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A comment on Ask HN: How do you justify Google’s SEO policy of not allowing paid links?. Parent comment

Re:Ask HN: How do you justify Google’s SEO policy of not all... by pdevr on Friday May 30, 2014 @07:29AM (#7821185)
Copying my previous answer here (and more explanation at the end): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7821157

Yes, and I think OP was trying to point out Google Adsense allows "paid links" to be displayed on the same website: "You own a website, I own a website, I pay $100 to Google who decides when to show my ad on your website and keep $60 for itself."

In other words, if you pay Google (30% more money)[1] to display the links on another website, you are alright. However, if you directly pay the website owners (roughly 30% less money) for them to add a paid link on the same site at the same spot, you are running afoul of Google's rules. So, as a business owner, to be in the good books of Google, you incur 30% extra expenses. I am not trying to criticize Google here (I use multiple Google services), just pointing out how many small business owners see this.

More explanation:

<a class="rhtitle" href="http://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?longurl" target="_top" title="google.com/Chromecast"><span>Online Content Now on TV</span></a>

The code above is an actual Adsense advertisement (I have removed/changed the code and id everywhere). There is no no-follow anywhere there. So, it appears as if it is alright to insert a link with no no-follow as long as you are paying Google. Correct me if I am wrong.

[1] https://support.google.com/adsense/answer/180195?hl=en

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Re:Ask HN: How do you justify Google’s SEO policy of not all... by phpnode on Friday May 30, 2014 @07:38AM (#7821209)
These ads are pulled in via JS, in an iframe, so it's not quite the same thing - they don't pass link juice.
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Re:Ask HN: How do you justify Google’s SEO policy of not all... by meleva on Friday May 30, 2014 @11:54AM (#7822463)
One reason to justify Google's cut is that on an advertising deal where the Advertiser gets billed for each click (CPC) on his link on someone else website, having a reliable third party to count the clicks is very important.

Click fraud is what makes Tier 2 CPC networks really risky for advertisers even if CPC are much lower than Tier 1 (Adwords, Bing).

Regarding your Adsense example, was there not a mention like "Ads by Google," "Sponsored Links," or the AdChoices icon ? In that case, it makes clear that it's not a natural link.

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Re:Ask HN: How do you justify Google’s SEO policy of not all... by sunnykgupta on Friday May 30, 2014 @07:34AM (#7821192)
Exactly my point.
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