Written on November 20th, 2008 at 11:11 am by Darren Rowse
InLinks – TextLinkAds 2.0
In the last 24 hours MediaWhiz (disclosure – they are sponsors of this site) have released a new advertising product for those interested in selling text links on their blogs) called InLinks.
InLinks is an ad network that allows advertisers to buy text links within the content of your posts. The links pass on Google Juice (ie they don’t have nofollow tags), they are approved by publishers before going live and they don’t have any kind of indication that they are ads on them (no popups like Kontera ads for example).
Lets be clear – these ads are against Google’s quality guidelines and if you’re caught selling them your blog is likely to be penalized. Also – not disclosing ads as ads is seen by many as unethical (and in some parts of the world is outside of the guidelines of bodies like the FTC – there is risk involved here.
Having said that – InLinks is banking on their ads being difficult for anyone to see as ads (including Google). I’m yet to see them in the wild but would bet that they are intended not to have a footprint that Google can see.
I personally would advise to proceed with caution. If you want to rank high in Google then this is probably not for you. If you don’t care whether your blog is in their index or not then it could be something to investigate.
If you want to be up front with your readers about what links in your content are paid ads and which are genuine and useful links – then this isn’t for you. If you’re not worried about disclosure and transparency with readers – you might consider this.
Our latest Poll here at ProBlogger indicates that 31% of readers of this blog currently sell text links – so I’m pretty sure that there is a market for InLinks – but I’m sure there’s going to be lots of debate on this on in coming months.
My personal stance is that I don’t sell text ads.
Further Reading on the InLinks story:
- At TechCrunch – Insidious New Seo Ad Product Will be Hard for Google To Detect (includes a reaction from Google’s Matt Cutts).
- At Shoemoney – Does Google Really Want to go Down this FTC Route?
- At Deep Jive Interest – Text Link Ads Debuts InLinks
- At Digital Inspiration – InLinks – These Text Link Ads May be Tough to Detect
- SEOmoz – Normally, It’s a Good thing to get Featured on TechCrunch
61 Responses to “InLinks – TextLinkAds 2.0” - Add Yours
Brad Blogging.com - Personal Blog Tips And Blog Help
November 20th, 2008 11:14 am
Don’t Know If I’d want to use them, but interesting concept nonetheless..
What makes it different than the other link networks?
Cristhian Bedon
November 20th, 2008 11:15 am
Read this at Techcrunch.com as well, found this a bit sad, this might annoy most people looking within a site now if this happens. People might lose a lot of visitors.
Luke Westlie
November 20th, 2008 11:38 am
It is a great concept, however I am not fond of the idea of hiding your ads. I feel tricked when I click on a link only to find it is an ad.
AverageGal
November 20th, 2008 11:48 am
This could be a nice source of income…going to dig deeper into it. Anyone using this yet?
Justin Wright
November 20th, 2008 11:59 am
This sounds like a decent system. I would love to incorporate it into my blog but I think I’ll wait for some others to try it first.
Dan
November 20th, 2008 12:30 pm
Off topic, but I sent a reply tweet that I’m sure got lost in the noise.
Your twitter profile viewed in widescreen (1650px wide)? Your contact details on the right are covered due to the positioning of the update column.
Hopefully you’ll read this and fix it.
Cheers
Josten
November 20th, 2008 12:48 pm
hmm interesting
blackysky
November 20th, 2008 12:56 pm
they try to game google !!!!
this is a big warning.. you can like or dislike google and their rule. but hiden ads can be dangerous… when you get paid for something , it is mean you endorse it .. so this blog endorse inlinks. therefore this blog endorse the whole idea !!! like it or not… you get paid to push people to sign up eventhought you try to be objective. you endorse the evil.
of course everyone need to eat but you don’t need to hide your game .. it is not only about google it is about being transparent and follow some basic advertising rules …..
why do you think they have a 2.0 version now (wink wink )
sony
November 20th, 2008 1:11 pm
The same thing i have seen on other blog, but its a good news for who wants to increase their page rank in a quick a way.
