1. Advertising
    y u no do it?

    Advertising (learn more)

    Advertise virtually anything here, with CPM banner ads, CPM email ads and CPC contextual links. You can target relevant areas of the site and show ads based on geographical location of the user if you wish.

    Starts at just $1 per CPM or $0.10 per CPC.

No Longer A "dofollow" Site

Discussion in 'Support & Feedback' started by digitalpoint, Jul 2, 2011.

  1. weknowonlinemarketing

    weknowonlinemarketing Peon

    Messages:
    681
    Likes Received:
    1
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #61
    I apologize for the wrong grammar. Your conclusion is that - the Paid members are not spamming. Thanks for your answer.
     
    weknowonlinemarketing, Jul 4, 2011 IP
  2. digitalpoint

    digitalpoint Overlord of no one Staff

    Messages:
    38,333
    Likes Received:
    2,613
    Best Answers:
    462
    Trophy Points:
    710
    Digital Goods:
    29
    #62
    Interesting logic you have there. If someone pays (or doesn't pay) doesn't make them any less prone to spamming infractions. If someone spams, they will get an infraction (and banned), their premium member status is irrelevant (which is why there are banned premium members).

    Now is a spammer less prone to pay? Yes, spammers aren't going to pay. Does that mean that non-paying members are also spammers? No, it doesn't.
     
    digitalpoint, Jul 4, 2011 IP
  3. modrewgnu

    modrewgnu Active Member

    Messages:
    333
    Likes Received:
    6
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    #63
    I support the decision. As a webmaster myself, I reserve the right to make any changes I want to my website at any time. At the same time, I would never make any decisions that I think would anger my userbase unless I thought it was in the overall best interest of everyone. I think chainging nonpaying members sig links to no follow isn't the overall best solution, but it is the best solution that doesn't require someone personally reviewing every user on dp.

    I am surprised that very few users have touched on the fact that the forum has gotten bombarded with spam just so users could get their links in a thread or to get their post count up. This is one of the few threads that I have been a part of on dp that seems to be absent of random 5 word replies that don't make any sense. I think that this is a good way of trying to slow it down the spam and make the forums more enjoyable for all. By no means will it fix the problem, but it is better than nothing.

    I completely understand the argument made by some of the premium users who are angered over the loss of dofollow for some of their links and I am up in the air on how I feel about it. I don't have a clue how many premium users there are on dp but i know it a very small fraction. Even if someone took the time to determine what is spammy and what isn't there are a few problems. 1. Everyone has a different opinion on what is a helpful website and what is spam and 2. Every time a someone joins premium, they would have to check their links. My guess is that about 5 or 10 users join the premium service every day. If I was the owner or a moderator of dp, I would not be willing to hop on 5 times a day just to pass judgement on someones signature links.

    I don't think that a script can properly determine what is spam and what isn't. Even multibillion dollar companies like Google (which employs the most brilliant minds in the world) have flaws in their algorithm occasionally punishing great websites while rewarding spammy ones. So whatever is used on here to determine what is spam and what isn't really can't be accurate. But when you really think about it by doing their best to weed out spam, Google makes search better for all of us even if their is an occasional victim. Whether spam is weeded out by a script or whether it is weeded out by human evaluation there will always be an argument and a victim.

    With all that said, I don't see any problem with reviewing a few signature links from people who come to the website owner and who have been a member for 7 years and have 15,000 posts. In my humble opinion, established members like that should be given some sort of pass. There may not be a way around the script to manually change the sig links to dofollow, but I do think it is something worth looking into in the future.

    Overall, it really doesn't matter whether we like it or not. It is what it is and it isn't our decision to make. Some will support the decision, some won't. I am one who supports it.
     
    modrewgnu, Jul 4, 2011 IP
    tattoos and micksss like this.
  4. EvanP

    EvanP Banned

    Messages:
    1,731
    Likes Received:
    17
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #64
    Because this will certainly see the activity level here at DP fall. A lot of the members are here for the signature link but DO contribute quality and on-topic posts to discussions. Now I think that DP will lower in activity levels and essentially, become a site that is only used for the selling services that are offered here.
     
