IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR EVERYONE... KIND OF URGENT TOO!
Jun 6, 2017 19:38:35 GMT -5
Farrar, Red Oak Kid, and 1 more like this
Post by Roquefort Raider on Jun 6, 2017 19:38:35 GMT -5
Dear fellow members of the CCF,
As you may know, this community relies on advertising banners to pay for most of its costs. These banners are provided by corporations that rely on certain metrics to ascertain the visibility of their customers. Accordingly, they sometimes demand that discussion boards like ours desist from certain practices that skew these metrics.
Most posters, when appraised of these demands, wonder "what's the big deal, what's the problem?" - but that's neither here nor there; when it comes to publicity, we are not in control. We have to do what the Upper Floors say, or lose their business. Which would mean the end of the CCF.
We have just been notified to stop using floating links immediately, because they can look like so much click bait. What's a floating link, you may ask? It's essentially a link left out of context, not inside a paragraph; it can be something as innocuous as tagging someone ("ampersand name of the person") to draw their attention, or putting up a stand-alone link that's not part of a paragraph. I know, I know, it shouldn't be a problem at all; but to a robot evaluating a web page according to certain criteria, it's a red flag.
Accordingly, all our members should...
a) stop using free-standing links, and use contextual links instead. Here's an example of what we're talking about.
Free-standing (not good):
Roquefort Raider
You make a good point. I will have to consider that.
Corrected:
You make a good point, Roquefort Raider . I will have to consider that.
or
Free-standing (not good):
Here's a link to a shocking article I read :
www.nationalenquirer.com/batboy-found-living-in-cave.html
Is this for real?
Corrected:
Here's a link to a shocking article I read. Is this for real?
b) Remove such links as we may remember having used recently, or incorporate them into the text.
c) Not get upset if moderators remove such links without asking permission; as we want to comply with the rules as fast as possible, notifying everyone each time we do it would be very time-consuming.
Furthermore...
Google also considers that a broken video link (when a video you linked to is removed from Youtube, say) makes a website "difficult to navigate", another reason for us to be sanctioned.
Do not be surprised, then, if from time to time you see that there is the mention (This video is unavailable) in one of your old posts; it means that we removed such a broken link.
Hopefully this will satisfy Those Who Sit Above In Shadow (a little Thor reference, here) and we can continue with our business of discussing comics.
Thanks and our apologies for this situation which is not of our (or your!) doing.
As you may know, this community relies on advertising banners to pay for most of its costs. These banners are provided by corporations that rely on certain metrics to ascertain the visibility of their customers. Accordingly, they sometimes demand that discussion boards like ours desist from certain practices that skew these metrics.
Most posters, when appraised of these demands, wonder "what's the big deal, what's the problem?" - but that's neither here nor there; when it comes to publicity, we are not in control. We have to do what the Upper Floors say, or lose their business. Which would mean the end of the CCF.
We have just been notified to stop using floating links immediately, because they can look like so much click bait. What's a floating link, you may ask? It's essentially a link left out of context, not inside a paragraph; it can be something as innocuous as tagging someone ("ampersand name of the person") to draw their attention, or putting up a stand-alone link that's not part of a paragraph. I know, I know, it shouldn't be a problem at all; but to a robot evaluating a web page according to certain criteria, it's a red flag.
Accordingly, all our members should...
a) stop using free-standing links, and use contextual links instead. Here's an example of what we're talking about.
Free-standing (not good):
Roquefort Raider
You make a good point. I will have to consider that.
Corrected:
You make a good point, Roquefort Raider . I will have to consider that.
or
Free-standing (not good):
Here's a link to a shocking article I read :
www.nationalenquirer.com/batboy-found-living-in-cave.html
Is this for real?
Corrected:
Here's a link to a shocking article I read. Is this for real?
b) Remove such links as we may remember having used recently, or incorporate them into the text.
c) Not get upset if moderators remove such links without asking permission; as we want to comply with the rules as fast as possible, notifying everyone each time we do it would be very time-consuming.
Furthermore...
Google also considers that a broken video link (when a video you linked to is removed from Youtube, say) makes a website "difficult to navigate", another reason for us to be sanctioned.
Do not be surprised, then, if from time to time you see that there is the mention (This video is unavailable) in one of your old posts; it means that we removed such a broken link.
Hopefully this will satisfy Those Who Sit Above In Shadow (a little Thor reference, here) and we can continue with our business of discussing comics.
Thanks and our apologies for this situation which is not of our (or your!) doing.
