Skimlinks trial on MSE forums

JimmyTheWig

robt wrote: »

It changes the link to an affiliate link on the fly (via javascript - I know how it works) - that is editing of the user content.

But surely this happens anyway? If I type www.bbc.co.uk (I haven't said anything about a link, I haven't clicked the "Insert Link" button, etc) my text gets "changed" into a link.
I see the skimlink linking as no more of a change to what I've written than what happens anyway.
I would argue that the current process doesn't change my post and therefore I'd still argue that the skimlink process doesn't change my post.
If you'd like to argue that both processes change my post then fine, but I still don't see what the problem is, per-se.

MSE_Dan wrote: »

You can see this process happen if you watch the text line at the very bottom of a browser like Firefox.

Hmmm. This is going to cause a problem. It's not just Firefox that does that, Internet Explorer also tells you where you what page you are going to at the bottom of the browser.
This is an important safety feature. Martin Lewis himself says so... http://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2010/01/26/spam-spotter-rules-it%e2%80%99s-the-bit-before-the-com-that-counts/.

It is perfectly simple for a poster to post a link to one thing and make it look like it was going to another - see the bbc/itv example on Martin's blog. They could be pretending a link will take you soemwhere but will actually take you to their affiliate page. Being able to see the real destination of a link is invaluable in avoiding these.
But if legitimate links are now going to show as going elsewhere, how are we to spot the legitimately redirected skimlink from the fraudster?

We already have this problem with the starred affiliate links in the articles. But we know that we can trust the people (i.e. the MSE team) who write these and so it is not a problem.
But on the forum that is a different matter.

Former_MSE_Dan

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

Hmmm. This is going to cause a problem. It's not just Firefox that does that, Internet Explorer also tells you where you what page you are going to at the bottom of the browser.
This is an important safety feature. Martin Lewis himself says so... http://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2010/01/26/spam-spotter-rules-it%e2%80%99s-the-bit-before-the-com-that-counts/.

It is perfectly simple for a poster to post a link to one thing and make it look like it was going to another - see the bbc/itv example on Martin's blog. They could be pretending a link will take you soemwhere but will actually take you to their affiliate page. Being able to see the real destination of a link is invaluable in avoiding these.
But if legitimate links are now going to show as going elsewhere, how are we to spot the legitimately redirected skimlink from the fraudster?

We already have this problem with the starred affiliate links in the articles. But we know that we can trust the people (i.e. the MSE team) who write these and so it is not a problem.
But on the forum that is a different matter.

Ah I think I maybe didnt explain this bit as clearly as I could. When you hover over the link in the post, you will still see the actual destination page in the bottom of the browser, so this will prevent referral links being used (in non-referral boards).

What I meant above was, once you have clicked a link, if you carry on watching that line at the bottom of browser, you will see the link quickly move through a redirect.moneysavingexpert.com address.

Skimlinks is live now anyway, so if you find a post linking to eg. eBay or Amazon, you should be able to see what I mean

JimmyTheWig

MSE_Dan wrote: »

What I meant above was, once you have clicked a link, if you carry on watching that line at the bottom of browser, you will see the link quickly move through a redirect.moneysavingexpert.com address.

Skimlinks is live now anyway, so if you find a post linking to eg. eBay or Amazon, you should be able to see what I mean

Hmmm, powerful technology. I'm not sure if that makes it better (can still spot the fraudsters) or worse (less transparent what will happen).

For those who want to try it you can click here: www.amazon.co.uk.

oakhouse13

Jimmy, thank you for a link to try. I clicked it and it took a while before loading the page.

It has loaded a few cookies I would not expect. One called advertising.com and also one called uac.advertising.com which I tried to look up and it said access denied.

I don't know if these extra cookies are because Simlinks hijacks the link and loads external files under its control or if it is Amazon loading these files?

oakhouse13

Dan, you may have already considered this but as an alternative to Skimlinks as a way to cover the costs of the forum, have you thought of asking for tips?

Perhaps you could announce a trial. Invite tips by PayPal. I know this sounds tacky. You could do it on the basis that you would not accept those funds but are doing it as a trial to see if it would raise a significant amount. If it did, and I think it would because in my view millions of people would contribute a small amount for the forum to keep it independent, you could them formalise it.

robt_2

Nice idea, but Skimlinks would be a monthly income, donations would be a one-off.

I can say with 99.9% certainty that 'millions' of people would not donate!

oakhouse13

Robt, you may be right but I am going to carry on believing in the big society. Tips is just an idea and would need to be thought through by someone who knows what they were talking about.

There may well be something to trip it up .... like inflated PayPal commission for example for doing practically nothing.

JimmyTheWig

oakhouse13 wrote: »

Dan, you may have already considered this but as an alternative to Skimlinks as a way to cover the costs of the forum, have you thought of asking for tips?

I'm still struggling with this idea that the website needs to make more money.
It wasn't long ago on this site there was a poll where we could all vote for which charities should get the money that the site had made and didn't need. Now, while that's a lovely idea some people felt that the poll decended into a farce. If there was money for this then I don't see where the need for more has come from.

That's not to say that there's anything wrong with the site making more money if it can without impacting the users in a negative way. I hope that's what this trial is about rather than if the trial fails then other funding sources will be needed.

ShaneUK

The problem with this forum, is very few seem to like change.

At the end of the day, Skimlinks is NOT going to affect your experience in ANY way.

You will click a link and behind the scenes MSE will get credited with a miniscule amount, but all the miniscule amounts will (hopefully) add up, and assist MSE in the running of the site.

I personally think this is a fantastic idea, and will hopefully greatly assist the upkeep of this site.

Without implementing this, I feel that revenue would need to be generated. There is a wealth of knowledge and information available throughout MSE - the main site, and the forums. We are not going to be out of pocket in anyway by this change.

It could be worse - either they charge an annual/monthly membership, or introduce advertising. Or worse still - skimwords (as mentioned elsewhere).

Skimlinks to me is a great idea, and I hope that it works well and stays.

SimbaSimon

It really slows down links though. Normally you click a link and it opens, jobs done. With an affiliate network involved you see a blank screen, going to the affilialte network, then another blank page and then to the link. I'd rather go to the links homepage and search from there. The same thing happens with hotukdeals, go to a deal through there and it just feels slow.