{"id":5142,"date":"2022-07-18T20:46:30","date_gmt":"2022-07-18T20:46:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/18\/ahrefs-mentions-vanishing-from-semrush-owned-backlinko\/"},"modified":"2022-07-18T20:46:30","modified_gmt":"2022-07-18T20:46:30","slug":"ahrefs-mentions-vanishing-from-semrush-owned-backlinko","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/18\/ahrefs-mentions-vanishing-from-semrush-owned-backlinko\/","title":{"rendered":"Ahrefs mentions vanishing from Semrush-owned Backlinko"},"content":{"rendered":"

Want to cause outrage in SEO? Change one word.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Especially if that one word is a recommendation in the form of an SEO tool company.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At issue.<\/strong> Brian Dean of Backlinko \u2013 and his integrity \u2013 is under attack for altering references (and links) from Ahrefs to Semrush. As recently as May 16, the most noteworthy article in question said this<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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\u201cBut if you had to make me pick ONE tool to use for SEO, I\u2019d have to go with Ahrefs.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

At some point, it changed to say:<\/p>\n

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\u201cBut if you had to make me pick ONE tool to use for SEO, I\u2019d have to go with Semrush.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Why is this an issue? Because Semrush bought Backlinko<\/a> in January.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What has not changed. <\/strong>The line following the two variants of the above sentence:\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis was a REALLY hard call to make. I honestly think you can\u2019t go wrong with either tool.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The above line was written long before the acquisition. And if something could have gone either way, and Dean wrote as much, changing a choice from one tool to another feels like a stretch to label this an ethical breakdown.<\/p>\n

Is it shady?<\/strong> Maybe somewhat. Dean could (and probably should) add a simple disclosure to any mentions or recommendations of Semrush, along the lines of \u201cDisclosure: I work on a part-time basis for Semrush, which owns Backlinko.)<\/p>\n

The only mention I see clearly of Semrush\u2019s involvement in Backlinko is a link in the footer of the Backlinko website: \u201c\u00a9 2022 Backlinko is a Trademark of Semrush Inc.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Will every Backlinko visitor know Semrush owns Backlinko or scroll down past all the comments to see it? No. But it\u2019s there.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Also at issue.<\/strong> There is more. Here\u2019s what Ahrefs CEO Tim Soulo tweeted:\u00a0<\/p>\n

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All mentions of @ahrefs<\/a> at @backlinko<\/a> are slowly but surely getting replaced by @semrush<\/a> \"\ud83e\udd72\" pic.twitter.com\/jYx49rJSqu<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Tim Soulo \"\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\" (@timsoulo) July 13, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

This LinkedIn post<\/a> by \u200b\u200bDaniel Emery, head of SEO at PWD Australia, implies this is an ethical issue because:<\/p>\n