Reciprocal linking...that isn't, quite
A well-known wine website has a page where it kindly links to other wine sites on a reciprocal basis. On the face of it, this seems to be quite generous because this site enjoys a good google ranking.
But a closer examination of the source code indicates a "no follow" instruction ahead of the links. This is a bit sly, because it means that the links have had their seach engine value taken out of them. I won't reveal the name of the site - instead, I've contacted the owner and asked them to remove it, and I hope that they will.
Labels: websites
posted by Jamie @ 4:05 PM
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12 Comments:
Nefarious! What exactly does the source code look like? Seems rather backhanded... I wonder if this happens a lot -- time to start viewing sources to see!
I've received the same proposal, didn't answer yet, but can't understand the "no follow" stuff. What's the problem, please?
Google "nofollow" - you'll see that it's an instruction to the search engines (it was designed by google) not to give credit to the link. Search engines use the calibere of the ranking site to assess how much weight to give a link.
I've noticed that this site also uses "no follow" for most of the links to its sponsors. Very odd behaviour
Hmm... odd. Nofollow is a way to pass traffic to the target site without passing ad searchengine ranking.
If links are a vote for the linked sites, nofollow links are a non-vote. Borderline unethical when doing reciprocal links as the reason most people do them is for pagerank as well as for traffic.
I'd out the site Jamie... Sneakiness is best countered by strong does of light.
I would out the site, and I will if I don't get some sort of response within a few days - but I do beleive in giving people a second chance (and a third, and a fourth...) - we all have our faults, after all.
Well Jamie..you are on my blog...
http://barrys-wine.blogspot.com/
Barry...
A fellow wine lover and a Man City supporter....
any chance of a link on your page..can't find an email..so doing it this way..
Barry, I'd be happy to link to your blog - it's a good one.
doctoring the code for that type of gain is a bit sneaky.
i think i have found the blog you are talking about - but having gone through a re-skinning and taking on a new look - do you think perhaps that the author does not know that this has been coded into the site - and is the work of the site design coders?
either way its sneaky - if it's not water/flavourants in wine, its google code in wine blogs - either way you cant pull one over a wine enthusiast i guess!
It's not a blog...and it is a code that hasn't been entered automatically.
in what circumstances would using that code be deemed ok?
Cru master - I quote from another source:
"The new no follow tag is intended for sites which allow the user to post comments but it should work in any HTML page. This presents an opportunity for unscrupulous webmasters to offer 'reciprocal links' which are useless. The webmaster can offer to exchange links but he can put the no follow tag in the anchors on his site which negates any gain from the search engines.
If you offer to trade links you need to inspect the source code of the page where your link will reside. You should look for the 'no follow' tag in the anchor as well as older tricks which prevent the links from being properly indexed by the search engines."
thanks jamie, that clears it up nicely - i love the use of 'unscrupulous' - its all very sneaky indeed.
well i hope the site owner changes it.
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