Well that was a headache....

[WagerPod]

Noticed my rankings had dropped pretty badly for certain terms in Google and have just spent the last three days working out what it was and finally I've managed to come up with something.

My site is a news website and I'm often on the lookout for new monetization methods and came across these "Articles from around the Web" as I'm sure most of you will of seen. I used Content Click as my site and added the code to my content pages at the footer.

I've literally spent about 3 days looking at all the tools to find out why my rankings have dropped, I try and keep my site as watertight as possible in regards to SEO to avoid penalties which is why I was shocked, it seems like a newbie mistake looking back.

Turns out that all the links from the code were follow, adding 10 outbound links to pretty much all my content pages including an additional link to the provider. What made it hard to find out if it was this is I had them on for about 1-2 months and Google never changed any of my rankings then a new update and I've dropped.

It would appear that Google are clamping down on these kinds of adverts, it would appear. I don't blame them as the adverts were poor quality, things like "This magic pill makes you shed weight" and the usual BS.

Just a heads up for anyone who thinks about using this monetization in future - its not worth the money for the risk. I know most people will have their own banners and no follow risk and not rely on third party code but something to keep in mind for future