[Richard Poe]

familyop writes: FR still gets a couple of hits from content keywords alone, just like the other sites.

Of course FreeRepublic gets plenty of incoming traffic from Google and everywhere else. There can be no question about that.

I am talking here about outgoing traffic. When FreeRepublic links to other Web sites, does Google keep proper track of the traffic those Web sites are receiving from FreeRepublic?

Our experience suggests that it does not -- at least not in all cases.

[familyop]

"I am talking here about outgoing traffic. When FreeRepublic links to other Web sites, does Google keep proper track of the traffic those Web sites are receiving from FreeRepublic?

Our experience suggests that it does not -- at least not in all cases. "

That would depend on how the webmasters for those sites try to get traffic. Hidden keywords and/or other violations will cause many or all of their hits to be voided. "Professional" website traffic "experts" are notorious for getting initial floods for their clients' sites, only to their customers penalized by search engines soon after.

Reputable search engine companies have their policies on search engine optimizations in their on-site documents for that.

[familyop]

Correction:
...only to have their customers penalized by search engines soon after.