Forum Moderators: martinibuster
I get a ton of off topic link requests - but I don't report them! I review the decent ones
Include your address / phone number and a note where they can email if you if they do not wish to be contacted again - and respect these requests.
And I believe that in no way does having a website mean that you implicitely agree to have people spam you. That's what you say to justify your own actions. It doesn't make it any more right.
And I believe that in no way does having a website mean that you implicitely agree to have people spam you.I agree. But if this is on the page.
For the record, it took about five hours to get all the addresses and send the email. I've gotten about seven one way links out of it so far and one asked me to reciprocate, which I did. There may be more, these are the ones that replied and said they would add the link. One became very indignant that she couldn't reach the site because of the adbocker blocker. She responded by saying that the site was not appropriate for her members because ut uses ads (adsense). Almost all the other outgoing links on her resources page go to sites running ads of all sorts. I have since removed the adblocker blocker.
<added>Ooh boy, front page:). The first thing I did last night when I saw the snazzy new title was go check to see if it had made the front page. For the record, it was my hosting company that sent the email rather than my ISP (my bad in the original title). I don't think ther's any difference though. I imagine I would have gotten a very similar letter from them had I used that email address to send the letter.</added>
[edited by: Powdork at 5:29 pm (utc) on Dec. 23, 2004]
On the other hand, if you send a personalized link suggestion based on truly visitting a site and seeing a real relevance and good reason for such an exchange, that would not be spam. Unless, of course, the site specifically has a link exchange page with an email address on it for exchange requests.
Yes, spam is UCE (Unsolicitied Commercial Email) and, true, all link requests do fit that bill. But an additional test is, how specific is it to you? If the email sent could easily have been sent to 100s of other people as is... or just by substituting a domain name... then yeah, that's spam. If, on the other hand, it is specifically *to* the operator of that website based on a possible mutual benefit and it is obvious that the sender has both visited and understood the site and sees a genuine opportunity for benefit, then it would not be.
I don't understand why this is so difficult for some people to grasp.
Just because you get good responce from some of your spam does not mean that it is ok.I'm not using that to justify it and I don't particularly consider that level of response good. I just mentioned it because this is the link development forum.
Disagree, a link request is very much commercial. I can't imagine someone sending out link requests for their personal, never-hope-to-make-a-profit web site.
Of course they do, all the time. Or at least my experience shows this to be true. Perhaps once people get into the 'commercial game' they forget that there are tens of thousands of personal sites out there with the same aspirations that people might one day visit them. None of which is for financial gain. But they still find sites of a similar theme to theirs and still request a link exchange. A link exchange request therefore, and I think I agree with the original poster, does not necesarily have to have any commercial links (no pun intended) to it.
Thus any link requests to me by Email are SPAM by any definition. Happen on bad day and I may well report you ;)
R
redirects users of adblockers to a 'why you can't see my site' page. That seemed to irritate some of the emails recipients
If I received a wonderful, handwritten note extolling the virtues of my website I would be feeling quite warm to your request. Until I looked at it and discovered trickery to prevent me from seeing it. Just because I can't stand flashing things all over a page. I would immediately reclassify you with the sites that open 57 popups when you try to leave their site. If I knew where to file a spam report I would certainly try. However well written and personalized the original request may have been, it would only amplify the sense of betrayal.
You can't ask people to help you, and then slap them and call them unworthy when they try to help.
1. Don't send mail to aol.com addresses.
2. Get your own server.
3. Include an obvious and easy way to unsubscribe or a notice that there is no surviving list (one time email).
4. Use the phone.
5. Use a temporary server to host site during large email campaign.
6. Snail mail link campaign.
7. Send emails one at a time with lots of personalization.
8. Only request links from those with online forms for contact.
Some of these may be useful for those that do respond to link campaign emails. For instance "don't list an AOL address on your site". Or include a form for contact and a separate email address for other correspondence.
You can't ask people to help you, and then slap them and call them unworthy when they try to help.Absolutely right. Which is why, regardless of how strongly I feel on the subject, I have removed the redirect.
I still try emailing potential link partners, but I know the vast majority of them will end up getting deleted without even being read.
It just makes email seam like a waste, it has now got to the extent where you actualy want to email someone, but unless it is a reply you run the risk of being reported for spam. I think the entire email protocol needs a good shake up or it is just going to fall away.
Mack.
I don't think it helps the cause of fighting spam to draw such harsh rules. If any unsolicited email I send is considered spam, then I spam my family and friends all the time.
not quite - SPAM is unsolicited COMMERCIAL email.
what is commercial emails?
Sort of sending christmas cards to all old clients, could be considered spam?
if an webaster wants to link up with any of my sites, and represents a site that has obvious lateral/industry connectivity, i will happily give it.
Also i hunt links manually the same way also. I don't see a problem.
Of course, your underlying intentions may be highly commercial and the recipient may well suspect this - but the link request itself is not commercial.
So let's call spam: Solicitation of an individual (or organization) with no prior contact for the use of personal gain.
This gets a huge response and a chance to make a friendship. And it's much easier to get your friends to do favours for you, like exchange links, than complete strangers.
Also, US spam law says, if you inlcude your physical address on the bottom of your email and a way to be removed and you also send from a legit email address, then UCE is OK, even tough some ISP's make up their own rules about this. What I would also recommend is not to send emails from your ISP account, instead get a Free email account somewhere.
It is also a good idea to ask your ISP how many bulk e-mails they allow per session or hour. For ex. one of my ISP permits about 120 e-mails per hour. If exceeded, that particular e-mail domain will be auto-blocked and we need to contact their Admin to lift it.
Just because an email meets all the requirements of CANSPAM doesn't mean it's not SPAM.
An email can be legally sent (I'm talking about here in the U.S.; don't know about other countries) and still be considered SPAM by other service providers.
Also, there is NO law (as far as I know) that says a service provider must allow your email to be received by their systems. So any service provider, whether it be a host or ISP, can block you as a spammer even if you've only ever sent 'legal' email.
The bottom line is that any email you send could be 'considered' SPAM and whether or not it gets reported depends on the opinion and mood of the recipient at the time.
The only way to totally avoid the problem is to not send the email. Beyond that be careful and use some common sense.
When I get an e-mail saying 'We would like to trade links with your site, EXAMPLE.COM, we have a site that is in the "Automotive - Car" category', I know I'm on to a loser.
