What would identify you are using the COOP? Obvious ones are requesting ad_network_ads.txt file or ad_network.php and not getting a 404. What else would identify it do you think?
Looking at the links commonly associated with the network and mapping them out to get an idea of the big picture...
You mean taking examples of the link text being used by members, and looking for groups of these links in a cluster on other sites, is that what you mean? Sorry if i'm being a bit thick
The only sites that could rbe picked out like that, would be the ones with ads pointing to them... So yeah, the lower the weight the less chance of being stumbled upon in that case... Number of running ads would have an influence as it's all about the weight... This is all speculation though... Remember...
Yes, thoughts just drifting over lunch... Don't worry I am worldly wise and not nieve (is that the word?).....
Why are we discussing this? Do you guys reckon Google would frown upon the ad network?? And, the sites using it? Would this be considered a link farm by Google?
See the attached image to see what a link map may look like (mines highly simplified). The nodes are sites, lines are links. The cluster of nodes at the bottom right is how i imagine a system such as the coop network would appear. Mine is a poor job at being random -- making me think that in reality that a network of linked sites such as the coop would be even easier to detect. These are just my views tho. I am 82.78% certain I could be wrong .
I don't know. There is all this speculation that a site should be ashamed to be using the digital point advertising cooperative. The more I learn about the network, the more I see it as entirely valid. We don't need to hide our membership. We are in fact helping the SE's by giving them better results.