The text ads in Gmail actually turn up fascinating stuff sometimes. The latest link to catch my eye was to an article in a “search optimization” industry site which notes that Google is banning people who use “blog submission software” (read: blog spammers).
I’m thrilled to hear Google is doing that, though apparently they’ve been doing it for a while. Stands to reason — every time someone spams a blog, Google’s ability to deliver is diluted.
The writer of the article suggests that instead of blog spamming, those looking to “optimize” their search ranking use Technorati to find a blog writing about something relating to their site and take “a little effort… to leave an original thought provoking comment.” The author spells it all out for those too stupid to understand the purpose of blogs: “You see, these comments are a conversation. And contributing to the conversation, instead of throwing a bag of wrenches into the middle of it, will not only get you a natural SEO helping relevant link on a blog which covers content similar to your own site; it may even bring you some valuable traffic from the blog readers themselves.”
Gee willikers… what the Cluetrain Manifesto hath wrought. The sleep of marketers produces monsters. Yuck.
For the record, the blog you are reading now is NOT a good way to advertise your product. My understanding is that the readers here — as we’ve established, my mom, Bacon, and about five Communist ex-boyfriends — are pretty damn fussy about advertising and are not apt to respond well to it. Not to mention that I delete it, aside from the one guy who apparently took that article to heart and posted a “thoughtful” comment about his software, who I publically mocked. I’ve also considered suing comment spammers for unpaid advertising fees and time I’ve spent “managing” their ads. Come to think of it, the one advertisement here I’d consider responding to would be one from a lawyer who thinks we could take that suit to court, win, and establish precedent with it. Any takers?
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