Searchengine-optimization for large sites is, for a while now, based mainly on the trust Google has in the quality of the domain's content. Thanks to this you have domains that are trusted by Google who rank decently for nearly any content – the external linking is often just the icing on the cake in those cases but not crucial for appealing positions. In the German-index the sites that enjoy this status are very often publishing houses and the webpages of their print-publications. Often represented early on on the Internet and in most cases armed with content which is broadly linked on a voluntary basis, they have rightfully acquired Google's trust.

Something called “parasite-hosting”, which is commonplace internationally for a long time, seems to have now gained a foothold here, too: Domains and sub-domains, which obviously enjoy Google's trust, are being used to dump content which usually has a strong commercial background and which does not vindicate Google's trust in the domain. Classic examples are from the finance sector but also cars and real estate seem to be popular. Opposite to the USA, where Universities (arguably without their knowledge) are often used, I am surprised that in Germany there are numerous publishing houses who are being put before the cart. The frequent culprits seem to be overzealous advertisement salesmen who view sub-domains only as bulletin boards and who are happy to have reached their quota, while they are unaware of the possible repercussions this may have for the whole domain. I cannot imagine that, for example, the Süddeutsche would, if they were aware of the consequence of loosing Google's trust for the whole domain, host content on the topic of “credit, pensions, DSL, real-estate ...” on a sub-domain without hesitation. Additionally we see Newspapers such as the FAZ, the Capital magazine or the Manager-Magazin who are generous at giving out sub-domains and “googleoptimized advertising-spots”.

I would have expected that after the media hype about the PageRank-depreciation a few link-sellers would have come to the conclusion that it is not a good idea to jeopardize their “web-property” just to make a quick buck on advertisement-sales that are relatively low profit. Oh well ...