Reader Discussion: Fake LinkBait
Recently the SEO universe erupted into a huge debate about the morality of fake or made up linkbait. Popular blogger Lyndoman admitted in a post on his blog that he had completely fabricated a story about a 13 year old stealing his father’s credit card and using it to hire hookers… to play Halo with him!
The story appeared on an authoritative news site, went popular on Digg and several other social media sites, and was even picked up by one of the major television news networks! Needless to say, the linkbait attempt was incredibly successful.
However, the tactic Lyndoman used was met with mixed reactions in the SEO community many of whom thought the method was immoral and gave the community a bad name.
Personally, I am of the feeling that the piece achieved its goal (of attracting a massive number of links) and that is the only moral issue involved. If people (especially the news agencies) don’t bother to do some fact checking, I don’t see how that’s any concern of the marketer. Also, I don’t see how publishing a fabricated story is any different than staging photo opps or orchestrating events to create a desired effect. For example, if Lyndoman had in fact paid a 13 year old to steal his father’s credit card and hire the working girls would the story be somehow more valid?
What do you think? Would you knowingly publish a fabricated story to generate links? Do you think someone hired for the purpose of creating linkbait should worry about the moral implications of the story or are results the only thing that matters? Let your opinion be heard by weighing in through the comment section below!
Comments
AffiliateObsession.com August 4th, 2008
I think it was a bit of marketing genius. Who cares if the story was real? People chomp at the bit to spread it like wildfire which is a perfect showcase of how America, and the world, handles stories like this.
Nice post. If there is a moral issue, what is it? Is the blog any less popular now that he admitted it? I think it was creative, hats off!
GreenLantern August 5th, 2008
You aren’t really condoning this kind of activity are you? The keyword here is “fabricated”, which to me is the same as lying.
Rich Hill August 5th, 2008
Wish I had thought of that.
It’s all about the Buzz.
Great story and congratulations to the genius that “fabricated” it.
Rich
Bramster August 5th, 2008
Marketing is framing your product or service in the most positive light possible to attract future sales by improving the purchase intention of your product. Sales is about the currnet purchase and does not have a forward bent to it.
Clearly this is a sales tool- but is not great marketing tools as it does not positively enhance the image of the product.
Fabrication is not marketing , used car sales men lie to sell today.
AffiliateObsession.com August 5th, 2008
As an experiment where nobody was hurt, who cares. We ALL linkbait, that’s all this was. I have seen many blogs with linkbait post titles that have little to do with the content.
What was he selling again??
same-same in my book.
Simon Collis August 5th, 2008
Of course, the problem with this (ethical and moral issues aside, of course) is that you can only do it once. After that, no news agency is going to give anything you publish more than half a glance after that.
If you’re a fake news site (like The Onion), then of course that’s great news because it makes the mainstream press look foolish. If you’re not in the humour business, however, this is probably career suicide for a blogger if your long-term aim is to be taken seriously.
Ultimate Blogging Experiment August 5th, 2008
link baiting is fine in my book. What is not fine is that we have to wait a week for a post on this blog. Please Ben Cook, start blogging on here full-time again.
Dan Valencia August 5th, 2008
I have to agree that this was marketing genius! It’s not Lyndoman’s fault that nobody checked on his facts. It’s not like there is a blogging police out there to make sure that all bloggers tell the truth at all times and at whatever costs.
The mainstream news media need to stop believing everything they read on the Internet and start doing some real journalism, including fact-checking. I wish I could fabricate a story that gets this sort of coverage!
Make Money August 6th, 2008
Personally, I thought it was cheap and the anti-thesis of good business, period. Communities are built upon trust, and when a blogger violates that, it erodes the community as a whole. ::shrug:: It’s just not something I’d remotely consider doing.
As far as it being immoral, I really am not sure. It got the job done for link-building, but…
Rebecca Laffar-Smith August 6th, 2008
While it might have given him the linkbait boost in the short term I have to wonder what it has done to his integrity in the long term. People will be afraid to social media him in future because he’s “cried wolf”.
I prefer to represent an honesty in the online community. In the business work, honesty and integrity are what build long term relationships. Those are what create business into the future.
The question is, are you in it for a few nickels today? Or for the dollars of tomorrow?
