buckworks - 1:42 pm on Apr 2, 2002 (gmt 0)

The concern that deep linking will "bypass the advertising" shows a lack of understanding of visitor behaviour. If visitors get sent on a convoluted path to hunt down content they've been told about, they will seldom "see" any ads along the way anyhow, and any ad that is intrusive enough to get noticed will more than likely be a source of annoyance.

In my less-than-vast experience (half-vast??), a relevant ad on the page with the sought-after content will be far more effective in terms of connecting with the visitor and generating actual sales than any number of promotional bells and whistles along the way. Deep linking makes a better experience for the surfer, which in turn reflects better on the sites at both ends of a link.

Anyone who complains about deep linking should be very, very careful they're not overlooking an opportunity for viral marketing. Including branding info and links in PDF files is a good example. If you have resources that others want to link to directly, why not rework them a bit to tap into the viral marketing possibilities? Done well it could result in some well-targeted free advertising.