PRLog Pulls Bait n' Swith, Slaps Publishers with NOFOLLOW

GULFPORT, Miss. - Sept. 10, 2013 - PRLog -- Public relations specialists, press release publishers and organic search marketers everywhere are sighing a collective sign as PR Log, the last truly free bastion of the free press release, has pulled the ole' bait-n-switch on its publishers, reversing a tenured policy and effectively taking back any and all benefits associated with the effort of publishers over the course of the site's existence.

For the entirety of its prior existence, PR Log would offer followed links (two or three depending upon the point in the company's existence) with each press release published. These were URL links (as opposed to anchor text links - at least for the free releases), so the benefit to the search engine rankings of the pages being linked to was negligible at best. However, in allowing publishers to include followed links in their releases, many of which were totally original and unique to PR Log, the company allowed them to get new pages (say, product pages for example) indexed by search engines quickly and methodically while simultaneously issuing a formal announcement about new products, promotions, etc.

Now, there is no benefit to speak of in exchange for publishing original, exclusive press release content to PR Log. The site drives very little targeted traffic to its publishers' sites, and the primary benefit associated with using PRLog regularly was in being able to get new pages crawled and indexed quickly and efficiently.

Now that the one remaining benefit of using the site was taken back from publishers in an act of greed that defies logic and many are saying is beneath contempt, it begs the question of what role PR Log will fill in this era of the mobile web. Why should publishers and marketers continue to use the site?

What if any benefits are there to providing PR Log with exclusive content? Will PR Long be closing down altogether?

Furthermore, why should publishers leave existing press releases which were given exclusively to PR Log there when the one benefit of doing so no longer exists? What incentive exists for publishers to refrain from deleting their entire press room of content and moving the articles/releases to a different site which they control?

These questions, as well as many others, await answers as it appears PR Log tried to slip this change under the rug without a formal statement in hopes no one would notice.

Obviously, this strategy was flawed, as was the business decision leading to the implementation of rel="nofollow". What will become of the web's last remaining bastion for free press release publishing and distribution remains to be seen, and only time will tell.

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