A Proposal and a Response to AP - Quote Me Freely and Carry my Adtribution Link . . .
By Tom Foremski - June 20, 2008
Associated Press caused a blogostorm when it instituted a "fair use" policy that was anything but fair. I disagree with that policy but I do understand the frustration of being a media professional/blogger and recovering some of the value of my work. Most bloggers have a day job but I don't and it is tough to make a living doing what I love to do.
I spend a lot of time out and about, interviewing people, going to events, and writing. It is expensive living in San Francisco and carrying the expenses of travel and publishing. My sponsors are able to support part of my work but it doesn't cover all my costs, it would be great to recover some of the value of my work.
I'm always happy when others quote my work and I have no AP-like restrictions on how much you can quote. In fact, I allow full text commercial use of my work as long as all the links are kept intact and attribution is given. If you can make money with my work then go ahead.
However, if you do find my work useful and want to quote it, it would be great if you could carry one of my text ad links. That way if my work gets wide distribution some of that value might come back to me and/or my sponsors.
More and more blogs are now professional media companies, such as GigaOM, ReadWriteWeb, VentureBeat, All Things D, And I know there are many other professional bloggers out there that would love to share in the value that their work produces.
If they produce breaking news etc, and are widely quoted, wouldn't it be great to support their work by also giving something back? Especially if you could support that work without it costing you anything.
For example, if you quote from this post, maybe you could also carry this text- ad link next to it which has my Amazon ID embedded in it: Order the amazing Amazon Kindle Electronic Book Reader - find out why people are raving about it.
Maybe this type of link could be called a supporting link, or an adtribution link?
You don't have to carry the adtribution link but it would be seen as respectful if you did, and it would help to support the media source. Maybe if AP adopted such a system it might not seem to be so mean and ridiculous.
What do you think?
- - -
Adtribution link: Order the amazing Amazon Kindle Electronic Book Reader - find out why people are raving about it.
Adtribution link source code just copy and embed in your post:
<a href="http://www.siliconvalleywatcher.com/">Adtribution</a> link: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2FB000FI73MA%3Fpf%5Frd%5Fm%3DATVPDKIKX0DER%26pf%5Frd%5Fs%3Dcenter-1%26pf%5Frd%5Fr%3D113T325VC033CVZRPQZ3%26pf%5Frd%5Ft%3D101%26pf%5Frd%5Fp%3D379103301%26pf%5Frd%5Fi%3D507846&tag=siliconval043-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325">Order the amazing Amazon Kindle Electronic Book Reader - find out why people are raving about it.</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=siliconval043-20&l=ur2&o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />
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June 20, 2008 | Permalink | Comment | Subscribe to SVW
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Comments (3)
I think it sucks that some folks don't see blogging as work, and as such, feel they have the right to rip off somsone ele's work. And yeah, most of us allow some level of sharing, but it IS a rip off when someone won't at least link back.
Your idea is fair. But seeing how hard it is just to get folks to link back, I don't see much hope in getting them to carry a Special link, unless you embed the link at the bottom of all posts and make people quote the whole thing or not at all.
Maybe you could expand on the machanices/technical aspects of this?
Posted: June 21, 2008 3:50 PM
I like the concept. I am happy to drive traffic and help the source site.
I am unsure about the execution. I think that people who do not include advertising would want to have something that makes it looks like they do. It also could create conflicts for those that do.
Perhaps a middle ground would be something that said "to learn more, check out SVW" and have that link to a splash page with a short ad before going to your site. That way it would be clear that it is your ad.
Posted: June 22, 2008 8:29 AM
Isis: Yes, it is difficult to get a link back but if people want to behave in a disrespectful way then that will be seen quite clearly by others, and they might not like that.
Rob: The fact is that only a small fraction of traffic comes back to the source site. This would be a way to at least be respectful of the work of others. Also, this would be completely voluntary. However, people that won't carry an "adtribution" link might be seen as taking rather than contributing.
Posted: June 22, 2008 12:48 PM