Reading a report

A report answers three questions about a list of placements: what you actually received, where it runs, and what it is worth.

Link statesCopy Anchor Link

Every link is in one state, read from the page at the time of the check:

• Followed: the link is on the page and passes ranking credit as marked.
• Nofollow, sponsored or ugc: the link is there but marked as passing no credit. Search engines treat these marks as hints; BV counts them as passing none.
• Removed: the page loads but the link is no longer on it.
• Dead page: the page answers an error or no longer exists.
• Could not verify: the page could not be read reliably. Such links are left out of the value and listed after the verified ones.

Servers and networksCopy Anchor Link

Publications are grouped by the server they run on. A group of ten or more distinct domains on one address is examined for footprints of one owner; when they agree, the group is named a network and its links are valued at level D. A shared address alone is not treated as a network.

ValueCopy Anchor Link

Each link carries its BV: the dollar value of the link to rankings under the published model. The report totals them and shows, link by link, what lowered a value (nofollow, a network, a syndicated copy, a second link from the same site). See How bklink values links.

A valuation is an estimate, not an appraisal. It is not a prediction of rankings, and not what a vendor will charge.

Changes over timeCopy Anchor Link

A status re-check runs the live checks again and dates every change, so a link stripped to nofollow or removed after delivery shows when it happened.

What a report cannot tell youCopy Anchor Link

• Whether a search engine has counted a link. A followed link on an indexed page is the precondition, not proof.
• Who owns a server. Footprints of one owner are evidence of common control, not a statement about any person.
• What a link will do for one site's rankings.