Reprint articles hijacked by text link ads - Great for authors!
by Glenn Murray | SEO Copywriter & Article Submission specialist *
We all know that online publishers earn revenue from
our free reprint articles. They place pay-per-click
ads on the web page that contains the article, and the
advertiser pays them whenever someone clicks on the
ad. Most use programs like Google AdSense which automatically
identify the subject of the article and deliver an ad
related to that subject.
But did you know that publishers can do a similar thing
within the article itself? They can turn any word within
your article into an ad! They use programs like TextLinkAds
to turn select target keywords into hyperlinks to the
advertiser’s website. When a reader clicks on a
link, the advertiser’s website opens within the
same window. In other words, the page is ‘hijacked’
and your article disappears!
Gasp! As authors, we spend a lot of time planning and
writing content designed to hold the reader’s attention.
Surely we should condemn anything which hijacks our
audience?
The answer to that question is most definitely, “NO!”
As a heavy Internet user, I’m personally not a
fan of text link ads. However, as an author of free
reprint articles, I think they’re great. Before
I explain why, though, let’s cover off a few basics...
Text link ads – some FAQs
Like every other form of advertising, text link ads
have their detractors. The most common questions asked
are:
Q: How can I tell if it’s a text link ad?
A: Although text link ads look the same as text links,
you can identify them very quickly simply by mousing
(hovering) over them. When you hover over a text link
ad for about a second, a popup displays the details
of the advertiser and the ad content. Check out this
example.
Q: Are they ethical?
A: Text link ads are more covert than regular pay-per-click
ads like Google AdWords. They look like normal text
links, but they don’t actually jump where you expect
them to. For example, I clicked on a text link ad with
anchor text “MSN” expecting it would take
me to MSN’s search, but instead it took me to the
website of some sort of SEO service provider. As we
all know, it’s quite common for people to link
to their site using unrelated anchor text. That’s
all text link ads are doing. So, by nature, text link
ads are no more misleading than any other kind of link.
Q: Are they bad for the Web?
A: When people can’t trust the links they’re
clicking on, won’t they stop clicking? Won’t
this have a detrimental effect on the perceived usability
of the Web? I said above that text link ads aren’t
really any more misleading by nature than normal text
links. In reality, though, I suspect they may encourage
the misleading use of anchor text, so in that respect,
I think they’re detrimental to the perceived usability
of the Web. But does this make them bad for the Web?
I don’t think so. In fact, I think their overall
effect will be good. By bringing more advertisers (i.e.
businesses) to the Web, text link ads ultimately make
the Web more useful. Users will quickly recognize text
link ads for what they are and adapt.
Q: Are they effective for advertisers?
A: I can’t really answer that. I’ve never
used them, so you’ll have to ask someone who has.
Of course, you could ask one of the companies that offers
text link ad technology, but you already know their
answer...
Q: Will they become more popular?
A: Once again, I can’t answer that question with
any authority. But I have my suspicions; I suspect they
will become more popular, simply because there are a
lot of web publishers out there who are willing to try
programs that offer a revenue return. Ultimately, the
popularity of text link ads hinges how successful they
are for advertisers, not how well-liked they are among
users.
Q: Can I stop it happening to my reprint article?
A: No. I believe that power lies solely with the publisher.
Of course, you can forbid it in your reprint guidelines,
but that will simply limit the number of times your
article is reprinted (consequently limiting your referral
traffic and link popularity).
Conclusion - Are any of these questions really important
to article submission authors?
In my humble opinion, the answer, once again, is “No!”
As authors of reprint articles, we love the Google AdSense
arrangement because it creates a demand for quality
content. The more high quality articles a publisher
reprints, the higher their site rank, the greater their
traffic, and the more they earn from the pay-per-click
ads on their site. As a result, our article submissions
get widely published and we build brand awareness, credibility,
authority, referral traffic, and – of course –
link popularity (i.e. increased rank).
Text link ads are no different. Like Google ads, they
encourage the publisher to acquire more high quality
content. It’s as simple as that.
“But my article is hijacked! What if the reader
doesn’t return?” There’s no denying we’d
prefer to keep our reader. But most readers know where
the ‘Back’ button is, so if your article is
good enough, they’ll be sure to click it. And if
they don’t, well at least you’ve got the permanent
link back to your site in the byline of your article.
And after all, that’s one of the big benefits of
article submission, isn’t it?
Anyway, enough talk. Let’s see how it all unfolds.
Happy hijacking!
Article PR – More links, less time For comprehensive Search Engine Marketing, contact Alkemi - Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Consultants and Internet Marketing Agency |
