RSS Feeds: No More 'do follow' — Back to 'nofollow'
There comes a time when a person just has to say "enough is enough". As a longtime proponent of the "do follow" movement, it really pains me to revert this blog back to "nofollow". If you don't know what I'm talking about, then feel free to stop reading and go somewhere else.
What is "nofollow"?
The rel="nofollow" hyperlink attribute was designed by Google in 2005 as a means to prevent PageRank from being passed from link to link. Shortly after that, the WordPress software was modified to include this attribute in comment posts. The author links as well as any links embedded in the comment content would be automatically "nofollowed".
Why would WordPress adopt this "feature"? Well, blog owners do not normally have editorial control of the comments posted on their blogs. As of now, in 2009, blog owners still don't have complete editorial control over the comments posted on their blogs.
What is "do follow"?
I don't know who started the "do follow" (also called "dofollow", without the space) movement, but it existed before I created this blog in 2006. I'm guessing it started right about the time that WordPress incorporated the "nofollow" attribute in comment links.
Dozens of WordPress plugins have come and gone, which control whether this "feature" is turned off or not. I've only used two of them. Other plugins have been developed to take advantage of "do follow" links and they work well as intended. CommentLuv and KeywordLuv are just two of these plugins.
My Reasons for Going Back to "nofollow"
The comment author links have been reverted back to "nofollow" already. The embedded comment links have not. The reason I'm leaving them in the "do follow" state is because I use them for cross linking as well. It's fairly easy for me to check embedded links for spam – much easier than checking every comment author link.
As a longtime proponent of the "do follow" movement, it pains me to go back to "nofollow". I really like boosting good sites and helping them build up their PageRanks. The problem I have is the same problem that has plagued websites since they were first conceived: Comment spammers.
Although I haven't been vocal about it, I've been watching what the comment spammers do. I have a "do follow" blog list that will soon disappear. I've been checking those blogs to see what the results have been since I've had it in place and it isn't pretty. I refuse to be an unwilling instigator of comment spam.
In the past few months, I've spent more time checking comments than I have writing and that's just wrong. I have better things to do with my time. I'll still check comments because comment spammers won't read this. I'm sure they'll eventually realize that this blog no longer passes PageRank in the comments like it used to and move on to "greener" pastures.
If the comments on this blog diminish due to my return to "nofollow", then so be it. I would rather have a few good comments that pertain to the discussion at hand than all of the other kinds of comments combined.
(Image source: eVisibility "nofollow" T-Shirt at Schwag Addict)
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I have a do follow website, and that's full of spam comment, but the traffic is great.
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