SEOmoz's Rand Fishkin wonders if the unsavory real world of celebrity photographers has an online equivalent in linkbaited content.
Is Linkbait The Web's Paparazzi?
How much attention is too much? Online, site publishers crave the massive boost of traffic a front page link on Digg or Slashdot can give it. Compared to the interest millions of people have in celebrities, the latest list on 12 ways to keep your blog fresh represents barely a drop in the riptide of traffic someone like Britney Spears can attract.
That led to a dilemma
In the end, I couldn't bring myself to do anything. Aside from it being counter to how Promises runs their facilities, Britney Spears, for all of her flaws, is a human being and deserves not to be exploited. Sometimes, search has to take the backseat to common decency.
Rand opined on this in response: Lisa Barone
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Is linkbait the paparazzi of the web? Where do we draw the line on exploiting events for links? I've personally been accused quite a bit of exploiting my own engagement in much the same way and have seen that criticism extend to other linkbait plays as well. Are we playing in dangerous territory by creating viral content that is intentionally manipulative (as opposed to the old SEO tactics of creating standard content that was intentionally manipulative, but less popular so fewer people complained)?
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