Do you accept comments with URLs?

1. 0

   ryankettposted 14 years ago

   When people write something like 'Great Hub' but their name provides them with a backlink, do you accept these?
   
   We wouldnt be getting anything out of this would we? This wouldnt help me at all?
   
   I just had somebody leave a comment.... saying nothing but "Great hub" on 4 of my facebook hubs. His name linked to his site about facebook.
   
   I decided to reject, as it was obvious spamming, would you have rejected these?

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      rebekahELLEposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I received a few of those and deleted them.

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      cosetteposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      NO!
      
      i get those all the time and frankly find them tacky and self-promoting. (what's worse is when they post it in fan mail).

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   3. 73

      relacheposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Nope.  What you just described is spam to me.
      
      If the comment made was actually so worthy and contributory to the hub topic, I would keep them even with a backlink, but on the whole, it's just spam.

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   4. 0

      sandra rinckposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I nearly always delete them and mark them as spam.
      
      Sucks too sometimes because sometimes the comment has some value to it but then they got to ruin it with links.  Ugh.  Sometimes I  do allow them.
      
      If it is from someone I can trust and the link has some value then I let it slide.  Other than that, delete and mark as spam.
      Which btw really pisses me off sometimes when I am away because I can't get to it right away and the spammer gets their way.  errr.

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   5. 61

      Lady_Eposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      If it relates to my Hub, I tend to leave it there, otherwise I delete it.

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      Jezzzzposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I accept real comments. Not those that just say great content and leave a link to their site.  I instantly trash those comments.
      
      

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2. 59

   Mark Knowlesposted 14 years ago

   Delete them. If it adds nothing to the page other than a few words, I delete them - from hubbers as well as outside comments.

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3. 71

   sunforgedposted 14 years ago

   not only would i delete them, i would mark them as spam

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   1. 0

      cosetteposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      hey i don't feel so bad now for clicking that Spam button!
      
      (that is, after all, exactly what it is...)

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4. 61

   Daniel Carterposted 14 years ago

   Agree with Mark and sunforged.

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5. 0

   ryankettposted 14 years ago

   Thanks everybody....
   
   Cool, I deleted them all. I have allowed a few to slip through the net in the past... but if they cant be bothered to help me out with a few decent lines for the google bots then I wont help them out with the backlink

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6. 79

   kirstenblogposted 14 years ago

   I don't blame you for deleting those comments. I have no problem with someone back linking while making a comment but at least they could comment 'great hub on -one of my keywords here-'. If they can at least contribute a keyword it would be a bonus for both of us and thats something at least.

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7. 60

   Lisa HWposted 14 years ago

   If someone puts a link to a site other than their own that offers real information (like a link to the March of Dimes on a Hub about premature babies), I appreciate that.  I just don't think it's good etiquette, though, for anyone to post their own links on a Hub.  Even when they add a good-length comment along with their own link, somehow it just seems to me as if the self-promoting motive was the main thing, not the subject of my Hub; and it does kind of rub me the wrong the way.  I always feel unfriendly denying comments with links; but I don't put them on other people's Hubs, and it just strikes me as kind of pushy.

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8. 68

   Jeffrey Nealposted 14 years ago

   I'm in the same boat with everyone here.  At least make an attempt to say something relevant.  I'll keep the link if their comment at least says something about my topic.

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9. 54

   Genniferposted 14 years ago

   In some way there is sense in your words, Kirsten, but nevertheless, I always delete them.

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10. 84

    rebekahELLEposted 14 years ago

    I remember someone mentioning in a thread similar to this that if the link is good, and relates to the hub and the person was being well-meaning, that sometimes it could be included as an additional link in the links capsule.

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11. 65

    Ivorwenposted 14 years ago

    In your instance, I would delete the comment.
    
    Otherwise, it depends on who, why and what.
    
    Sometimes the comment left is wonderful, but leads to a 'bad neighborhood'.  These I delete.
    
    Sometimes an okay comment is left by someone who means what they say, and is linked to their blog.  That's fine by me, as long as the comment involved thought.

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       Jeffrey Nealposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Excellent point here for anyone trying to ensure their organic ranking in google.  The big G hates bad neighborhoods: sites that promote or are on the fringes of what they disallow in their adsense TOS.

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12. 72

    thranaxposted 14 years ago

    I try to never accept URLs but rarely I do because I like having the comment they said.
    
    ~thranax~

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13. 59

    spartanking1978posted 14 years ago

    Good topic...Personally, I like to leave comments. So I usually approve a comment based on what I deem to be relevant content. Initially, I posted a few links that where irrelevant; honestly, who has not done so? Now, after I got a feel of the environment, I realize that irrelevant content is severely penalized and most hub authors in general look down on it.

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       Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       I certainly haven't and I bet there aren't as many spammers here as you think.
       
       I rarely bother checking where the link in the name goes - but I delete comments which are just "good hub!" anyway.  And I certainly delete comments which have a link in the text, unless it contributes something meaningful to my Hub.

