Is Matt Cutts a part of the DP Coop?

[CanadianEh]

I just saw Matt Cutts' blog show up on one of my sites as a Coop ad.

Did someone put it there as a joke or is he testing the waters?

[samm27]

I am guessing that its someone trying to make the point that no one should be penalized for something that takes place on a site other than their own. Google is typically not guilty of this, but I think yahoo is.

[mad4]

Yes he is.

The ads are being shown on google.com - I signed him up using my referrer link. Got a 1 million weight bonus for it.

[MattUK]

What was the keyword text used?

[CanadianEh]

Originally Posted by MattUK

What was the keyword text used?

<a href="http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/" />Search Engine Optimization</a><id>105501

[MattUK]

Damn I was hoping it was a little more sarcastic than that!

[CanadianEh]

Originally Posted by MattUK

Damn I was hoping it was a little more sarcastic than that!

That's why it looks legit to me.

[mightyb]

Its probably someone dumping excess weight with a bit of humour...

Should have google bombed him for

<a href="http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/" />Wanker</a>

Instead...

he he

[CanadianEh]

Wouldn't the site have to be approved by someone at DP before being allowed into the network.

[digitalpoint]

Dealt with.

[tfbpa]

Is it against the TOS?

If so, it is not displayed or did I miss it?

[Nathan Malone]

Originally Posted by digitalpoint

Dealt with.

Are we only allowed to point links at our own sites?

BTW, that wasn't my link.

[tfbpa]

Originally Posted by Nathan Malone

Are we only allowed to point links at our own sites?

I must admit this is new to me as well and I think it's a bit harsh to delete all accounts for this reason, isn't it?

Especially because it is nowhere mentioned that it is not allowed to link to other people's site. And in this case the anchortexts used was definitaly relevant.

[CanadianEh]

The utimate goal could be to draw negative attention to the COOP.

[tfbpa]

Never considered that...

But how can you be punished by deleting ALL acounts for something that isn't written?

How are you suppose to know you cannot link out to sites you don't own and that your account will be deleted if you do?

I admit it is on the wildside, but the ad was approved so I don't really understand the delete part...

[mad4]

Originally Posted by tfbpa

But how can you be punished by deleting ALL acounts for something that isn't written?

Who said anything about deleting accounts? Shawn probably just removed this particular advert from rotation.

[digitalpoint]

Accounts were terminated because whoever inserted them continuously tried adding the same ad after it was denied 3 times. Has nothing to do with that ad directly. Any account would be terminated if they continuously resubmitted denied ads.

[littledaddy]

Originally Posted by digitalpoint

tried adding the same ad after it was denied 3 times. .

Why would that ad be denied three times to start with ...??

Why would it be a problem for the sites in this co-op too to link to a quality site like this??

You say it had nothing to do with the link .... if it did not ..... then why was the link not approved to start with??

It sounds to me like your explination has a few LAAAAARGE holes in it??

[dfsweb]

Are tfbpa and littledaddy the same person?

If not, then littledaddy: You should really go to the "Introductions" forum and introduce yourself .... btw, Welcome to DP

tfbpa: Why did you want to link to Matt's site anyway?? What were you trying to achieve anyway?

Shawn: I just had a brilliant idea while writing this. I have sent you a PM about it. I know you usually delete your PMs, but don't delete the one from me .... and respond if you could.

dfsweb

[tfbpa]

No, we're not the same person.

And the ad was denied for good reason(wrong anchortext) the first time. I changed some of it and because I know there are other people linking to sites they do not own, I thought it would be OK to do that.

The ad was denied another time (reason given: you don't own this site) and because it nowhere states that linking to a site which you don't own is not allowed, I send in the same ad again and it got approved. So IMO and that of the approver there was nothing wrong with it.

As for the reasons, there are multiple ones. None of them involved DP, but what the reasons were I will not tell.

I still don't understand why ALL my accounts were deleted and not just that single ad with a warning, but I guess in the end it is really up to Shawn to decide and for me to handle the consequenses, however unfair they may seem to me and others.

In short: bummer and leave it be!