Quick back story. While going over a competitor's back links we noticed a high number of their customers link back to them. Normally we would have passed over this because it's not odd for a customer to link back to a service they use, but here it just seemed higher then normal. So after some investigation we noticed that buried in their customer control panel they were offering a discount to customers who direct linked back to the home page, with some form of their keyword in the link text. Now for the debate: Some in the offer are saying this is straight buying links because money (in the form of a discount) is being exchanged for a link. Others are thinking that this is completely ok because it is their customer base so their is a valid reason for the link back. So what do you think?
This is a fairly common and widely used practice and acceptable in my opinion. This is not buying links.
It's pretty much the same as buying a link. It's certainly not an editorial link. It's not a particularly dirty trick, but I don't think I'd use it.
you will need to hire a dedicated person who can build up the database and identify opportunities for links pointing to your website.
It is definitely link buying. I would consider it to be ethical and smart if it works. There are also are draw backs like it lets your competition know who to target. Build a list and market to their customers and offer a big discount to switch. It will weaken your competition and build a larger base for your company.
Ok, for those who are saying it's link buying, would you consider reporting the competitor to Google? Would it even make a difference/Would Google care? This is kind of a second level discussion that is going on with this debate
If this practice is not banned then discount or not any legal agreement I make with my client base is between us. My answer is no. This is not buying links as the customer can opt out and this is not a requirement of purchase.