    EvanP, Jul 4, 2011 IP
  5. modrewgnu

    modrewgnu Active Member

    Messages:
    333
    Likes Received:
    6
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    #65
    You have to keep in mind that while you are a quality member of dp, there are many spammers who aren't. I think those that are actually on dp to learn, discuss, meet contacts and participate in the marketplace will stick around and many people who are just here for the free dofollow links will leave. It is like any law that is passed. There will be some people that are adversely and maybe even unfairly affected by it, but there are many more people who it will help.
     
    modrewgnu, Jul 4, 2011 IP
  6. digitalpoint

    digitalpoint Overlord of no one Staff

    Messages:
    38,333
    Likes Received:
    2,613
    Best Answers:
    462
    Trophy Points:
    710
    Digital Goods:
    29
    #66
    It seems every change we've ever made over the years always had people predicting the demise of Digital Point and it was just the beginning of our fall into nothingness...

    http://back-links.org/the-decline-of-digital-point/
    http://www.lightningshock.com/2007/12/20/100-reasons-digital-point-sucks/

    Google Analytics of visitors since Nov 15 (when we started using Google Analytics here)...

    The reality is overall we are still growing... granted, not as quickly as the first few years... but it's because there's a certain market saturation level.

    [​IMG]

    Our popularity is part of the underlying problem with spammers unfortunately. We get more than our share because we are the biggest.

    Only time will tell if we start "declining" overall, but we haven't seen it yet. Contrary to what some might say, I'm actually rather intelligent. Do you really think I would let the site "decline"? :)
     
    digitalpoint, Jul 4, 2011 IP
  7. flypark

    flypark Peon

    Messages:
    166
    Likes Received:
    1
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #67
    I support the move as there is an unholy amount of crap on the forum, however if like me you are currently a free member and are considering becoming a premium member but are unsure whether your sig link will be classed as spam or not, does pose a problem. I have no problems with free accounts being nofollow, but surely paid members shouldn't be subject to an automated process.

    I have been surfing dp for the last hour and have seen some links that I would class as spam, link selling sites etc. They are still dofollow, how can this be right?
     
    flypark, Jul 4, 2011 IP
  8. digitalpoint

    digitalpoint Overlord of no one Staff

    Messages:
    38,333
    Likes Received:
    2,613
    Best Answers:
    462
    Trophy Points:
    710
    Digital Goods:
    29
    #68
    There isn't a way to know, on top of that, how the system evaluates links to decide to nofollow them or not is subject to change, so what might be one way today could be different tomorrow. And more importantly "dofollow" links is not (and never was) a premium member benefit, we might end up nofollowing premium member links as well someday (no plans at this point, but again... "dofollow" links are not an official benefit [and never were], so it might not even be something you can do sometime down the road if we change how things work internally).

    If you are thinking about getting premium membership only because you want a few dofollow links, then you should probably not get it to be honest (if it gives you nothing else of value, it's not worth it).
     
    digitalpoint, Jul 4, 2011 IP
  9. ApocalypseXL

    ApocalypseXL Notable Member

    Messages:
    6,095
    Likes Received:
    103
    Best Answers:
    5
    Trophy Points:
    240
    #69
    a.k.a. Machinegun Country a.k.a. the Digital Forge

    Paid members are already policed by the No Follow robot . As much as I wish that paid membership would take care of that it's not an option .

    Now this decision is bold since DP is the only forum that i know that has a Signature Market , nevertheless the signature market is almost dead so it won't matter that much . Hopefully the real webmasters will stay and the tsunami of noob spam will move far far away . I just hope DP will still be the biggest .
     
    ApocalypseXL, Jul 4, 2011 IP
  10. mzonas

    mzonas Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    721
    Likes Received:
    12
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    160
    #70
    It was ... a steep change. Lucky, my sig links were not affected.

    Oh, even if the links turned nofollow, I wouldn't mind. I'd still pay for the membership. I need that 7-day bump feature which easily pays off.
     
    mzonas, Jul 4, 2011 IP
  11. GalacticHost

    GalacticHost Peon

    Messages:
    39
    Likes Received:
    0
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #71
    For sure, This would be a great idea.
     
