Originally Posted by HansGolden

Well, I don't claim to be an expert. I've done SEO and worked with website admin, but I'm fairly entry level in both. Basically the main downside (that I'm aware of) of Google indexing MR Deals is that it simply offers more exposure to mistake deals, which inevitably kills them (unless the company is totally asleep at the wheel). It's not so much the SE access by itself kills stuff, but it's the whole package of public vs. private. Cholula did a great job of describing it in layman's terms:


It's the difference between posting something on a billboard in Times Square where any bored passerby can take a peek vs. putting it inside a building in said square, but requiring people to sign the guestbook before them come in. Even with hawkers outside the door screaming about the great stuff inside, few people* will bother coming in to take a look because it means the minor hurdle of signing. On the other hands, millions of people will lustfully gawk at the half-naked people adorning Times Square and promptly forget which brand supplied their lust with fodder, mind-raping the provider without a bit of gratitude toward the provider. We've seen this happen many times in MR Deals, hordes of passing masses slurping up and killing the truly amazing deals that have hours of labor in them. Requiring registration will move those billboards inside. It's not a silver bullet, but it's a step in the right direction.

As giggy obliquely noted (and actually reminded me of the fact that I had momentarily forgotten), Tricks (or anything) posted in violation of MR Deals TOS in the main forum remain emblazoned permanently in Google Reader's RSS memory even after they are moved or removed by mods (given the current unrestricted arrangement).

* Those few people will be, on balance, the kinds of people we want.

Originally Posted by Cholula

That's a better analogy than mine.
Thanks.