Hello Fellows,

Recently Google Japan launched a new home page where it was promoting a list with the most searched terms typed on its search engine. It´s a kind of “HotWords” also found on Twitter:

Accordantly with TechCrunch, that new service has been already available to include in the iGoogle page of any user. The big trouble arose when Google Japan decided hire an online marketing company, Cyberbuzz, to promote that new tool, already available as a widget to webmasters, through pay-per-posts.

Well, some good integrations arose from that process as reported by TechCrunch, but this number was really low if you get note by the research in Google BlogSearch.

Google Japan swam against the flow of good online advertising practices supported by its headquarter in the USA, when it dicided to use pay-per-posts campaigns. All of us know how Google USA fights Pay-per-Post practices.

So far so good for Google Japan. But just for now.

Yesterday, Fabio Ricotta an SEO blogger from Brazil noticed a twitter message written by Matt Cutts leader of the Google Anti Spam team where he announced a punishment to Google Japan. He made a question to him about the issue and Matt gave a positive answer confirming the punishment.

We don´t know if that was an isolated action, took by the Anti Spam team, because the Google Japan was punished after 46 paid posts (Noticed at the Google BlogSearch research). It´s a little suspected think that an algorithm detected the issue, but we cannot discard this hypotheses.

Well, the most important thing to learn from the whole history is: even the Google branches in other countries can’t walk away with something concerning the Google Anti Spam Polices, and if you intend or actually do pay-per-posts then you must open your eyes, maybe you are the next to lose Page Rank from one day to another.

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