I've often wondered why carnival links and roundup links would be OK to Google while other links aren't...but, they do add value for the reader - showing other posts which may be of interest to them.

When I do roundups, I always make sure to spread around the links, meaning that I don't just focus on Yakezie or don't just focus on the same blogs week in and week out.  I think it's easy to fall into the habit of including your favorites, but could this have adverse effects in the long run? 

FT, this is becoming very interesting - I always saw carnivals as 'publication outlets' and 'round ups' as citations. If G is moving on these there are not many possibilities left for community building in our area.

Maria

This may also be a reason why many bloggers submit to carnivals but choose not to link back for fear of being penalized for participating in a link exchange.

I'm just curious...Where are the links not showing up?

Even before I started submitting to carnivals, google has always been finicky about "noticing" links directed to my site regardless of the type of link - whether that be links from guest posts, carnivals, etc. An important thing to remember, if you ask me, is that many links will not be recorded in different rankings. For example, alexa currently shows that I only have 420 something links to my site, when I know that other sites show me with more links than that. It all varies... I'd love to hear if anyone knows why this happens, but I suspect it is just because no algorithm is perfect.

While I am no expert, carnival links don't have as much value (in terms of link juice) as a guest post or natural link, but they do have value. There are many statistics that are influenced by the number of links towards your site (like DA).  I have yet to see anything negative from Google against carnivals. While we can see them as beneficial for getting an extra link to our sites, it is also a great service to readers. It provides an fast, easy way for readers to find the latest posts on a relevant topic, whether that be specific like frugality or general as finances. I think as long as it still offers this service to readers, G will respect them.

Is Big G freezing things as part of an SEO overhaul? I've no idea how it works...

Well during the last couple of months The Money Principle has been in between 8 and 6 carnivals every week and there has not been an increase in links to note.

What is happening?

Maria