Link Scheme
Any manipulative practice designed to artificially inflate a site's backlink profile to improve rankings
A link scheme is any pattern of link building behavior that attempts to manipulate search rankings in violation of search engine guidelines. Google specifically identifies several practices as link schemes: buying or selling links for ranking purposes, excessive link exchanges, large-scale guest posting campaigns with keyword-rich anchor text, automated link building, and requiring links as part of terms of service. Penalties for participating in link schemes range from algorithmic ranking demotions to manual actions that remove a site from search results entirely. The best defense is building links through methods that prioritize user value, topical relevance, and editorial quality over pure link acquisition volume.