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14. 60

    Lisa HWposted 14 years ago

    spartanking, it's understandable that people don't realize it can be "an issue" with Hubbers.  Most places online that tell people how to get traffic to their stuff tell people, "Post a link on someone's blog" (or that kind of thing).  It's no surprise that so many people think it's "what's done" everywhere, including HubPages.  It's kind of funny, but every so often someone new will go to a "zillion" Hubs and post something like, "Good Hub.  Now read mine."    It can just look kind of tacky and unprofessional. 

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15. 62

    Dale Mazurekposted 14 years ago

    if the comment left is a good one I will take a look at the site it is linking to.
    
    If the site doesnt go against what I do on the internet then sometimes I will let the link go.
    
    However most times the comment is an obvious ploy and I dont allow them.

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16. 70

    AEvansposted 14 years ago

    I delete the comments that are spam related and if they come from another hubber after they have left a complete comment and ask me to visit their hub about a similiar topic and add their link I do not delete it it certainly does not bother me if they are trying to promote themselves internally and it aides me with going directly to the hub without having to do all of the work to locate it.

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17. 61

    Jane@CMposted 14 years ago

    I started a topic on this a few weeks back, about a comment left with their name in blue (like ours) but it was a Squidoo link to their article on the same thing....if I remember correctly, I got the impression then that I should leave it...here I get the impression to delete it?

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       AEvansposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Do what makes you comfortable that is all that matters, I have had comments where they are linking to clothing stores, I simply delete those something like squidoo I leave.

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       rmcrayneposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       I had a comment to my breast cancer hub that was a non-registered user, with blue name that linked to a blog.  He also left a link to the blog, of which the name was something with the word lips.  The opening page was breasts, breasts, breasts.  The top picture was was of a woman in a bathing suit, with breasts as big as my head.  As sunforged described above, he made a basic comment like "good information that will help a lot of people". 
       
       This was when I learned (from Darkside in the forums) that I could edit and select registered users only.  I deleted the comment and the breasts.

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    3. 86

       Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       If the comment was meaningful, leave it. If it was just a meaningless one-liner it's blatant self-promotion - delete it!

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18. 71

    sunforgedposted 14 years ago

    I remember your thread, Jane@CM , and you were pretty much given the suggestion to leave it, I felt your thread was giving more weight to the fact that their was a link leading offsite, rather than to the poor quality of the comment plus the link.
    
    Its not wrong or uncommon to make comments and have a link attached to your name, thats how many of us get backlinks, and its built into the process of commenting, the form asks for a website when you fill out most comments. Its part of what makes the internet go round
    
    I accept and respect everyones desire to promote their work, but I dislike down right stupid attempts.
    
    Its a good technique when mass commenting to try to appeal to the site owners pride
    
    "wow your so smart, great article"
    
    'I never would have thought of that"
    
    "im going to save this and read it later"
    
    "good job"
    
    "great hub" (the lgali special)
    
    
    A promoter can run around all day searching for articles,hubs and blogs that rank for their keywords, never read a single one, appeal to pride in the comment which they paste into every page (or use software) and end up with a good amount of backlinks.
    
    many times these promoters just read some article or only read half a process and just run around promoting absolute crap that will just get sandboxed for their spammy behavior anyway...its pretty likely they are either using software that finds random dofollow blogs or are competitors trying to leech off a keyword in your article.
    
    I comment and develop backlinks myself during my research process, i always leave input that i feel is of value and thought out. I prefer it when the site owner keeps it!
    
    
    but im apparently longwinded, so its not that rough for me

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    1. 86

       Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Well said.

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19. 68

    Jeffrey Nealposted 14 years ago

    Not to bring this back around, but just some info that may be useful to someone.
    
    I use a plug-in with Firefox that shows no-follow links a different way (sunforged, I know you've mentioned one before...I use seoquake).
    
    It shows all of the links within comments as no-follow, and I just checked again, commenters who use a URL for their "name" also have no-follow assigned to their link. The only links I'm seeing that are follow are the profiles of hubbers.  Just an FYI for everyone, but the advice given in this thread really doesn't change except to understand that you aren't getting a good backlink from hub comments.

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    1. 84

       rebekahELLEposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       thank for, this is good to know.

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          rebekahELLEposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          oops, thank YOU, this is good to know.

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20. 89

    RedElfposted 14 years ago

    Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I prefer to be asked first, and I always ask before linking - just good net-iquette, don't you think?
    If it's a link with a few words, I mark them as spam and delete them.
    If it's someone from hubpages I will copy their comment into my reply, and delete the link, and then say something like "Thanks for your comments. I have included them here without your link..."
    I did keep a couple of unsolicited links because they were really worthy (charity) and not links to that person's site or article, so obviously not for their personal promotion
    I have no problem with providing a link to a decent site, I know that's how the net goes around...but I always ask first, and I expect the same courtesy in return.

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