However, Google still has no idea if the link was purchased by the website the link points to or if it was purchased by a competitor trying to get the website penalized.
Out of curiosity: how often does this happen? It's a really common problem--hypothetically. I've heard all kinds of warnings about how people could buy links to a site and report it, slamming the site's rankings. Could.
It would be interesting to see how often this actually happens, and how Google responds.
If it were a reliable way to see someone smacked down, it would be done all the time. The only reason such a system would not be abused is if black hats weren't convinced it was effective.
Out of curiosity: how often does this happen? It's a really common problem--hypothetically. I've heard all kinds of warnings about how people could buy links to a site and report it, slamming the site's rankings. Could.
It would be interesting to see how often this actually happens, and how Google responds.