AK - wanna be a Blogger
November 20th, 2008 1:40 pm
I would never go for this kind of ads. When a reader clicks on the link unknowingly and if that lands on irrelevant page. You are gonna loose the visitor. is that what you are running blog for?
***** Have you ever seen Darren Doing that? That doesn’t mean he doesn’t want money. But he doesnt want to lose readers.********************
————Follow the Master darren————–
Thank you
AK
http://TheBloggersTimes.com
Derek Clark
November 20th, 2008 2:22 pm
This is dishonest and not helpful to your readers. The idea is to provide useful content that will make people want to come back. This is not useful, and will not make people want to return to your blog. From a practical standpoint, google employs alot of smart people, and they will figure out a way to penalize this.
Mitch
November 20th, 2008 2:32 pm
I have to admit that I’m greatly confused. You said you don’t tell text ads, and yet you advertise, as an affiliate, Text Link Ads. Isn’t that somewhat contradictory?
Darren Rowse
November 20th, 2008 2:50 pm
Mitch – TLA are a sponsor of this blog – not an affiliate. I had the opportunity to be an affiliate of InLinks but decided not to in this post.
I’ve used TLA in the past but don’t personally use them myself any more (have written about this numerous times on this blog).
I see a difference between TLA and inLinks – mainly that TLA the ads are ads – people know what they are. inLinks are hidden ads – your readers don’t know what they are. I wouldn’t accept inLinks as a sponsor of this blog.
Hope that rushed explanation makes sense – am running out the door but wanted to answer you.
BloggerTests
November 20th, 2008 2:51 pm
I don’t see why this would be dishonest to the user if the link goes to something actually useful and since you get to accept/decline offers, you’re in control.
As far as trying to sell anything at all cost, it applies to any ad service, not only the one mentioned in this post. I recently sold an ad at one of the ad providers, but after checking out the site that bought the ad, I had to cancel, because I will not place links on any of my sites that I don’t think have any value for the user. It’s as simple as that.
Now, with the Google part… if you add a ton of outbound links to your site, sure you will suffer. I guess the question remains – will you let Google decide how to run your site? For the most part I would say it depends on your personality, really. Whether you’re scared of everything or you’re willing to take it head on
dan
Mitch
November 20th, 2008 3:12 pm
I appreciate your responding to me, Darren. I did read where you got your PR back, but I’ve missed the post where you said you were removing them, which I’ll be looking for. I assume that what you’re saying is that you’re not necessarily against people selling text ads, just that you don’t do it yourself, and everyone has to make a choice, and since they do, allowing Text Link Ads to be a sponsor isn’t a conflict of interest. In that regard, I understand.
sam
November 20th, 2008 4:04 pm
Darren what actually makes them different. ?
I mean this is simple Advertiser / Publisher stroy.
penantang.com
November 20th, 2008 4:29 pm
I think i won’t use it darren, i just afraid i would be banned by google.
Jazzy
November 20th, 2008 5:34 pm
I agree with some of you, I cannot stand being tricked into clicking on an ad, and then the struggle of getting back to the original content is stressful!
ProNetBusiness.com
November 20th, 2008 5:38 pm
Don’t like intext ads myself so don’t use them in my blog. They just hack people off!
uwak
November 20th, 2008 6:46 pm
yes…I already read the same topic on shoemoney….thanks
Krissy Knox
November 20th, 2008 11:17 pm
I’m a little confused. You say they are a sponsor of your site, yet you say they are unethical. I could understand if you didn’t care what google said, as your blog carries it’s own weight, but why would you want to allow something to sponsor you that you deem unethical? I have allows thought of ProBlogger as the ultimate in standards…
Krissy :)
Krissy Knox
November 20th, 2008 11:23 pm
Sorry Darren, I didn’t read carefully enough. I see you don’t sell the ads. My extreme apologies. Mea culpa.
Krissy :)
Todd Van Hoosear
November 21st, 2008 12:24 am
Good for you for speaking out against them… kinda…
This may not be unethical, but it certainly gos against the spirit of the social web, and if I caught any website using them they’re off my reading list. Period.
