linkback?

[weisyboy]

whats this linkback stuff.

i know its spam but wht exactly are they doing. and what dose linkback mean?

[Master Splinter]

Linkback means you will provide a link back to the (spammers) promoted site, increasing the spammers google page rank (one of the components of the page rank algorithm is how many sites link to a site - the more sites that link to a given site, the better that site must be!!)

Googlebot (the indexing engine that crawls the web for google) is wise to the trick of a ring of sites that all link to each other (called a linkfarm or 'mutual admiration society'), but that no-one else links to - so to get around this, spammers typically offer to promote you on site A, if you will provide a linkback to site B. (this hides the circular references from googlebot for a while, till it crawls enough of the web to wise up to what's going on and nukes everyone involved down to a page rank of zero.)

[silentC]

err, not quite: Woodwork Forums - LinkBacks (http://www.woodworkforums.com/misc.php?do=linkbacks)

[Master Splinter]

Depends. If it comes in the form of an email like:


Hi,
I took a look at your site a couple of hours ago... and I want to tell you that I'd really love to trade links with you. I think your site has some really good stuff related to my site's topic and would be a great resource for my visitors.
In fact, I went ahead and added your site to my Resource Directory.
Is that OK with you?
Can I ask a favor? Will you give me a linkback on your site? I'd really appreciate you returning the favor.
I have created a list of all the sites i've visited but if you have recieved this email in error then please let me know and i will remove you from my list and apologies for any inconvenience this has caused.
Thanks and feel free to drop me an email if you'd like to chat more about this.
Best wishes,
Steve


Then it's linkback spam!

[silentC]

I assumed Weisy was asking because he's received one or more emails from WWF like the following:


Dear silentC,


A new LinkBack has been recorded for a thread you have participated entitled - NC vs Acrylic Lacquer - in the FINISHING forum of Woodwork Forums.


This LinkBack is located at:
http://www.woodworkforums.com/f9/nc-vs-acrylic-lacquer-52082/#linkbacks

The originating site is located at:
Vintage Caravans - Search Results (http://vintagecaravans.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=recent)


Here is the associated message:
***************
it is porous and it will "soak" paint.Thinners will also dry the wood out (so I've read).http://www.woodworkforums.com/f9/nc-vs-acrylic-lacquer-52082/When I went and saw Narelle who runs &
***************




All the best,
Woodwork Forums


I've been getting them sporadically over the last few weeks. I don't believe it to be spam but otherwise I know no more about it than what I read in the link posted above.

[Old-Biker-UK]

I run the local ME club web site & get these requests all the time, now I can sus them out & delete them from the inbox without reading.
Mark

[Grumpy John]

I too wondered what the LinkBacks were all about, so I searched the FAQ using the following keywords: linkback, linkbacks, link back, LinkBack and LinkBacks. Not one hit, yet there is a whole section on LinkBacks as shown in the link posted by the Silent one (C that is). Reading the information and the posts in this thread, I am still unsure of the purpose of LinkBacks. I have followed a few of them and they seem to have little or no relevance to the original post, is it possible to turn off LinkBack notification.

BTW, does anyone have a clue as to why the search does/did not pick up the section on LinkBacks.

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[Sir Stinkalot]

Woodwork Forums - LinkBacks (http://www.woodworkforums.com/misc.php?do=linkbacks)

Just above the first post is a pull down menu about link backs.

[Grumpy John]

Woodwork Forums - LinkBacks (http://www.woodworkforums.com/misc.php?do=linkbacks)

Just above the first post is a pull down menu about link backs.

Thanks Stinky :), I see that now :doh2:. However the tree view just under the Woodwork Forums logo in the top left of the screen indicates that it is part of the FAQ, unless I don't understand the tree system :shrug:, and therefore a search of the FAQ should find it.

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