Please tell me you will never... Do this....

[Adam Howard]

Skimlinks and VerticalResponse

So they've added adware and spam into the core product. Nice going Internet Brands.

1) Internet Brands decided to rely on a 3rd party product, rather then code something

2) Internet Brands decided we should be paying a 3rd party provider to use the product we already paid for from Internet Brands (vBulletin)

3) Security software does not like their 3rd party service provider (some individuals will get a warning or not even be able to access the 3rd party provider's site).

4) Use of their services (the 3rd party provider) has been blocked by some mail servers and by association, your community could also be blocked or classified as spam.

5) Some of the ads by Skimlinks have been flagged by security software, so using it can also get your site flagged

A job well done Internet Brands.

So I just want to know... That XenForo.... Would never do this to their customers?!

(The quote is from a post I made on vBulletin's Support Site)

 

[Business Coach]

Then I can't see why they simply don't just say that instead of beating around the bush and simply say something along the lines. "Nothing against Skimlinks, but it's not sitting right with me that I'm funding the IB Annual Christmas party". .

That would be too forthright for the embittered soul.

 

[jmurrayhead]

thats what boggles my mind...how its not enough for some people to make a decision for themselves, but actually feel they need to hinder others from pursuing their own purposes

Indeed, one of my biggest gripes. Any time someone makes a suggestion for a feature, there is at least one person (usually more), who chimes in posting their dissatisfaction with the suggestion, simply because they would not use it. They then, call it "bloat", which really pisses me off because a lot of these people are not software developers, and wouldn't know software bloat if it bit them in the ass. New features != bloat.

 

[erich37]

looks like Skimlinks went to bed with a company with quite a bad reputation?
Probably not a great deal on a long-term perspective......

XenForo Ltd. and all of us XF-webmasters should get a much better deal with Skimlinks because XF´s reputation is clean & tidy.

 

[AnthonyCea]

Well guys, everyone has a right to post their opinion on a forum if it is a good forum, remember the old saying, opinions are like ++++++++, everyone has one !!

 

[Mark.B]

looks like Skimlinks went to bed with a company with quite a bad reputation?
Probably not a great deal on a long-term perspective......

XenForo Ltd. and all of us XF-webmasters should get a much better deal with Skimlinks because XF´s reputation is clean & tidy.

What's wrong with the deal vB have done with Skimlinks, and in what way would you expect a XF deal with the same company to be better?

 

[erich37]

Well guys, everyone has a right to post their opinion on a forum if it is a good forum, remember the old saying, opinions are like ++++++++, everyone has one !!

I guess that´s the reason it´s called "Discussion Board" (maybe not in 2011 anymore? )

 

[Business Coach]

Well guys, everyone has a right to post their opinion on a forum if it is a good forum, remember the old saying, opinions are like ++++++++, everyone has one !!

...and they all stink

 

[Floris]

... In fact, if you'd like to sign up to Skimlinks and credit Xenforo for the referral (which comes out of our pocket, not yours), you can do so here right now. ...

Thanks everyone,
Alicia Navarro
CEO - Skimlinks.com

I've applied for skimlinks on my blog, so I can get started, and then expand it to my xenforo powered sites. Looking forward to using it.

 

[craigiri]

I can't speak to the "evil" or "good" of such services, but have personally found such links annoying! For instance, the words "mobile phone" might have links to...a phone! So, what's the deal, your readers don't know how they could get or shop for a phone??

The "evil" part might be this. Casual internet users have been trained - and in fact it is a part and parcel of HTML and the original user interface ideas - that underlined hypertext IS a link to related item on the same web site and/or on another closely related. We were not programmed to "watch out" for text links, because sooner or later they were going to fool us! That seems wrong. There is a point where commercialism goes too far.......although this is definitely on a site by site basis.

An important part of the conversation is the question of what KEEPING an internet user on your site is (can be 10 cents to 10 dollars), as compared to sending them elsewhere....likely on a wild goose chase....and to never return. Of course, this is also true with other ads but they are usually clearly shown as advertisement as opposed to hyperlinks.

I'd say thumbs down, but that's just my opinion and it stinks. We all have our price and that one is not high enough for me.

 

[Mutt]

well, i thought it was odd when they added support for the mass mailing software but they didn't remove the internal mass mailing system so it didn't bother me. it's just something i would never use & it would never hurt me or my members. as for skimlinks, it's optional & it doesn't cost you anything if you choose to use it. just another ad option like adsense.

as for 3rd party integration, i think real integration something like w/ wordpress (not just a bridge) would handle the cms / blog needs while letter XF continue to build the forum / community. 3rd party is not bad is all i'm saying. honestly all the mods or addon scripts you install are 3rd party.

 

[WoodiE]

To each their own, but I certainly don't understand the concept of giving someone else money just for the hell of it. There are plenty of other ways to have links re-written to include affiliate codes without having to give someone a cut of your money.

It would be an entirely different deal if they sold the software that did the re-writing for you, but to take 5, 10,15,20% or what ever it is they take away from you each and every month... that's a scam IMO.

 

[RobParker]

To each their own, but I certainly don't understand the concept of giving someone else money just for the hell of it. There are plenty of other ways to have links re-written to include affiliate codes without having to give someone a cut of your money.

It would be an entirely different deal if they sold the software that did the re-writing for you, but to take 5, 10,15,20% or what ever it is they take away from you each and every month... that's a scam IMO.

I'm afraid you're wrong. Because they have the volume to negotiate better affiliate rates (an example was they get 8% vs the typical 5% from Amazon), you end up making more even after their cut. They don't simply just rewrite some links for you.

 

[DoctorWatsOn]

I am currently thinking of installing Skimlinks, via the xenForo affiliate link, and donating any income to a local community fund.

My thoughts are to set-up a page with links to major online stores, which the community fund can promote, this in turn would drive some extra traffic to my site, whilst raising cash for local causes.

 

[Green Cat]

Would really like to see xenforo also making some kind of deal with skimlinks for us .

 

[Kier]

Would really like to see xenforo also making some kind of deal with skimlinks for us .

 

[DoctorWatsOn]

When will this be available?

If soon, I'll hold off setting-up Skimlinks for now.

 

[Paul B]

Wish I could take advantage of it on my forum.
With only links to places like f1.com, autosport, BBC, etc. being posted, there is no point installing.

 

[Kier]

When will this be available?

If soon, I'll hold off setting-up Skimlinks for now.

Go ahead and set up, you'll be able to use your settings for the add-on when we make it available.

 

[RickM]

Wish I could take advantage of it on my forum.
With only links to places like f1.com, autosport, BBC, etc. being posted, there is no point installing.

We installed it on our forum - really not worth it IMO. Pretty poor results. Last time I checked we had about 4 posts with links in them...considering we have a web hosts section you would have thought it would pick up all the big host names as affiliate links (e.g hostgator).

 

[Kier]

We installed it on our forum - really not worth it IMO. Pretty poor results. Last time I checked we had about 4 posts with links in them...considering we have a web hosts section you would have thought it would pick up all the big host names as affiliate links (e.g hostgator).

I don't think that web hosts are the kind of targets you'd expect Skimlinks to deal with. Regardless, the performance of Skimlinks or any similar scheme will be highly dependent on the subject matter of your site. I know of several sites that make a ludicrously large amount of money on a monthly basis through Skimlinks.