Quote:
Originally Posted by weegillis
Oh s--t! I don't trust my own site! All this time I've been using 'nofollow' on my own link to as much as say, don't waste your time, I haven't had time to do anything here since July.
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That was a good laugh, thanks. I think it also points to something at the heart of the matter which is "trust".
I personally don't think every sponsored link should pass
PR juice, unless we want organic results saturated by those with the highest advertising budget. At the same time, webmasters should be trusted to use their own discretion to whom and to where they want to pass the rank juice, regardless if they were paid for it. Sponsoring should generally mean an exchange for traffic and exposure, but it should be up to the webmaster to decide if the ad is also something they think is worthwhile to give the metaphorical "vote" to (as google sees it).
Even
not being identified as sponsors -- whether or not it's ethical, the practice is nothing new and isn't unique to blogs. It happens in journalism, or any time a hidden endorsement happens where there's been some type of exchange of money or favors. I'm just concerned things may go too far in policing the activity online where it casts a darker shadow of disdain over
all bloggers.
After re-reading this I'm not sure about my wording. Hmm, I have a feeling I may have to explain myself more. Oh well.