Updated: The mystery of the FT's invisible 'link spam'

The Financial Times website has been accused of attempting to cheat Google rankings with hidden links appearing on its website to personal finance site Moneysupermarket.com.

Such 'link spam' tactics rely on hiding white links against a white background. They are invisible to web surfers but are quickly picked up by search engines. With the FT likely to be regarded as a trusted source in Google's eyes, such a referral placement can do wonders for a company's Google ranking. And while there is nothing amiss with the relationship - in fact Moneysupermarket.com claims to be an affiliate of the FT - the use of invisible links is ethically questionable, claims one expert in linking strategies.

Many companies will do what they can to get a higher Google ranking but such practices are often regarded as underhand and those who try to cheat the system run the risk of removal from Google's sought after index.

At the time of writing, many of the pages on the FT's 'Your Money' section had been abused in this way.

Users hovering their cursor about a centimetre below a list of 'Partner sites' - on the left-hand side of the page - will detect a link to Moneysupermarket.com which they are unable to see on the page. With the other sites all being media outlets, the inclusion of such a site looks all the more out of place - or would, if it wasn't obscured from view. (Article continues after the images.)

Hovering over the white space reveals a link to a personal finance website.

silicon.com discovered that the hidden link is replicated on at least 11 other pages on the FT site.

Reader Ken McGaffin, CEO of Linking Matters, brought the 'link spam' abuse to silicon.com's attention after running a competitive link analysis for another personal finance company.

McGaffin said he would be surprised if the linking had have ever received official approval within the FT.

In similar cases elsewhere such placements have been down to rogue employees looking to earn money on the side or even malicious third parties, McGaffin said.

He said he first noticed the invisible links five weeks ago and believes the fact they are still there is indicative of a real failing on the part of the FT.

"If this has been sanctioned at any level within the FT then that is terrible but the fact that it has been allowed to happen at all is still pretty bad," McGaffin told silicon.com.

Update:Shortly after being contacted by silicon.com the links appeared as visible on the pages.

A spokeswoman for the FT told silicon.com: "This was a genuine error and we corrected it as soon as we were made aware of it."

The spokeswoman explained the link was on the site as a value-ad on an ongoing commercial partnership with Moneysupermarket.com.

She added: "It was created without proper awareness of the Google guidelines that prohibit such links, and was created so as to not detract from the existing partner presence on the site."

"As soon as this situation was flagged the links were immediately made visible so as not to contravene the guidelines."

She assured silicon.com it was "a one-off incident which will obviously not be repeated".

"We have no interest in underhand activity towards search engines - we wholeheartedly support ethical practices in this area and apologise for any confusion caused by the hidden links error."