    GalacticHost, Jul 4, 2011 IP
  12. snakeair

    snakeair Notable Member

    Messages:
    1,743
    Likes Received:
    198
    Best Answers:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    280
    #72
    I agree with Shawns decision and just don't know why everyone is complaining with there .02 cents in this thread. Don't you think that Shawn spent time thinking about this before actually creating the code to make the change? All large forums must do what it takes to get ahead of the spammers/low quality posters on there forum. If it means setting certain shitty rules or making signature nofollow then so be it.

    If you don't like what's going on here then join another webmaster forum. It's not like Shawn is going to change things back to the way they was because a few folks complained. If he listened to everyones complaints and acted on them, this forum would be a bad place to visit. The folks who sell signature links might not like this decision but like i said, visit another forum if you are unhappy.
     
    snakeair, Jul 4, 2011 IP
  13. laxman363

    laxman363 Active Member

    Messages:
    2,173
    Likes Received:
    81
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    90
    #73
    This is complete shit. I have 2000 posts here and they are not worthy anymore. The only reason why this has been done is because the traffic comes from google which makes Dp 123rd most visited site and reducing this feature wont affect traffic. So i guess members are not treated well here. If Dp had to reduce spam it could have appointed more mods. Out of 20 only more than 15 dont come online for months, yes three of them have not come here for years. Why don't fix that instead of doing this.
     
    laxman363, Jul 4, 2011 IP
    indyonline likes this.
  14. robjones

    robjones Notable Member

    Messages:
    4,256
    Likes Received:
    405
    Best Answers:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    290
    #74
    If you consider 2000 posts as your personal inventory, property you have built up... you are exactly the type such measures are aimed at. If removing the perceived "value" of posting for count makes guys who do it get mad and leave, the measure succeeds. Feel free to vote with your feet if it's an issue, that's exactly the response such changes are supposed to invoke.
     
    robjones, Jul 4, 2011 IP
  15. Ruddo

    Ruddo Member

    Messages:
    821
    Likes Received:
    8
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    43
    #75
    I guess it's cuz of the PR drop but good move anyways
     
    Ruddo, Jul 4, 2011 IP
  16. digitalpoint

    digitalpoint Overlord of no one Staff

    Messages:
    38,333
    Likes Received:
    2,613
    Best Answers:
    462
    Trophy Points:
    710
    Digital Goods:
    29
    #76
    PR didn't drop, so your assumption is incorrect. :)
     
    digitalpoint, Jul 4, 2011 IP
  17. CReed

    CReed Prominent Member

    Messages:
    3,969
    Likes Received:
    594
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    310
    #77
    So your 15K posts contribute nothing to the site? The only thing that counts is your monetary donation or "premium member status"?? Your premium member status doesn't elevate you above anyone, it just gives you certain privileges that were defined before you paid for such - and they're privileges which would serve me no purpose and I don't crave any special recognition.
     
    CReed, Jul 4, 2011 IP
    tattoos and psharma like this.
  18. xXxpert

    xXxpert Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    604
    Likes Received:
    34
    Best Answers:
    9
    Trophy Points:
    165
    Digital Goods:
    7
    #78
    hmm, bad for real posters..
     
    xXxpert, Jul 4, 2011 IP
  19. snakeair

    snakeair Notable Member

    Messages:
    1,743
    Likes Received:
    198
    Best Answers:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    280
    #79
    I joined this forum long time ago to learn new things and find out what i was doing wrong. I did not join here to post for post count to get a signature shown all the time. Shawn is doing a good thing with the signatures now and it's about time he did this. I've added this thread to my favorites because when i need a good laugh, i'll go back and read all the replies of people complaining.

    This is not the only webmaster forum online these days. If you don't like this change then don't come back. Complaining will not make shawn revert things back.
     
    snakeair, Jul 4, 2011 IP
    ing likes this.
  20. subdivisions

    subdivisions Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    1,021
    Likes Received:
    40
    Best Answers:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    145
    #80
    Bad for non-real posters, rather.
     
    subdivisions, Jul 4, 2011 IP
    robjones likes this.