Now, it was not on this thread, but on "are we slave to Google" that I saw an
excellent point from wige that I believe speaks to the point of ethics and fairness:
Quote:
Originally Posted by wige
<snip> ... links are viewed as testimonials/endorsements. When you link to a site, you are endorsing that site to visitors. If you fail to disclose you are being paid to endorse the other site, that falls into the "deceptive advertising" category. Google's argument is that machines browse the web also, and work on the same concept of endorsement to prevent spam and gauge the quality of a web site, so failing to disclose that an endorsement is paid is an unfair business practice.
|
I am also impressed by what Michael Lineman says on
LED Digest - the topic was the legality of buying and selling links, but his answer speaks more directly to the ethics involved, in my opinion.
Cheers, MJ