Why can some people have links to their sites and others cannot?
 

Dear Sirs;
I would like to know how/why Brian Shannon can have a link to his website and I cannot? I refer you to this thread Post #17:
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/tech-talk/6...-qr-codes.html versus my post (#1) where it says [removed link to site] and the link was removed by you folks.

Sincerely,
danwiz

Re: Why can some people have links to their sites and others cannot?
 

The sticky thread here explains the self-advertising rules and what members need to do to have their particular cases reviewed.

Although I cannot comment on your particular case nor, indeed, the case of any other DVDTalkers who may or may not fall within the current rules, I am pleased to confirm that I have flagged your post here so that the mods/admins can consider it.

And, when considering Feedback contributions, let's <A HREF="http://forum.dvdtalk.com/forum-feedback-support/613130-who-moved-my-post-why.html" target="_blank" style="text-decoration:none">all</a> remember IBobi's words from a few months ago: "Be Nice".

Re: Why can some people have links to their sites and others cannot?
 

Thank you, sir, for your quick and good explanation. I appreciate it.

Re: Why can some people have links to their sites and others cannot?
 

I would also like to know how a link to my website hurts DVD Talk? I quote from your first link above:

Rule of thumb: if it potentially hurts this site, we shouldn't allow it; if it hurts our paying advertisers, siphoning or discouraging participators, it's hurting DVDTalk's ability to grow and improve." - IB

As you probably know, my website can be found at my username + dot com. Could the mod and admin team please review my site and give me a definitive ruling on whether I can post a simple link in my signature? If I can, then you'll need to unblock my links to said site because as it is now I cannot even post a link, which, of course, means that I cannot link any images to threads which ask for an image or photo without opening an account at some image hosting site, which I feel is ridiculous due to the fact that I have a website with unlimited storage space!

Re: Why can some people have links to their sites and others cannot?
 

Danwiz, I'm no mod, not even pretending, but I see something that you are either missing or attempting to ignore: dankazsoutpho-20

On your website's mainpage, there's a link to your Amazon affiliate portal with the above name, where you earn %'s of sales made from people who visit Amazon through your site. This link very well could POTENTIALLY cost DVDTalk money if people click on it and give you that money instead of DVDTalk. The other gentleman (mentioned/singled out in the OP) doesn't have one of those links, hence may not be viewed as a threat.

Sometimes mod team decisions can seem arbitrary when one is the focus, but sites like DVDTalk make the vast majority of their money on affiliate clickthroughs and any ad revenue, which is why most sites frown on people discussing adblocking plug-ins. I remember there was a fellow at another IB-ran site who would run an Amazon price update thread in the bargains section, same as Lizard does here, only he would run them through his affiliate, so with his every post, he was making free money off the website's back. When they changed the rules to stop this, did he continue to contribute these bargains? No. He took his ball and went home, because he was about himself, not others. You can't blame sites for protecting themselves, and considering the extremes some sites take against ANY form of signature linking, the fact that this is just a removal and not a bannination is a sign that DVDTalk is better to its members than most.

While a part of me does hope they do allow your site to be linked here again, I do think it would be chicken shit and the opening of the floodgates if sites with affiliate codes were allowed to advertise in every post a user makes (that's over 1.5k links in your case). I run a site, but I know a part of it generates revenue, and that's not fair to this site to even pretend that it'd be alright to link and make money off me using the free services here that I do happen to enjoy.

Again, not a mod, not pretending, not answering for them, just posting something I'm noticing, because it took me less than a minute on your site to find where one could view it as "competition."

Re: Why can some people have links to their sites and others cannot?
 

Hey Nate Boss. I sincerely appreciate your response and now that you point that out to me I am in complete understanding of the situation. I withdraw my request - in fact it now sounds silly to request such a thing. I wish the admin here had been able to point it out in such a succinct manner - I could have stopped bothering them about it before this!!!

Thanks.

Re: Why can some people have links to their sites and others cannot?
 

Since the request has been withdrawn (and enough valid reasoning to not reverse existing rulings), I'm closing the thread.