Do You reply to a comment that includes a business link?

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   vocalcoachposted 9 years ago

   I seldom find a comment to my hubs hub that include a business link.  Are links allowed in the comment section?  Do you reply or do you delete the comment?  Thanks.

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      Glenn Stokposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Right under the comments box it clearly states "Comments are not for promoting your Hubs or other sites."
      
      I never approve self-promotional comments since they are against HP policy. It can also hurt your ranking if the link goes to a low quality site or spammy site.

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         vocalcoachposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Excellent.  Thanks Glenn.  I'll delete this comment right away.

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      colorfuloneposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I have not had that happen on HP, but I would delete a comment with a link like I have on my blogs.

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      bravewarriorposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      If the comment has been left by a non-hubber, I delete it and mark it as spam.

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      calculus-geometryposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Links are allowed and hub authors can decide if they want to approve or delete the comments.  Many people have a policy of deleting all comments with links regardless of the context; others approve the comments if the link adds something to the discussion.  It's completely up to you how you want to handle it.

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         vocalcoachposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks for your suggestion.

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      Christy Kirwanposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Glenn and calculus have given great advice here. We recommend deleting any comments with self-promotional links, but ultimately the way you moderate comments on your Hubs is your decision.

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         vocalcoachposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks Christy - I've deleted this comment and learned a good lesson as well. 

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   tirelesstravelerposted 9 years ago

   If there is a comment with a link I delete the whole thing.  Too many of my hubs have been stolen and the first one started with clicking on a link.  I will only chick on a link if one of my trusted followers put one in, but then I would know it was a trick, none of them would do that. Sometimes I do feel badly about doing this if the hubber is new to HP.  When this is the case I try to message them to let them know what happened.

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3. 88

   Stacie Lposted 9 years ago

   I don't let any comments with promotion links stay on my hubs and usually delete them.

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   Millionaire Tipsposted 9 years ago

   Anytime a comment is left with a link, I promptly delete the comment.  It makes decision making easy with a rule like that.

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      vocalcoachposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks.  Appreciate your advice.

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   alikhan3posted 9 years ago

   I usually delete comments containing links ...

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6. 79

   Marcy Goodfleischposted 9 years ago

   Be sure to always report anything you believe is spammy - I get posts with emails and links pretty often in one particular set of hubs, and I do not approve them, but report them as spam.
   
   FYI - my understanding is we should not delete spam comments once we've reported them - the site admins need to capture the information to see if they need to act on it in any way (such as blocking an IP or whatever).  If you delete the comment, they can't follow up. The comments are not available to visitors if you deny approval.
   
   Comments flagged as spam will go away - so don't worry about labeling it as spam but not deleting it.  After a day or so, it's gone.

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      vocalcoachposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      This is good to know.  I want to be sure the administrators can take care of the spammers.

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      Glenn Stokposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Marcy, just to correct something you said... comments flagged as spam do not go away after a day or so. They continue to remain in your spam folder until you delete them. I agree it is a good idea to leave them in there a few days so staff can follow up. But then you should clean up your spam folder every so often.
      
      In addition, I sometimes find good comments from decent hubbers that incorrectly got marked a spam. I would not have known if I hadn't checked my spam folder every once in a while.

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