buckworks - 9:09 pm on Jul 23, 2007 (gmt 0)

Just within the last hour I came across a links page that I'm certain would be a red flag for the algo.

The site sells elegant handmade widgets, and their link exchange page said they'd like to trade links with other sites that feature handmade widgets or widget accessories. So far so good ... until you actually look at their links.

It appears as though they've just swapped links with anyone who came along, as only a few of the links had any connection with widgets. Their links page would be guaranteed to make a spider say, "Oh, good grief!"

I had checked out the site because I was looking for resources to list on my own page about handmade widgets, but I decided not to include that one. Linking to someone who can't say no to an irrelevant link creates too much risk of stumbling into a bad neighbourhood.

Link freely but not promiscuously!