks
Not only has it got its very own manual penalty, many publishers who were using it have started receiving the same.
Am I being wise after the event?
Let’s be clear. When I first came across MBG I thought it was genius and I wasn’t alone. Authorities around the web hailed it as a great idea.
- Moz called it one of 4 valuable link building services.
- Search Engline Land gave founder Ann Smarty full publicity in this interview.
- Blogher thought it was brilliant.
- Ths list goes on
The little green monster inside me couldn’t hide its envy!
But in recent months it was becoming clear that Ann Smarty and her team had lost control of the service and I’ll show you how much so in a moment.
Now I know there are a whole lot of people out there doing the “I told you so” routine but yes, I really did. Here’s a post I put on the MBG forum just a week before it all happened:
My post to MBG
What went wrong at MyBlogGuest?
I joined MBG in search of a guest blogger several weeks ago and found the place to by a chaotic blackhatworld style market place. A massive trading house for content farms working with duff SEO companies pumping out articles of no value whatsoever.
You could log into your account in the morning, say ﾓI’m starting a blog about cars, I need some blog postsﾔ and by lunch time you would have a wheelbarrow of content.
The texts always contained one word or phrase that the writer wanted to be marked as a link back to whichever website they thought they were SEOing at the time.
That was the deal. You got free content as long as the content writer got a link.
MBG had become a platform for the creation of content farms (often article sites dressed as blogs) little different to ezine and we all know what happened to that.
I even received unsolicited mail asking if I wanted content. One such example came from topnetseo.com who was obviously link building for houseoflinens.com (I wonder if they’ve received a penalty yet).
Here’s the article they were giving away, feel free to scroll down when you find yourself nodding off.
If you are tired of the old boring appearance of your bedroom, redecorating it can produce a new look. Improving on the physical state of your bedroom need not be expensive because there are plenty of DIY ideas that you apply in making your room look nicer, attractive and appealing. A little research can help you reinvent the bedroom. Here are ways for a bedroom makeover.
Hang an Artwork
When the walls are bare, one great idea is to hang an artwork. Take note that artwork does not have to be costly and you donﾒt actually need to buy one. By using your creativity, you can come up with a wall art that can be the focal point of the room. Examples are personal paintings, an old musical instrument, a large portrait or an artistic rug. Check on some family heirloom thatﾒs just sleeping in the storage and recycle this to form an artwork.
Put Accent on Bedroom Articles
Some items in the bedroom look plain and boring. By accentuating these objects, the room becomes more interesting and fun. Examples are painting the lampshade cover or clothing it with a favorite print or coloring the frame of the mirror. Look around your bedroom and check on stuff that you can enhance.
Reveal Your Personal Side
Your bedroom can define your personality. One great way of redesigning your bedroom is by decorating it with things that are related to your interests. If you are a musician, then create a corner where your favorite musical instruments can be exhibited. If you are inclined to fashion, then display your fashion artworks on the wall or on top of the cabinet. If you love collecting vintage items, then use one small shelf where all these articles can be displayed. Whatever your interests are, these can be revealed in your room.
Mount a Light Source
The lampshade is usually situated on the side table next to your bed. For a safer and more ergonomic set-up, use a lamp that can be mounted on the wall. That way, the lamp stand doesnﾒt need to clash with other items laid on the table. There are mounted lamps that come in various sizes and designs. For more added comfort, choose a lamp that can swing back and forth so that you can adjust its position during your reading time.
Designate New Roles
There are tons of items, objects and materials in the home that can be transformed into various uses. Find things in your home that can be used in the bedroom for a different role. Examples are using an old coffee mug as pen container, tall glass as flower vase, tree branch as bag holder and lot more ideas. Functionality can definitely be applied on some items in the home that are just kept in the shelves and drawers.
Pay Attention to the Floor
Improve the floor by putting a rug with vibrant colors and patterns. This will surely brighten up your bedroom and the spot will grab attention. There are plenty of patterns to choose from such as abstract, various shapes, stripes and animal skin. Choose the rug that best matches the design of your bedroom.
By trying new things on your bedroom, you will find more reasons to stay home than gallivant in the outside world. The bedroom is where you spend the most hours in the house; therefore this has to be comfortable, inviting and pleasant. You donﾒt need to hire an expert to design your room because creative ideas can come from your own imagination. All you need to do is gather ideas and turn them into reality.
You see it is utter, utter dross. Nothing there of value at all. Just content for contents sake and of course the request at the bottom:
Put do follow link to site http://www.houseoffinelinens.com/ Anchor can be “design”
Author Bio: Bogdan Shumei is team leader at Top Net SEO corporation. Often shares his experience blogging.
But why ban MyBlogGuest in particular?
Several reasons really.
- First crawling the web requires expensive infrastructure and Google is a business. So it could just keep banning content farms forever and a day or it could go after the platforms that encourage and create content farms. Target the drug dealer or the drug lord? It’s obvious.
- Second it isn’t just MBG, even if that’s what so many claim. Google has penalized many such services in the past including buildmyrank.com, SAPE links and Anglo Rank to name but a few. MBG was just another in a long line.
- Third it’s good publicity. If you want this spammy practice to go away hit one of the largest hubs hard and the news will travel far and wide. Again it’s just a cost thing from that perspective. There are other services out there that probably should be hit but news that using these sites can get you a penalty may be enough for them to die off of their own accord in the same way that spammy article sites did.
The conspiracy theories
These are rife. First off there’s the idea that MBG was becoming a threat to Google. Eh? It was simply a place that helped make content farms a reality and added rubbish to the internet in mind boggling proportions.
So yes, a lot of extra pages for the Google bot to crawl and perhaps it was overheating! But that would be the only threat.
Second is the long running theory that Google is deliberately trying to force website owners into Google Adwords. I’ve seen no evidence of this in all the sites I manage or from all the White Hat colleagues I know.
Yes, it’s hard to get ranked and it gets harder all the time. Yes, using a service like MBG seems to work and seems to be the answer ﾅ until the penalty comes along. But most of the people crying foul just can’t be bothered with the effort and cost that real SEO requires.
They’ll chose one Black Hat technique after another and then cry foul when Google burns them.
Lessons learnt
I’ve always found the creator of MBG, Ann Smarty, smart in both name and nature. As such I don’t think she really knew what was happening on her service. That’s not an excuse but it is a lesson. If you offer a service on the net where users can interact with each other then, just like a forum, it has to be moderated.
Moderation needs resources and that is perhaps why contentboulevard and blogdash both charge while the freebie bit of MBG just allowed people to do too much unchecked. And if you allow that to happen to any platform it simply fills up with scammers and spammers.