Amazon Referral Links in Posts?

[Pete]

In this thread

http://forums.windowscentral.com/xbox/232166-xbox-360-storage.html#post2245798

Several people have the word "Xbox" in their posts, including me. All of them have been hyperlinked with an Amazon referral link of some kind.

I didn't intentionally do this in my post and I don't have any dodgy IE addins (just standard Java/Office/AdblockPlus).

1) Does anyone else see these links?
2) Why are they appearing?

EDIT: Also in this post too.

 

[HeyCori]

I'm seeing them as well. Never seen them before. This must be a very recent change.

 

[Pete]

Also appears with PS4.

If this is a forum change to capitalise on people talking about the new consoles, I wouldn't be happy. Who's gaining financially from people clicking on those links?

 

[palandri]

Also appears with PS4.

If this is a forum change to capitalise on people talking about the new consoles, I wouldn't be happy. Who's gaining financially from people clicking on those links?

Good question! I hope it's Mobile Nations, one way or another. If not, then it's like cookie stuffing which people get banned for.

Hopefully we can get an answer from Mr. Falconer on this.

 

[HeyCori]

You know it's Google that's profiting off this :grin:

 

[Laura Knotek]

It's definitely an IE thing. I've just checked the post using both IE11 (with Easy List) and Firefox 28.01a (with Ghostery and AdBlock+). I don't see the Amazon link in Firefox, but it shows up in IE.

 

[stmav]

Just a quick check of the other forums show it happening on imore, but not AC or CB. Imore even linked the words playstation and xbox one.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Hey, check out my post here. I definitely didn't add any links, but X b o x creates an Amazon link in the post. Hopefully you won't see one here, since I added space, but check out this post of mine. http://forums.windowscentral.com/xb...ing-day-one-xbox-one-bundles.html#post2245434

 

[HeyCori]

It's definitely an IE thing. I've just checked the post using both IE11 (with Easy List) and Firefox 28.01a (with Ghostery and AdBlock+). I don't see the Amazon link in Firefox, but it shows up in IE.

I'm seeing it on Firefox too. I'll try Chrome and Safari.

EDIT:

Yup, looks like it's happening on all four browsers

IE
Firefox
Chrome
Safari

Note: This doesn't bother me as long as it helps MN pay the bills (just make sure to throw some cash my way :wink.

But it would be nice to know if this is a new permanent feature or if something has gone wrong.

 

[stmav]

Odd, when I made my last post the linked words in the last sentence were black and not linked. When I came back to read the further posts, the words were linked to amazon.

 

[Pete]

It's not really ethical for the forum to place referral codes automatically in posts. Theoretically, it might be acceptable as a revenue generator, and users may click on the links with the thought that they're contributing to the forum.

But, if posters get the idea that posting referral links is ok, then they'll use them. And then who knows where the revenue is going? To the forum, or to the poster, or the link may be click-bait for something else entirely?

If it's a new permanent feature, I'd want to opt out.

 

[Pete]

Odd, when I made my last post the linked words in the last sentence were black and not linked. When I came back to read the further posts, the words were linked to amazon.

That's because newly created posts are cached on your own local computer. When you refresh, you get content from the web server.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Shows up in Opera 18 also (with AdBlock+). I'm using Opera 18 now.

 

[James Falconer]

Just spoke w Steph. No worries, it's us! We're testing something for popular keywords. It's not permanent, just testing at this point.

 

[pkcable]

I can live with it, as long as Mobile Nation is getting the ducats. I still have not decided which side of the war I'm on yet though!......

 

[Pete]

Well, it's been over a month now and we're still seeing these referral links. Is this now going to be a permanent feature?

 

[Dave Blake]

Well, it's been over a month now and we're still seeing these referral links. Is this now going to be a permanent feature?

Yes

 

[unstoppablekem]

Yes

I thought James said it was temporary?

And is it to help the users to redirect them or you guys make profit from the links, or something else?

 

[Dave Blake]

I thought James said it was temporary?

And is it to help the users to redirect them or you guys make profit from the links, or something else?

We are using this to help pay the bills. I like they way it is set up. The way its done now is less intrusive than what I see on other websites.

 

[Pete]

Thanks for the clarification, Dave.

Personally speaking, I can't say I'm really a fan of how this has been rolled out. I have no experience of the other MN forums, but the community here at WPCentral is a good one - I've been around a lot of forums and there's not been many that I'd class "a good place to be". I'd have preferred you guys to be up-front about using this monetization feature and informing the community that the links are there to support our community. Doing it without telling anyone (not even your forum moderators) seems to be (dare I say) underhanded.

I entirely support the need to support the site and the good work of the staff. But, please involve us. I'm sure there's many of us who would much rather support you through donations rather than this taxation through referral linking.

Again, these are my own thoughts and opinions.