Andy - Mr MultiVar August 6th, 2008
Thanks Ben, you gave me a good idea for how to tackle a short-term SEO contest. I am basically making up fake link-bait posts in the hope to generate exposure as well as to stimulate search traffic for popular terms.
Not for my main blog though.
cuzzy August 6th, 2008
Nice to read some Ben stuff again. How is that link bait any different than what the onion does or the brushback. I mean you know the story is fake because of the source but it is still creative writing.
I say do whatever you want and if people don’t bother checking to see if the story is real then too bad. Journalists get lazy.
Now and then I write up posts that alter hot button topics just as a fun and creative angle. Like NBA bad boy ref Tim Donaghy being cast in the new season of Prison Break.
The guy wrote it and posted it, the rest is really out of his hands.
Dean Saliba August 7th, 2008
If the media are too lazy to check their facts then they get exactly what they deserve!
Creating passive income online August 7th, 2008
Defamation is where I draw the line, however, if anyone builds adsense sights or affiliate sites, is link-baiting not common practice? building pages with just too little an amount of information is a prime strategy for getting clicks on your ads right? or building a page, getting links, then changing it later to an affiliate squeeze is rather typical from what i have seen.
i don’t see harm in this practice, so long as it doesn’t fall into the defamation category.
Keywords Anchor and Do-Follow Blog August 8th, 2008
I think it probably backfired, because the readers that found out that it was false, were they lost to him after that? Also, this is a story he stole from an old Law and Order episode
Stephen Lee August 9th, 2008
Marketing genius he may be but such an act is not without dire consequences – kids have a habit of picking up on such an act and sensationalized it even more each time, putting themselves in harms way. If it’s your kid that is involved, would you still hail him as a marketing genius ? I’m not too sure about that.
Lyndon Antcliff August 14th, 2008
To me, it’s only a lie if you say it’s something that it isn’t. I never said it was true, I merely announced to the world, this is what I wrote. I never asked anyone to believe it was true, it was up to the individual.
The article was crafted to specifically go mental though, but this was the only one that dripped into the traditional media, and the fooled themselves and then revealed it as fake.
Well duh, it wasn’t meant to be taken seriously. To me it’s irrelevant if people believe it’s true or not, what is important is that it gets links. That it causes a big noise.
There is a formula to this stuff and once you crack the code, once you “get it”, links are never a problem again.
“Dire consequences”? Gimme a break, it’s a funny story selling nothing, claiming nothing, it’s entertainment intended to be passed around.
You would be amazed at the stuff I have gotten away with that you do not know about.
Mike Huang August 26th, 2008
Lol, I don’t even know what to say about this. To congratulate the success or to pity him…
-Mike
Danny Cooper September 26th, 2008
I don’t see any problem with link baiting, but when you lie in order to perform a link bait I think it goes past the line.
canmexdave October 23rd, 2008
Man you don’t even know how long I’ve waited for this since disabling my own Movable Type widget (that doesn’t work since Haloscan bypasses that code).
Stephanie |The Deal Is November 20th, 2008
I think it was very smart on his part, as it did accomplish the goal of scoring massive links but I don’t think it was very ethical. The fact is folks, you can’t believe everything you read on the net or anywhere else for that matter, and just because the news says it’s so doesn’t mean it really is or that it is in the same context that they displayed it to be.
You have to take everything with a grain of salt these days and really consider the source, the good thing about this I guess is that no one got “hurt” by it. If it was a joke, or scam where someone’s well being was in jeopardy or where lot’s of money loss was at stake that would be a different story.
Ned Carey December 6th, 2008
Yes it is clever marketing but he traded short term success for a long term loss of credibility. I wouldn’t trust him and might read his blog a lot less. What goes around comes around.
Now I agree other new reports should have checked their facts.
Kyle Baczynski December 13th, 2008
I think that while this is an extremely clever strategy to generate traffic, it’s not really a moral way to do it.
First of all, people tend to trust what they see on the internet. Yeah, they shouldn’t, but they do it anyway. He’s taking advantage of that, and if he caused a major news agency to pick it up, that’s even worse.
I agree with Ned, as well, that he lost a lot of credibility for what he did.