Is Youtube Really Nofollow?

Posted by MyOwnDemon

August 28, 2008

I’ve been trying to rank one of my niche sites #1 in Google for a certain keyword phrase for about 6 months now. No matter how many inbound links I build with this phrase as the anchor, I can’t seem to take that coveted number #1 spot.

There is one particular site ranking for this phrase that has held the #1 spot forever and I can’t seem to beat him in the SERPs. The highest I can rank is #2. Not good enough for me.

So, today I checked the backlinks of my site and his site for a little side by side comparison. I have 400% more inbound links than he has, but he still holds the number 1 spot.

But, that’s not all.

I used Yahoo Site Explorer and 90% of his links are from Youtube videos. The other 10% are from sites on the same IP (probably his other sites). Most of my links are from other sites in my niche on separate IPs. This. makes. no. sense.

I thought Youtube was supposedly nofollow?? But, according to my research - he’s apparently maintaining his rank with nothing but a steady supply of Youtube links and absolutely nothing else.

Another thing I noticed is that his site is about a year older than mine and I know google places alot of weight on domain age, but come on! He’s only using cheap Youtube links. His on page SEO is decent, but so is mine. I should be blowing this guy out of the water.

So, my question is this: is Youtube TRULY nofollow or is that just some myth created to keep people from spamming it? Maybe G does place some weight on Youtube links after all.

Guess it’s time to upload some videos with my link in the description and see if I can beat him at his own game.

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