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Wow, that sounds like a modern version of Tony Hsieh's LinkExchange, from the 90s. Glad that the model is still working. How did you go about signing up such im

• eappleby 10y ago
  Thanks! The LinkExchange model is actually pretty different, but I hear that a lot. LinkExchange, and other webrings, automatically connected sites and had them all link to one another. The main benefit of those exchanges (particularly in the 90s) was the SEO lift (which is now frowned upon by Google). In the past 4-5 years, most major publishers have begun establishing direct partnerships with other sites, so that they can promote one another on social and through other direct links. The main benefit of that type of partnership is the traffic, but also the editorial control, and brand association. The challenge is that it is a very time consuming process to put those deals together, manage the partnerships, and track the traffic. I used to lead business development at Rolling Stone and Us Weekly, and MTV before that, so I am familiar with all that goes into it, and I created PubExchange to address that. It did require hustle to get the first sites to use the platform, but since the platform works like a social network, most sites that join now, hear about it through word of mouth.