NONE: Re: ONLINE-ADS>> Newsgroup Postings/Reciprocal link guidelines
Re: ONLINE-ADS>> Newsgroup Postings/Reciprocal link guidelines
Mark J. Welch (markwelch_at_ca-probate.com)
Tue, 10 Feb 1998 18:56:06 -0800
At 12:06 PM 2/9/98 -0800, Andrea Goldstein wrote:
>I was flamed
>as a result and have gotten into a discussion
>with my sysop who gave me this advice: * * *
><- do not publish URL's (especially to big commercial
><sites) in newsgroups, regardless of how relevent
>they <may seem
><- do not mail webmasters, suggesting they link to
>your <site from theirs
>Does anyone out there agree with this/have had similar
>experiences?
Speaking as someone who responds aggressively to
spam (newsgroup or email), I'm not sure what is
going on. Ms. Goldstein is describing very simple,
non-controversial activities, yet she describes a
very aggressive backlash. I must admit that my
immediate suspicion is that Ms. Goldstein is not
using the same definitions I would use when she
says the post was to "several relevant newsgroups."
If I update my website about "Caller ID Links"
and I post a notice of the update in one or two
focused telecomm groups, no one will complain.
Likewise, if I send email to other sites with Caller
ID Links, I can't imagine getting a vicious
response.
However, posting to more than one or two
closely-related newsgroups, or sending email
to sites that are not closely related to yours,
will generate a negative reaction. The use of
email-address-culling "robots" or purchased
"mail lists" are guaranteed to send your materials
to many of the wrong people, generating anger
and backlash.
It is a matter of degree, and quite honestly, it
is often a matter of common sense. Here's a good
example: I maintain a web page called "Abadago's
Mystery Links," a collection of links to sites related
to mystery books. Someone at BarnesandNoble.Com
sent me email about a promotion regarding Dean
Koontz books, tied in to a TV movie. Later, the
company defended its action, claiming it wrote to
me because my web site was related and they
hoped I would provide a link. But in fact, the email
did NOT request a link, and I don't think there was
a very close connection between the themes of the
email and of my page. (To see a copy of the email,
see http://www.markwelch.com/bnspam.htm).
It's a matter of degree (how many copies) and of
common sense (is theme A really related to theme
B, or did you simply decide to pretend they were
related because you really wanted to get the word
out?).
It's also a matter of dumb luck. You might send out
5,000 emails without incident (okay, that's pretty
doubtful), but then a mailing to 3 people may hit
one person who is very sensitive, who then reposts
your email to news:news.admin.net-abuse.email
and you then get a stream of nasty complaints.
(If you include me on any promotion lists, you are
playing with matches on a kerosene-soaked blanket.)
On a related note, I think we are all beginning to
recognize that it is growing more difficult to get other
sites to provide reciprocal links, in part because of the
volume of "irrelevant" link requests (which drown out
the legitimate requests). I often get emails suggesting
that site XYZ is closely related to the theme of one of
my pages, but when I go look at site XYZ there is no
connection whatsoever, and then I am annoyed and I
don't even bother looking at the next site that asks for
a link -- it just goes straight to my Eudora trash can.
Mark J. Welch
<markwelch_at_ca-probate.com>
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