I have always been very liberal in linking out. On multiple occasions I’ve linked out to 40+ brand new sites at a time. This is fine as long as they are providing something of value.

1. restricting PR (authority) from flowing to useless links ie. affiliate links, bookmarketing links etc.

2. To control your own internal link juice. For instance, I use Andy Beard’s “nofollow those dupes” plugin to nofollow all links on the homepage in order to drive the juice into my money pages. This does take from the temporary front-page link that people would be getting, but it puts more juice into the pages that really matter in the long run.

I can partially understand why there is so much confusion going on about linking. I personally got rid of my do follow comments when I read an article by a fellow marketer and good friend of mine. (Grizzly) (I believe you know him)

It made perfect sense to me what he was saying and to take the do follow Plugin off was my decision alone based on what I have learned over the last couple of month.

I simply don’t want to risk loosing my PR after all the hard work I have put into my blog. Some say that is silly, I say it is how I feel and what I belief to be true.

Whether it will be penalized or not it is still an open book, but I chose not to take my chances.

Do I panic? No, I don’t, I simply made a business decision which I feel is right for me. So you can’t blame other bloggers for making theirs.

I happen to value my PR and therefore I need to do everything I can to retain it.

Others simply do the same. As for linking in blog posts, the only sites I place nofollow links are those who are heavy trafficked and affiliate programs. (I also learnt this lately)

I had to learn the hard way as I’m also a victim of PPP reviews. I didn’t know about the existing rule prior to all going public and I have been cruising the net for 4 years now. It’s like knowing that the car tires you drive are dangerous for your car without anybody telling you.

I never understood this dofollow and nofollow business until the carpet got pulled from under me . How do you expect those bloggers feel who just came online?

We all fuel each others beliefs by what we say. Some say the sky is blue and others say it is pink. They are both correct even though it doesn’t seem this way first.

Since I don’t work for Google and I don’t read their rules I learn by mistakes and listening to others whom I respect. You are one of those I respect, but it doesn’t mean that I do agree with your statement.

Agree with you there, some bloggers seem to cut off their nose in order to spite their face.