Good luck!
Matt Gio
November 21st, 2008 12:45 am
I think that Google is going to eventually catch on to this. Just a hunch though.
Ganesh
November 21st, 2008 12:46 am
I’ve been always hesitant with using a service to sell ads. I prefer selling text links privately or just using the space to fill links of sites that I like.
Dwight Zahringer
November 21st, 2008 1:15 am
We are also a sponsor of the site here too- and let me make your readers aware that LinkXL.com was the first to create a hidden footprint for contextual links to protect paid link sellers and advertisers. InLinks is merely a duplicate of LinkXL.com
Chris
November 21st, 2008 1:52 am
Does anyone know if Text-Link-Ads allows you to use another inlink service, such as InLinks, in conjunction with their service?
Boss
November 21st, 2008 2:17 am
It seems kind of a high risk endeavor to try and snub Google with hidden ads. I just don’t know if I would take the risk.
It would be better to just sell more ads or get creative with the placement, instead of risking a ban by Google.
Dwight Zahringer
November 21st, 2008 2:45 am
Chris: Yes, you can use InlInks with other programs like LinkXL with no penalty.
Clement
November 21st, 2008 3:07 am
Having experienced the wrath of Google earlier this year because of paid links, I would not encourage someone to join this program.
David hobson
November 21st, 2008 3:38 am
I might take a look into this juts need to decide on if i want my blog penalised or not.
Chris
November 21st, 2008 3:44 am
Dwight: I was referring to TLA, if they allow you to use InLinks or not?
Dwight
November 21st, 2008 3:49 am
Chris- InLinks is TLA
John Lessnau
November 21st, 2008 8:22 am
@Boss, LinkXL also allows the sale or purchase of nofollow links in natural content which work great for websites if priced properly. We decided to offer this option out of a suggestion that came out of a conversation with Mr. Cutts we had at our booth at PubCon in 2007 last year. Also, if you own non-blogs, LinkXL works with those also.
Tom L
November 21st, 2008 8:31 am
What does Google have to say about hidden ads on your blog?
Dwight Zahringer
November 21st, 2008 8:57 am
@David – Remember, no body- no crime. If they cannot see the links as paid then you cannot be penalized.
Ryan @ Linkbuildr
November 21st, 2008 12:22 pm
Well this is going to be trouble for people soon enough, but MediaWhiz will make a good amount of coin before the party is over.
Will
November 21st, 2008 12:57 pm
@John Lessnau, funny thing about LinkXL…they say their technology is patent-pending. http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/05/prweb527653.htm
Now we have Inlinks using the same “technology.” What is the status of this patent?
Pop Wuping
November 21st, 2008 5:03 pm
Links are a part of my editorial product and not something I would want my readers to be mislead on. It’s simply bad practice.
I do use Text link ads but they are clearly labeled as ads.
Blog Traffic - 100 RSS Submit Sites
November 21st, 2008 8:28 pm
The fact that there is no footprint and they are do-follow will work well for them
atlanta wedding photographer
November 22nd, 2008 3:34 am
i signed up and then they rejected me. I use hostmonster and man they are sllllloooooowwwww they were at 85% capacity last night…..I think im going to move it to midphase and try it again
Problogineer
November 23rd, 2008 10:03 pm
never knew that FTC can get us into trouble.
That’s strange.
paul
November 23rd, 2008 10:09 pm
I have written about InLInks too in my blog and I am in favor of it. It is our own blog and we decide what we want to do with it.
For a lot of bloggers, their internal pages do not contain page rank at all but if advertisers still want to purchase links on it, I seriously don’t know why Google will want to stop such a practice.
IronBlogger - Blogging Tips and Tricks
November 24th, 2008 9:19 pm
I would be very careful trying out this program. Google is very smart these days, I’m sure they might have some way of finding out whether your links are paid for or not. Afterall you do have to implement a java script code.
As for monetization, this has much potiential. It is however a lot more aggeesive then something like Kontera for instance. With Kontera you can at least hint to you visitors that you link is paid for.
