We’re exploring content exchange as a safer alternative to classic link swaps. Instead of trading links directly, the idea is simple: we visit a site, answer a few short UX questions, and another user does the same for ours. The backlink ends up inside a small, human-written review rather than a reciprocal link. What do you think? Is content exchange a more sustainable approach than traditional link exchange?
No. What you described is essentially still a link exchange, just executed in a different way. A link exchange doesn’t cause any harm as long as it happens occasionally. But once you start doing it on a larger scale, it can lead to Google penalties for link spam.
Thanks for your reply, and no it isn't link exchange. Link exchange is when Site A links to Site B and vice versa. Here, all links are from our plateform to the websites. All review content are user generated, and not on an A to B scheme, rather on a A to C to G to B to F.