Forum Moderators: martinibuster
Back to the topic. You may have heard of a website where a guy sells pixels on his homepage. I don't wish to start a flame thread on this (there are dozens elsewhere) but I would like advice on the practicalities of advertising there right now.
The concept is that the guy sells pixels space on his homepage. Currently, media reaction is in overdrive and he's getting thousands of visitors.
What I'm wondering is would it be a good idea to jump on the bandwagon right now? And would being listed on that page hurt page rankings?
1. The site currently has few advertisers and thus the potential visitors whou could click your link is great.
2. There will come a point where the page is too cluttered and individual advertisers will just blur and merge. The potential of click throughs will drop.
3. This could effectively be a one page links directory with upto 10,000 sites listed! Surely search engines will heavily penalise those listed, or, if the page becomes cult status will his PR rocket and thus those linked on it not be affected.
I see this as a quick smash and grab raid. If I advertise on there right now I could ride his coat tails. He's getting more media coverage each day and thus his traffic could multiply quickly.
By around December the site should be saturated, but in the meantime I could see traffic go through the roof.
Any ideas on this?
Please note I don't wish this thread to knock / praise the idea. This is purely a request for the pro's and con's of advertising there right now, and possibly pulling out after a few months.
Unless you have a dummy site you want to feed links to then divert them over to an adult site, and even then I wouldn't do it unless eventually burning the domain was part of the plan.
Where a link farm fails is that there is no desire to visit the page. This guys page will be visited due to media coverage.
The concept is I believe unique and clever and has a human element to it (guy needs to pay his college fees). This is the kind of thing the media love and this is why his visitors are rocketing.
I just think it's a cheap way of getting a sudden rush of visitors for the next few weeks or couple of months.
But I am worried that when the search engines catch up they may penalise the sites that are listed there.
The site has only been up a few weeks. What he has created is unique. The media coverage it is gettting is HUGE.
That's the point I'm trying to make.
Take a look on CNN!
The fact that it's receiving traffic doesn't change the fact that it's a free for all link farm. The media coverage does not change the fact that what it intrinsically is (per se, if you must), is a Link Farm. It's still a pig.
Maybe this will help you conceptualize it:
No matter what you do to it, it's still a link farm. Popularity doesn't redefine a link farm. A link farm will always be a link farm.
So my advice is that if you have a domain that you are willing to burn, go ahead and do it.
Rather than just reiterate the fact that link farms are a non-no can you answer these questions:
1. As the site is only a few weeks old it should be sandboxed. If this is the case then will search engines bother to form an opinion of the links at this stage?
2. If I place an ad there now, and get it removed in a months time will the search engines know that my domain was listed there and act accordingly. i.e. do they blacklist now or later?
3. If the site does achieve high popularity within a few months will search engines take a different view as to the status of it being a link farm?
4. Can you tell me of any link farms which are mentioned by and linked to from CNN?
Dang, I wish I would have thought of that one...
I'm more than a little temped to lay down some cash myself just to reward him for thinking way outside the box.
Freq---
1. As the site is only a few weeks old it should be sandboxed. If this is the case then will search engines bother to form an opinion of the links at this stage?
Forming an opinion is an algorithmic activity. It's automatic. Of course it will be seen for what it is, a link farm.
2. If I place an ad there now, and get it removed in a months time will the search engines know that my domain was listed there and act accordingly. i.e. do they blacklist now or later?
That's Woody Allen's "I'll do it until I need glasses technique." It depends on how much you love your domain. If you can't afford to lose it, then don't do it. If it's a throwaway domain, go ahead.
Consider this: A one day report on CNN will NOT result in hundreds of thousands of visits to your website. Just take a moment to consider it:
Now, out of those very few who actually click on an ad, how many of those will actually convert? Is a few untargeted and random clicks (if any) to your site actually worth the risk of listing your site on a free for all link farm?
It's all about targeted traffic. Even the adult site operators gave up spamming for bulk traffic years ago. It's all about targetted traffic.
3. If the site does achieve high popularity within a few months will search engines take a different view as to the status of it being a link farm?
Please, re-read my bullet points in my previous point. Please take a moment to actually read my post, thanks.
4. Can you tell me of any link farms which are mentioned by and linked to from CNN?
Are you saying that a mention by CNN legitimizes a website? You can't be serious.
A viewers tendency to regard a product as legitimate because they saw it on TV doesn't actually make it legitimate. But that's the effect that informercials are counting on. It's an old concept.
It's a link farm. If you see it on CNN or TV, or it gets blessed by the Dalai Lama, it's still a link farm.
[edited by: martinibuster at 9:30 pm (utc) on Sep. 20, 2005]
The angle I was looking at was the fact that these viral phenomenons can create a big rush of visitors in a short period of time.
I was looking at making a smash and grab kind of move. Catch the wave of visitors for a few weeks and get out before the SE's suss on.
Nevermind. I'll put that idea in the bin and shuttle away quitely.
Hmm, $100 bucks per competitor... well worth the investment.
