Thank you for the reply.

I should have been more specific in describing what I found from the referrer reports. These bloggers are not using the image *and* linking back to the site; they are simply setting the src attribute to the remote image. When a browser comes to download that image it includes the page where the image is located in the header as the referrer, but the user never actually realizes he/she made a connection to the site. As far as I have been able to tell, this yields no gain in authority to the site as a real link would (maybe because an image cannot spread out its Page Rank through links to other pages on the site?), but does help just that image rank in image results (and consequently consolidated results, as you mentioned). Perhaps you have evidence to the contrary?

The lack of presence in consolidated results is a true shot in the foot, yes. However, it is a calculated one, as a trade off by valuing quality of service (by protecting those who don’t want their homes blogged about for whatever reason) over quantity (number of clients for whom that service is performed). Better to be shot in the foot than in the head.

I believe I have made the right choice here, but I am certainly not an SEO, so I am quite open to suggestions.

- Ken

The goal of optimizing images is NOT so you’ll be found in an image search. I can’t imagine anybody looking for a home that way. The primary goal is to build your relevance and authority on the main Google search. Secondarily, if one of your images applies to the search phrase, it will be displayed on the main page, within the consolidated results – that’s like striking oil. If you can get both a web result and an image result to show up at the same time, you have a very high likelihood of getting that persons traffic. By blocking Google from your images you have guaranteed that you r site will NEVER appear with consolidated results. There’s the first shot.

Unless the photo-links back to your site are eating into your bandwdth, they actually a good thing. Search engines, especially Google, LOVE links. Each one of those new homeowners you block is another link that Google could have followed back to your site. There’s the second shot.

I hope this clears some things up for you – hope your feet heal up OK.

I think it is conceivable that home buyers looking for a certain characteristic in a home may very well end up turning to Google Image Search; however, from looking at referrer reports a clear trend has been evident in my experience that most Google Image searchers are more intent on finding pictures to post on their blogs. Not everyone is thrilled to learn that some unreachable person has used a picture of their newly purchased home like a stock photograph on his/her blog. It’s for this reason that I have not only blocked hotlinking, but also went so far as to deny the image directory for home listings in my robots.txt file.

- Ken Schweickert
Programmer for the Frampton Team at RE/MAX Lafayette Group