With inlinks you are sort of keeping a secret from your readers. What if the link is not relevent or takes them to a spammy site? You are putting all your trust in this program here. At least when you use Kontera or any other advertising companies your visitors know that they are clicking on the ads.
That’s my opinion on this new program.
gendut
November 25th, 2008 6:49 pm
thanks for sharing…..also the link
Steve
November 30th, 2008 8:48 am
Funny how Google hates them so much the TLA site has a PR of 7
awww shucks…
If Google truly frowned on this stuff they would yank their site from their listings. They still rank high. It’s all good.
Rodney@Blogging with WordPress
December 3rd, 2008 4:45 am
Hmm, I can see the argument against selling dofollow links – Google’s going to get you if you do! But hadn’t really considered the ethical angle before, or the effect it might have on visitors. I suppose as long as you don’t overdo it, everyone’s happy. But I must say I despise those ads that pop up as soon as you mouseover them – at least inlinks doesn’t do that.
olivia
December 8th, 2008 3:59 pm
Text Link Ads did this before they just didn’t advertise them they would send emails to bloggers who ran smaller blogs and ask if they would use them instead of their regular TLA’s.It wasn’t advertised they sent emails requesting participation.
It does work, and I made money with them, more than a small blog usually would, though I never saw the ads and my readers never complained. I was penalized by google though.A couple of points on pagerank.
earnword
December 13th, 2008 11:57 pm
ehm. looks like i need to try too and make money from this one. But i never heard yet anyone get paid from inlinks..
myvitamin
December 16th, 2008 2:35 pm
thanks for useful information…..good ways to promote and inrease ranks and income
Hanep
January 27th, 2009 4:20 am
Inlinks helped me so much. it surely a worth investment for those who want to make money
Uche - Free Affiliate Programs
February 7th, 2009 9:30 am
This is all speculation and conjecture; I’ve read Google’s quality guidelines (http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=35769#3 ) and inlink in no way infringes on any of the attributes outlined.
It references ‘hidden links’ which I’d interpret literally as meaning having a link to a specific page without any anchor text or merging the anchor text with the background.
Armand
March 8th, 2009 5:58 am
I’m interested too, but how about PR? is there a minimum PR requirement for joining this service?
Mira
March 20th, 2009 5:42 pm
No minimum for Inlinks and pr1 for TLA
AutoMagazined
March 27th, 2009 4:11 am
However, what is actually differ between those two? I am total confused
popo
May 1st, 2009 11:23 am
$10 per month per link. And the links can be buried on any lame low level page? Uh.. that’s a hilariously bad deal.
Tont
May 16th, 2009 12:01 am
I just earned my first $50 dollars after 12 year with TLA!
Ton
May 16th, 2009 12:01 am
ooops, I meant One year!
Bruce Ziebarth
June 4th, 2009 2:20 am
I would agree with several of the posts. It depends on how relevant the links are. If a reader is reading an article about the Ford Thunderbird and the inlinks ads take him to the coffee of the month club then you will probably lose the reader. If the link takes him to an ad for selling Ford car parts then you may not lose the reader.
The portion of the story that caught my eye is that it may hurt your google page rank. Logically, this would mean that you may make a few dollars off of the ad links only to have your pages ranked lower. The lower page rank would result in less visitors and less money made from the ads.
I will be watching the feed to see what other people say.
Bruce C Ziebarth
http://www.brucesmoneyrants.com
Ragnarok Guide
June 15th, 2009 10:57 pm
I was about to integrate the inlinks ad code in my blog but upon seeing this, made me rethink things over. i don’t want to get penalized by Google
Scott
June 17th, 2009 3:51 pm
Inlinks is pretty much awful. Even after cancellation they continue to bill your credit card and don’t reply to requests to stop that. Have to go to my CC company now and get a chargeback.
Comments will be closed off on this post 90 days after it is published. Apologies to those this impacts but it's a regrettable and temporary measure to combat a growing comment spam problem. See our most recent posts where you can comment here.