6 ms·

HN could do what Metafilter does and automatically rewrite all affiliate links to their own. If they don't want/need the money, they could donate it to charity

HN could do what Metafilter does and automatically rewrite all affiliate links to their own. If they don't want/need the money, they could donate it to charity.

icey 17y ago
This is probably way more PT Barnum than pg would like to be; but it would be pretty awesome to use the proceeds to fund a "community selected" startup. Startups could opt-in if they didn't make the regular YC cut; but were in the next N% of applicants. pg could make a poll with links to the various pitches and the one with the highest vote totals gets funded. Of course, you'd have to worry about poll-stuffing and the like; but I think it would be an interesting experiment.
there 17y ago
why does metafilter think they're in the right to change those affiliate links and steal those rewards? why would anyone bother responding to posts on their site knowing that not only can they not get rewarded for responding with a recommendation, but that metafilter is stealing the reward from them? i don't understand the aversion to affiliate links. if someone buys a book from amazon based on my recommendation (and link), amazon thanks me by giving me a portion of their profit on the sale. that shopper doesn't pay extra money, the author doesn't receive less money, and i am rewarded for taking the time to respond to that person's question.
- bd 17y ago
  As far as I'm aware, MetaFilter users are pretty much ok with this way of supporting the site (they were actually asked before implementing this [1]). In fact, it was frowned upon posting affiliate links with users' codes. [1] http://metatalk.metafilter.com/11174/Im-proposing-a-small-change-to-amazon-URLs http://metatalk.metafilter.com/11174/Im-proposing-a-small-ch...
- bmm6o 17y ago
  > why does metafilter think they're in the right to change those affiliate links and steal those rewards? Because that is the policy that the moderators and community arrived at. Some people think that allowing affiliate links incentivizes behavior detrimental to the site. You are free to disagree, but calling it "stealing" is begging the question.
- tlrobinson 17y ago
  Allowing affiliate links gives people an incentive to push products which they wouldn't necessarily recommend otherwise. Stripping affiliate links is kind of like nofollow for search engines.
bendtheblock 17y ago
Is this also what URL shorteners do?

HN could do what Metafilter does and automatically rewrite all affiliate links to their own. If they don't want/need the money, they could donate it to charity.

icey 17y ago

This is probably way more PT Barnum than pg would like to be; but it would be pretty awesome to use the proceeds to fund a "community selected" startup. Startups could opt-in if they didn't make the regular YC cut; but were in the next N% of applicants. pg could make a poll with links to the various pitches and the one with the highest vote totals gets funded. Of course, you'd have to worry about poll-stuffing and the like; but I think it would be an interesting experiment.

there 17y ago

why does metafilter think they're in the right to change those affiliate links and steal those rewards? why would anyone bother responding to posts on their site knowing that not only can they not get rewarded for responding with a recommendation, but that metafilter is stealing the reward from them? i don't understand the aversion to affiliate links. if someone buys a book from amazon based on my recommendation (and link), amazon thanks me by giving me a portion of their profit on the sale. that shopper doesn't pay extra money, the author doesn't receive less money, and i am rewarded for taking the time to respond to that person's question.

bd 17y ago
As far as I'm aware, MetaFilter users are pretty much ok with this way of supporting the site (they were actually asked before implementing this [1]). In fact, it was frowned upon posting affiliate links with users' codes. [1] http://metatalk.metafilter.com/11174/Im-proposing-a-small-change-to-amazon-URLs http://metatalk.metafilter.com/11174/Im-proposing-a-small-ch...
bmm6o 17y ago
> why does metafilter think they're in the right to change those affiliate links and steal those rewards? Because that is the policy that the moderators and community arrived at. Some people think that allowing affiliate links incentivizes behavior detrimental to the site. You are free to disagree, but calling it "stealing" is begging the question.
tlrobinson 17y ago
Allowing affiliate links gives people an incentive to push products which they wouldn't necessarily recommend otherwise. Stripping affiliate links is kind of like nofollow for search engines.

bendtheblock 17y ago

Is this also what URL shorteners do?