Are good comments with links considered spam?

1. 92

   Chriswillman90posted 6 years ago

   I've recently had a slew of really good, informative comments that have a link included to their comment's source of information.
   
   Should I accept comments with a link attached or is that still considered spam despite it being a well written, informative comment.

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      Glenn Stokposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I usually don't accept comments with links, unless I am sure the site is not spammy itself and that it has a high ranking with Google. If you have outbound links to low quality sites, that pulls your ranking down too. That includes links in comments.
      
      I've had people write what looks like very informative comments just to get me to post their link that goes to a spammy site that's selling their stuff. Be careful with that trick.
      
      Another problem is that some links might go to a site that installs a virus once you click to visited it.
      
      The final decision is up to you.

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      1. 92

         Chriswillman90posted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Completely agree with all of those concerns, which is why I stay away from allow those comments, however; if there were a way to strip the link that would be excellent.
         
         Of course there were definitely promotional or spammy links but some were genuinely very helpful, and I felt guilty deleting the comment. It's a mixed bag because I wouldn't want my rankings to suffer because of a spammy comment.

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      2. 79

         kenneth averyposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         @Chriswillman90 -- I agree with you 100%. Great advice.

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         1. 96

            Glenn Stokposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            Kenneth, are you saying that to me or to Chris? You quoted my advice so your post is confusing. If you meant me, thanks.

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            1. 92

               Chriswillman90posted 6 years agoin reply to this

               Your advice was great, you deserve all the credit.
               
               Agree Marisa and I feel like that's manageable to accomplish. If I can keep those comments in any way then I'll gladly welcome those solutions.

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   2. 92

      Sherry Hewinsposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      On a few occasions I have accepted a comment with a link. I only do it if I think the link is truly useful to the reader. I'm not saying this is a good practice; it's just what I do.

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      1. 92

         Chriswillman90posted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Has it affected your ranking in any way. Every time I think of doing that I fear Google will punish my content.

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         1. 92

            Sherry Hewinsposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            Not that I've noticed. The hub in question is on HealDove. It was doing great before the last plunge. It's still doing OK.

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2. 97

   EricDockettposted 6 years ago

   I generally do not accept any comment with a link, not because I think they are necessarily spam, but because I prefer to have control over the links on my page.  I'm not sure the HP link checker catches issues in comment links, such as broken links or bad neighborhoods, like it does with links in the body of the article. If something changes with a link I like to get the little (!) warning so I can address it.
   
   I'd love to have the ability to strip links from otherwise good comments, so those comments could be accepted minus the link.

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   1. 92

      Chriswillman90posted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Altering the comments to remove the links would be a very good idea in the future, maybe the Hubpages team will consider it or develop an algorithm that allows comments with non promotional or spammy links.
      
      For now I'm playing it safe like everyone on here is, thank you for the input.

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3. 83

   psycheskinnerposted 6 years ago

   This issue is that the commenter owns the copyright to their comment.  So you can post it or not post it, but changing it is pretty questionable.

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   1. 92

      Chriswillman90posted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Yes but can you just strip the link while keeping the original comment intact especially if it feels separate from the comment.

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4. 91

   Rochelle Frankposted 6 years ago

   I have wondered about this too. One thing I have occasionally done is write an answer and delete the comment. Something like: I appreciate you adding the information about..... this is a good point and I appreciate your comment.  (Unfortunately I needed to  delete your post due to concerns about adding outside links.) Cheers!

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   1. 92

      Chriswillman90posted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I haven't thought about that but it may be a better way to address the issue without trying to be too authoritive to the commenter.
      
      I wouldn't want to shut out someone who took time out of their day to read my article and even add commentary.

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5. 91

   Rochelle Frankposted 6 years ago

   I wish you could, but it doesn't seem to work that way. It would not be right for the originator of the hub to have the power to edit someone's comment.

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6. 87

   Marisa Wrightposted 6 years ago

   It would be great if there was some way for HubPages to prevent hyperlinks in the comments.  That way, people could post their link but it wouldn't become "live".

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   1. 91

      Rochelle Frankposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      AGREED!!!

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   2. 86

      DzyMsLizzyposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      +++, Marisa!!  Agreed!  I've had numerous comments over the years that were not only poorly written, but barely related to the topic, such as "Nice article--for help with XXX, visit such and such site."
      
      I generally deny any comments with links of that nature, but I do allow them if they are, for example, from a fellow hubber with a related topic.  But more often than not, in those cases, we usually just agree to link to each other's hub in the body text.

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7. 70

   tritrainposted 6 years ago

   You could always copy and paste it into notepad, so the link is stripped, then paste it back into your post.  Then you can answer.  It's a win for you.

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      snakeslaneposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Really? That's brilliant. Have you actually done this?

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      DzyMsLizzyposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Oh, had not thought of that;  great idea!

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8. 40

   bernicestockstillposted 6 years ago

   well, it is your choice)

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