Lame_Wolf - 5:59 pm on Oct 28, 2011 (gmt 0)

Knowing if the linking to my site has increased or decreased over time can tell if you going in the right direction.

Precisely,... over time. But you want to know which ones were added since your change. The problem with that is you don't know when the link was added, only when Google etc have picked it up. The link itself could have been added months before your change.

Now, unless you've made your site to become spammy looking, then it would be more beneficial to find out who has dropped your link.

When I link to sites, they have to be related, non-spammy, beneficial to my visitors... not because the site looks nice.

Anyway, what I call a waste of time is asking the reasons why someone makes a request. If you don't know the answer just move on.

I am trying to save you some time and to show that your wants and needs are flawed.

Surely, the other sites will be linking to you because of your content, yes ?
Or have you plastered your site with adverts and now wondering if people will want to link to you ? I maybe wrong, but that what it smells like to me.