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Webomatica

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Questioning NoFollow

Started by webomatica · 3 months ago

Here's a pretty good argument over at the Search Engine Journal about why the "nofollow" tag might not be all that.

The original idea for this tag was to reduce comment spam. Here's the take from Google, and the objective viewpoint at Wikipedia. ... Continue reading »

11 comments

  • Podophile

    1 year ago

    While I agree that nofollow doesn't make much sense for a blog with actively filtered/moderated comments, I don't think there's anything necessarily evil about it. It seems like the SEO community are the ones making the biggest fuss about nofollow, as it makes comment spam a much less effective tool to game the search engines with. I'm not quite sure why anyone else should have an issue with it.
    reply
  • webomatica

    1 year ago

    It's one of those things that the SEO folks talk about, and it starts filtering down to us bloggers. I'm interested as wordpress has nofollow on commenter URLs by default - and I'm looking for ways to encourage more folks to comment.
    reply
  • engtech

    1 year ago

    nofollow tag is only good for the search engines... doesn't do anything to prevent spam, it's just an attempt to prevent spam from contributing to search.

    The Wordpress guys were some of the early proponents of it 2 years ago, but Matt says now that it doesn't do anything: http://photomatt.net/2007/01/22/wikipedia-nofol...
    reply
  • Peter Davis

    1 year ago

    One trap that this might lead to, though, is if an SEO posts a useful comment, but includes a spammy link with it. Quality content doesn't necessarily guarantee quality links. Most spammers aren't that clever, but some are. And, then you have the issue of whether a good site you've linked will always stay good.

    Thanks for referencing me. :)
    reply
  • webomatica

    1 year ago

    Good point... I guess it just means looking at each comment and the link in it, and probably even visiting said site. But yeah, as you say, who knows if the site in question is legit and how can I really tell after just a cursory scan?
    reply
  • Mike

    1 year ago

    I read most of what's posted here, but only comment if I've got something to say. I'm not sure how you can really encourage more people to post, unless you (continue to) post about topics where people possess an opinion.

    Nofollow doesn't matter much to me, I've removed my blog from most of the search engines. I find people searching Google or MSN for strange crap (I seriously see "fuck animals" as one of the top searches) and landing at my site, and it kind of just depresses me.

    I'd rather have someone see my comment here, maybe find they are interested in my thoughts and opinions, and click on to my site. Does that sound crazy?
    reply
  • webomatica

    1 year ago

    Mike:

    Well, one sure way to I could get more comments is to be more controversial, unfortunately that's not really in my nature.

    I hear you about the strange search strings. I sometimes look at my logs but treat it more humorously. I get an annoying amount of Paris Hilton searches (whoops, there I go again).

    Not crazy thinking. That's how I look at things when I comment on someone else's blog.

    So thanks for commenting - I always find it inspiring that I have yet another semi-regular reader. It keeps me motivated!
    reply
  • Mike

    1 year ago

    :D

    Thanks for writing! I'm very glad to have found this place.
    reply
  • Juri

    1 year ago

    To Peter Davis: "..Quality content doesn’t necessarily guarantee quality links. Most spammers aren’t that clever, but some are..."

    Very exact remark! The some spammetrs are very inventive, it is not a lot of them, therefore it is not terrible.


    To webomatica: "...I guess it just means looking at each comment and the link in it, and probably even visiting said site..."

    Manual checking of "said site" ?an do nothing. Usually such checks are done within a 7-10 days after the posting. Therefore clever spammers can apply technical methods of counteraction, for example to make temporary REDIRECT from his site to other GOOD site and You'll see it instead of spammer's own site.
    I saw at least 3 such tricks on my forums :(

    "NoFollow" don't work for a spam preventing. But "NoFollow" is a very good idea for using as described in dougal gunters blog.
    reply
  • webomatica

    1 year ago

    Hi Juri interesting point about a spammer redirecting a link later on after a manual check. That really is sneaky and I never thought of it. I'll have to check out the link you offer and see if there are any good strategies I can use.

    I hate spam!
    reply
  • SEO

    1 year ago

    yeah… !
    Wonder what happen if we all use nofollow on our websites? And how about DMOZ & Yahoo directory.
    reply

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