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Lately, I have been seeing several words on any story I'm reading that appear as "Links". I thought this was a new advertising strategy and have not objected. Well, now it's appearing on other sites and one user has suggested that I have a "bot" or something. So are the rest of you seeing this or its it strictly my issue.
Comments
No, it isn't a bot
Some authors here do use links in their stories. It isn't a problem. I use links in every story I format or edit for licensing reasons.
Some authors use the links to point to a source page, or picture, or something pertinent to the story :)
Sephrena
Yes, it's a browser add-on on your machine
She's not talking about deliberately placed links, Sephrena, she's talking about random words in text showing up as links to advertising. It's some trojan add on you've downloaded by visiting a criminally irresponsible site.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Automatic text links on web pages
Sometimes it's not criminal but a "legitimate" function of a browser toolbar, which was accidentally installed together with a free program like the java plugin or flash player.
Martina
Not legitimate
There's always an element of trickery and deception in the installation of these things, I used the word criminal with due regard for the meaning of the word. Fraud, is fraud. If you have to put legitimate in quotes, everyone one knows you mean fraudulent.
These are the rustlers, snake oil salesmen, and card mechanics of the Wild Wild Web.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
I should mention that some
I should mention that some websites do use that form of advertising themselves. They auto link keywords. There is a module for it in Drupal and Joomla. I used to use it to automatically add tool-tip definitions of various technical terms when building certain sites.
But like Erin said, we do NOT use that form of enhancement at BigCloset.
Oh, I don't know of any ISP's actively doing this, but any ISP that uses a "speed boost" style caching system, could also insert links into webpages so that they can get extra $$$.
-Piper
It's Called Text-Enhance
You agree to it buried in fine print in many add-ons, and it appears to require Adobe Shockwave player to work. It is a real pain to get rid of, but turning off shockwave is a temporary solution. The information at http://botcrawl.com/how-to-remove-text-enhance can help get rid of it.
Burying an agreement in fine print is called Constructive Fraud
Legally, constructive fraud is any deceptive business practice that has the same effect as fraud and is treated the same as fraud in the law. This is nothing new, encyclopedia and vacuum cleaner sales people did it for nearly a century. Those old record clubs were famous for it and paid fines for engaging in it as a business expense. Repeated violations should result in seizure of assets and liquidation of all holdings and personal fines against corporate managers or even jail time. They seldom do. It's "not business friendly" to actually enforce laws against fraud.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.