Is it ethical?....

[Bill]

Ahh, I see those trafic brokers on that panel really got your attention.

Actually, I think in the future we will see a lot more of that kind of thing.

It's an inevitable consequence of paid accounts and the growing unreliability of some traffic sources.

Everybody would be happy to pay for traffic if it's quality could be measured. At some point the ability to measure quality will become the standard.

[Useless]

Originally Posted by Bill

Ahh, I see those trafic brokers on that panel really got your attention.

Yeah, I'm not very fond of those guys. Though I do see the value in using purchased traffic for some projects/testing, I still fall back on "if the traffic had real value, they wouldn't be selling it".

What were we talking about?

As far as creating some sort of central database for measuring traffic levels/behaviours, I think the difficult part would be getting all parties to agree on using it. I really doubt that it would be advantageous for anyone to make their traffic stats public.

[Bill]

Yeah, well, I'm thinking of something more oriented towards freesites and galleries than blog listings in blog directories, which is the original complaint, I suppose.

Are there a lot of blog directories that don't send out approval or denial emails, and/or that take months to review link submissions?

If there are, which ones are they?

[walrus]

Off the top of my head, I can't think of any blog directories that don't send a message when a link has been submitted or approved. Since I've never had a blog rejected, I cant say as to whether they send rejection e-mails. I know on both my directories, I should be doing all three.

That having been said, I do believe that any link appearing on any of my sites is my responsibility to ensure it is linked to a quality partner and properly reciprocated.

[Spaulding]

Originally Posted by walrus

I do believe that any link appearing on any of my sites is my responsibility to ensure it is linked to a quality partner and properly reciprocated.

I do check the directories manually a few days after submitting. Most directories send an approval email, but some don't. I've never received a decline email, and since several weeks have passed since some of the submissions, I guess they are being declined without response.

I really wish I would get an email if declined just so I can have some feedback as to why. I'm always willing to make changes etc. This feature is built into most directory scripts I've seen and I don't know why someone wouldn't send a decline email.

That's what makes me wonder if some directory owners do it on pourpose to increase backlinks to their site. Lots of blog makers probably don't check their recips. Just wondering if this is a strategy some directory owners use.

Originally Posted by Bill

Are there a lot of blog directories that don't send out approval or denial emails, and/or that take months to review link submissions?

If there are, which ones are they?

I don't want to name any sites, but I have submitted several blogs to a few big directories and waited weeks with no email responses accepted or declined. Checked those sites and see regular updates, so I know they are being updated, so I assume mine were declined.