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That's a very narrow-minded view of blogging. I wouldn't write a 5,000+ word review if my main interest was making money. It's just stupid from an economic stan

That's a very narrow-minded view of blogging. I wouldn't write a 5,000+ word review if my main interest was making money. It's just stupid from an economic standpoint. I could make way more money with a 700 word review of some popular tech book. Above all I outline several flaws in the ecosystem in what it's an, as honest as it gets, review. My point was sharing useful information. Will someone interested in Fitbit learn something about the product by reading this? I think they'll learn plenty. That's my goal, and if the affiliate links make me some extra money, great. I also disclaim my affiliation in my site (and in the post). Regarding links, they work for me. Anyone else having this issue?

j_s 14y ago
Tested one, it worked. On another browser, Ghostery blocked it.
- acangiano 14y ago
  Thank you. I figured it was some kind of plugin blocking it.
chollida1 14y ago
Sure, I get your point. But I think you're trying as hard as possible to not see things from the readers perspective. We all know there is a continuum of sites on the internet from wikipedia who try to be neutral to sites that try to phish your information. When we visit sites we are forced to decide just how scuzzy a site is. Consider your site: When I first see it the entire right hand side has 3 advertisements, a follow me on twitter link and a buy my book link. Not terrible but also it starts raising the alarm bells a bit. Then onto the content, before I can even read the article we've got the scuzzy "share this story" links that are a pretty good indicator of a site that's trying to sell you something rather than inform you. I come to the first link, not only is it an affiliate link but it's intentionally obfuscated so the user can't tell where it leads to. If this isn't a warning sign then I'm not sure what is:) Having said that an affiliate link is perfectly fine. Since the link is obfuscated I look for another link so I can just get to the fitbit website, but all the links are intentionally obfuscated. At every turn you've lead the user to believe your site is trying to pull something over on them. What do you expect me to think about your site :)? I have no doubt you put alot of effort into your review, but I'd really drop the obfuscated links if you want to come across as an honest blogger to people who don't know you:)

j_s 14y ago

Tested one, it worked. On another browser, Ghostery blocked it.

acangiano 14y ago
Thank you. I figured it was some kind of plugin blocking it.

chollida1 14y ago

Sure, I get your point. But I think you're trying as hard as possible to not see things from the readers perspective. We all know there is a continuum of sites on the internet from wikipedia who try to be neutral to sites that try to phish your information. When we visit sites we are forced to decide just how scuzzy a site is. Consider your site: When I first see it the entire right hand side has 3 advertisements, a follow me on twitter link and a buy my book link. Not terrible but also it starts raising the alarm bells a bit. Then onto the content, before I can even read the article we've got the scuzzy "share this story" links that are a pretty good indicator of a site that's trying to sell you something rather than inform you. I come to the first link, not only is it an affiliate link but it's intentionally obfuscated so the user can't tell where it leads to. If this isn't a warning sign then I'm not sure what is:) Having said that an affiliate link is perfectly fine. Since the link is obfuscated I look for another link so I can just get to the fitbit website, but all the links are intentionally obfuscated. At every turn you've lead the user to believe your site is trying to pull something over on them. What do you expect me to think about your site :)? I have no doubt you put alot of effort into your review, but I'd really drop the obfuscated links if you want to come across as an honest blogger to people who don't know you:)