Did Google Spank Expedia For Operating A Paid Links Scheme With Bloggers?


Skift Take

These are explosive allegations that Expedia is involved in a paid links scheme with travel bloggers and that frenemy Google retaliated. Stay tuned for more fireworks.
Following charges from the blogosphere, Search Engine Land is giving credence to reports that Google has penalized Expedia.com for a "possible paid links" scheme, and that Expedia's visibility in search results consequently has taken a roughly 25% hit. Expedia trades on Nasdaq, which was closed for the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday yesterday, but Seeking Alpha reports that its shares were down 5.9% this morning in pre-market trading. The allegations about a paid links plot seem to have originated last month from Nenad SEO, which provides SEO services and seems to have been drumming up some business. The al