wheel - 7:38 pm on Oct 14, 2010 (gmt 0)

Google's reliance on links for it's algo, and our (webmasters') resulting hunt for links has completely screwed up interlinking.

Used to be if you had a good resource, you could actively hunt and find good quality links.

Today, that's pretty much dead. Quality websites either ignore link requests, or demand cash - the end resource is no longer a factor in people giving out links.

In short, this merry go round has distorted every webmaster out there, turning links into currency. And all of Google's guidelines and nofollow crap and everything else has only made things worse.

The only way to reverse the process is if you actively participate. And the only way I know of to turn links from currency into quality, is for you to actively provide links without currency.

To that end, I now give out free links when I have the opportunity and a relevant website to put them on - with no expectation of anything in return. The only thing I want is a general attitude that links are currency instead of citations.

And I'm suggesting you do the same. In fact, I'm challenging you, this week, to find 3 worthy recipients and give them a nice big fat juicy link. Find some friends, some competitors, whatever. Just give out 3 free links.