Back in the summer of 2004, Google forced uproar within the internet community. Thousands were affected by having been dropped from the search engines totally and some even experienced being banned by the Mega-Search Daddy.

Well, like all quakes there will be tremors to follow. According to Google's latest shake is the filing for a US patent 20050071741 on March 31, 2005. And, again this time the shake will prove devastating for some unsuspecting long term grandfathered sites.

Not only has Google made it apparently clear that it will eventually 'flush' the old to invite the new but, Google has also revealed its criteria on what was acceptable and not acceptable with the current linking strategies commonly used.

Since Google is largely focused on their new algorithms that effect linking, there are a few things you should know.

1.Reciprocal links will now only carry weight towards page rank if the link is relevant to the theme of your site. In other words, if your site is about cookbooks, don't get caught linking back to a site about gun cases. That might be tempting if you have a page that displays recipes for venison but, Google will probably not make the connection.

2.Links either back linked or forward linked are now given a history data algorithm. This means that old or stale links that have not been maintained as fresh and updated information will be penalized. Dispose of broken or dead links. Rotate newer updated links to the top of their perspective categories within your linking directories on a monthly routine bases.

3.Anchor Text now has its own score as well. When reciprocating links it is no longer acceptable to Google to have too many backward links using the same key phrase. This is now considered 'Anchor Spam'. Vary your anchor text using several different pertinent key phrases matching the theme of your site.

4.The use of Third party Link Exchanges are now under their radar. Make sure your Link Directory is hosted on your server and not by a third party. All links should be relevant to your site theme. Organically grow your link directory; using artificial link injection will get you flagged.

Traffic Nodes are and how always been within the good guidelines of all search engines. To find out what Traffic Nodes are and how to create one go to http://www.traffic-n-more.com/node/index.html.