There seems to be a glut of blogger disclosure in the past couple of days with regards to disclosing any relationships between bloggers and the sites that they may link to. I personally don’t have a strong leaning that disclosure is necessary as I believe that the majority of links have an underlying motive. Not necessarily a direct monetary motive, but maybe a desire to build traffic to one’s own blog, to appear knowledgeable (whether valid or not), to create interest in own’s own blog to drive future traffic, or even a desire to just link-bomb someone (I still don’t think Google’s algorithms can distinguish between a link bomb and just a tremendous viral event).

So, here is where I stand on this blog (esoomllub.com):

• I will never link to a site without believing in the linked site, unless I am linking for sarcastic or snarky reasons.
• I will occasionally and without attribution link via affiliate links. Be sure, I will never use an affiliate link to a site unless I believe in the underlying site/product/service/offering. I like affiliate money, but have a personal belief in only linking in this blog to something I have or would be willing to spend money on.
• I will never use a no-follow on a link in a post on this blog.
• I will not change these beliefs without a major epiphany (ie, posts or comments telling me I am wrong for this stance are strictly the opinion of the person who wrote them — not me — and I don’t really care if they don’t conform to other’s belief)

I realize there is a sizable group of people out there who do not agree with my point of view. I support their right to their opinions. But to me they are just that, their opinions and beliefs — not laws that are handed down from some benevolent leader/dictator/god/etc. So go forth and click on my links if you choose and know that if it is a link on my site, I personally believe in the linked site enough to put it there (snarky links should be very obvious to the ready).

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