This month has seen the number of incoming links displayed in Google Webmaster Tools greatly reduce, which has led to a lot of speculation and overall panic by many webmasters. After looking at dozens and dozens of my own domains and reading the public statements from Google reps, it is clear that many links were removed from the tool, but they were removed from just that: the tool. I am not seeing any significant drops in ranking or traffic based on this change. It looks like they are just allowing for the reports to be easier read by the “average” person … whatever that means.

In short, when you see something like link counts drop by a lot on your site, before you panic, look at your stats. Has traffic changed? Has revenue dropped? If it hasn’t, there is no need to panic. Remember your goal here – making a profit. That is always your key indicator.

Are you sick of all the endless rants on blogs, forums and articles on the latest “spin” on what Matt Cutts said or didn’t say at SMX last week? Me too. I purposely waited a week to comment to let the “idiotness” die down somewhat and also get Dan Thies‘ take on the whole situation.

Why would I wait to talk to Dan about this? Unlike others who have voiced their opinion on this, Dan wasn’t just there at SMX, he was the moderator of the session where Matt made his comments.

And Dan was more than shocked with all the rumors that started and people quoting things that Matt didn’t even say. I mean, come on, it’s like getting a ticket for failure to stop at a railroad crossing but your local paper reports that you were picked up for prostitution. That’s just not funny. But if it is someone else, it’s hilarious.

So take ten minutes out of your Friday and watch Dan’s take with his Google Operation Bendover Exposed video. Not only will he clear things up for you, but the comedy is an instant classic. And if you’re wondering if you’ve seen that picture of Leslie Rohde before, you aren’t dreaming. It is my handy work from last year.