Share the Damn Link

Below is an email I got today asking me to trade links with another website. That was a key strategy offered for getting more hits when I first started blogging. But then it was more bloggers linking to each other. Technorati, one of the sites that tracks blogs and ranks them,
now says

Please note that links in blogrolls don’t count towards Authority, as they are not indicative of interest in relevant content; we stopped including blogroll links in August 2008.

On occasion I've mentioned ways sellers have attempted to advertise on this site.  Some leave comments - usually with a couple of generic compliments about the site first.  Then put in a link to an unrelated website.  Usually I just delete the comments unless they are relevant to the post.  For example, I deleted one that sold modern Italian furniture that was in a comment on a large Asian furniture complex that we visited in Thailand, but I left a link to dvd's that taught children Mandarin Chinese that was linked to a post where I had pictures of children writing Chinese characters.

Others offer to pay you if you write a positive post about their products.  They pay more if you don't mention that you're getting paid.  I'm sure a lot of bloggers must take them up on that, but I think that's pretty slimy.  People buy things that bloggers endorse because they think this is a genuine testimonial. And it hurts blogger credibility in general when people find out some bloggers are paid to do that.   It's an example of how the market contaminates honest dialogue. (I'm not against the market, I'm just for honest, sensible understanding of its benefits and costs.)

Dear owner of http://whatdoino-steve.blogspot.com,


I'm the webmaster of http://www.sharethedamnroad.com.


We came across your site on the Internet and feel that it would fit
perfectly into our collection of quality links at
http://www.sharethedamnroad.com/content/link-partners.

1. Here's the carrot as he works on my vanity by calling this a quality link.
2. It's about bikes, and this is a bicycle friendly blog.  But it's not like the two Alaska bike links I have on the right that talk about biking in general.  It's selling bike jerseys.
3. And it's a generic email.  He didn't even use my first name, which isn't hard to find.

We've already placed a link to your website along with a description at our site on the page, which we encourage you to check for accuracy. Once you place a link back to use, your link will be moved up to a more visable spot on the page.

3. And I get a link from them, and when I get back to them I get more visible shelf space.

We'd appreciate it if you place a link back to our site using the following HTML code (just copy and paste it into your links page): http://www.sharethedamnroad.com" title="Cycling Jeresys That Make A Statement">Road Cycling Jerseys Cycling Jeresys That Make A Statement On your page, the code will look like this: Road Cycling Jerseys Cycling Jeresys That Make A Statement If you'd like the description of your site modified, the category changed, or if you have any other cross-promotion ideas, feel free to email us. Please note that if you don't place a reciprocal link to us somewhere on your site within a week, the link to your site will automatically be removed from our directory. Please link to us using the code above, and let us know where we can find the link.

4. And now the stick - put something up or we're going to take your link down.

Best regards, Jonathan Ciaccio Cycling@ciaccioseo.com This is NOT SPAM -- this is a one-time reciprocal link request. We have NO INTENTION to email you again. You can also reply to this email with REMOVE in the subject line to make sure we'll NEVER send you any more e-mails in the future.

I'd guess the difference between this and spam is that these aren't computer generated messages to zillions of people.  At least I'm assuming that these went to bike related blogs.  Though biking is not the focus of this blog.

As these things go, this is fairly reasonable. It came as an email, not as a comment. That's good.  It's bike related and I like that too. I'm guessing someone saw the post I did with the Share (bike) sign. But I do think wearing "Share the Damn Road" on your back when you bike through traffic is more likely to get you in trouble (all you need to do is piss off one driver) than increase support for cyclists.

So I wrote back saying I'd probably put up a post. And so I have. Not to get a link on his site.  It gives me a chance to remind readers of the kinds of things people do to advertise in the blogging world.

Boycott blogs with non-transparent paid advertising testimonials - if you can figure out which ones they are.