Originally Posted by oliver2002 (Post 20852553)

The amount of love notes flying back forth between you two certainly makes one reach for the popcorn.
However, this the last warning to the both of you: please take this offline and sort it out. As entertaining as it may be I will delete any future personal attacks from either end on FT.

Regards Oliver2002
Mod EM&PR forum

Originally Posted by kokonutz (Post 20854522)

Delta Points added this to the wiki over the last couple days:



Forgive my ignorance, but what does it mean? What is a 'link back?' And why is its absence noteworthy?

Originally Posted by kokonutz (Post 20854522)

Delta Points added this to the wiki over the last couple days:



Forgive my ignorance, but what does it mean? What is a 'link back?' And why is its absence noteworthy?

Originally Posted by ma91pmh (Post 20854549)

Links help SEO (search engine optimization) as the more links to your site the higher it goes

Originally Posted by kokonutz (Post 20854675)

Ah, so whenever one blog mentions another blog the etiquette is to provide a link in order to increase the other blog's SEO?

Originally Posted by kokonutz (Post 20854675)

Ah, so whenever one blog mentions another blog the etiquette is to provide a link in order to increase the other blog's SEO?

Originally Posted by kokonutz (Post 20854736)

I know just enough about SEO to get that it might piss other bloggers off to not get a link.

But is that really something readers want or need to know? How does it affect a reader's experience of that blog, in the way censorship or affiliate embedding does?

Seems like more of a topic for a thread on 'which bloggers do not conform to SEO etiquette?' @:-)

Originally Posted by kokonutz (Post 20854675)

Ah, so whenever one blog mentions another blog the etiquette is to provide a link in order to increase the other blog's SEO? Seems pretty 'inside baseball' to me.

Is that really something worthy of knowing? How does it affect a reader's experience of that blog, in the way censorship or affiliate embedding does?

Originally Posted by kokonutz (Post 20854675)

Ah, so whenever one blog mentions another blog the etiquette is to provide a link in order to increase the other blog's SEO? Seems pretty 'inside baseball' to me.

Is that really something worthy of knowing? How does it affect a reader's experience of that blog, in the way censorship or affiliate embedding does?

Originally Posted by gpapadop (Post 20854783)

Yes, providing links improves the blog rankings, the more links the higher the rankings!

Seeing my blog name up there in another category is certainly amusing! May I add Proudly to that line? :)

Originally Posted by the hotel bar (Post 20855222)

It's very telling that DP's reaction to TBB not linking his terrible content is "you should be linking to my terrible content" and not "how can I improve my content so that he will link to it", or even "actually, my content isn't terrible because....."

Thank you TBB for helping out bloggers when they provide quality content by linking your readers to them, and conversely, thank you for not linking to bloggers when they provide poor content

H/T's are when you are writing about a deal that you found elsewhere. I.E. if Gary is writing about a 100% US Airways promo that he saw on Lucky's site, he'll H/T Lucky

You're not copying DP's content.... you're critiquing it. It's not something that requires (or deserves) a H/T

Originally Posted by freeloader (Post 20856906)

ummm a link back isn't required in order to quote someone's "copyrighted" work. all that's needed is the source being given. which is done, without fail. anything else sounds like whining - ironic since i believe DP.com has been on record saying it "proudly" censors and controls the content of the blog and the comments. Given that, i should be surprised that DP.com would care so much how others control their content, but (un)suprisingly I am not.

But, since the wiki was added to include that inane category, i've added one as well. If the one added by DP.com is relevant to this wiki, then so is mine.

Once again, I will point out that DP.com will censor any comment that calls into question any aspect of the post - including comments that are made professionally, comments that tell the reader of a better deal, and comments that point out errors and misinformation in the post.

Originally Posted by ma91pmh (Post 20856935)

But I would like to request that all references to back-links be removed from this wiki and this thread. It has nothing to do with the question in hand, which is which blogs censor comments [...]

Originally Posted by ma91pmh (Post 20856935)

But I would like to request that all references to back-links be removed from this wiki and this thread. It has nothing to do with the question in hand, which is which blogs censor comments (and the Delta Points blog is one of the most egregious examples of blogs that censor comments). If back-links is a discussion worthy topic, then can we please have a separate thread for it, so that it cannot be used as some tool to try and dilute the argument against egregious censoring, such as that seen on the Delta Points blog.

Originally Posted by the hotel bar (Post 20857653)

I actually would prefer that part gets keeped

If TBB is ok with his name being there under that heading (and why shouldn't he be? It's not an insult), I think it actually does far more to highlight the desperation and deflection of DP than it does knock TBB

Originally Posted by the hotel bar (Post 20857653)

"man, that blog is filthy. We need to update the parental controls on Timmy's computer so that he can't go to viewfromthewing.com"

- said no parent, ever

Originally Posted by gpapadop (Post 20858483)

Yeah, I also agree we need a separate thread about them backlinks and SEO stuff!

Originally Posted by Delta Points (Post 20609403)

I proudly censor comments on MY blog! - http://boardingarea.com/blogs/deltapoints/aboutme/

Readers are welcome to disagree with me and comment so on the blog but may not post foul language (The blog is PG-13!) , or launch personal attacks on me or other readers (I respect my readers)!

This policy is clearly stated on the blog for all to see on the blog. Sorry, you many not come and smoke in "my house" and expect me to put up with it!

BTW, Flyer Talk censors comments too (i.e. you can not say anything you want on FT either)!

Originally Posted by ma91pmh (Post 20867335)

i just got censored on this f2b post

http://first2board.com/deals/the-us-...rld-mastercard

and i thought they weren't pimping cards? :rolleyes:

Originally Posted by yerffej201 (Post 20867723)

isn't that a first2deal one? separate sites?

Originally Posted by cruisr (Post 20866216)

This thread has seemed to devolved into a bunch of bloggers with superiority and holier than thou attitudes trying to establish who has the higher moral ground. Geeeezzzzz.

Originally Posted by ma91pmh (Post 20867335)

i just got censored on this f2b post

Originally Posted by verygoodpoints (Post 20873709)

You were not censored.

Originally Posted by ma91pmh (Post 20854549)

<edited by request>
DP has added this to the wiki. I would suggest this has nothing to do with which blogs censor comments, and would therefore respectfully request if he thinks this is important that he removes it and puts it in another thread. If anybody actually cares about this point, which they may well do, it can take it on it's own life there. But it does not change the fact that the DeltaPoints blog is one of the most heavily censored blogs in the market. While the author has attempted to suggest they only censor comments that are derogatory or spiteful or criticize the blog, they are known to have censored comments which merely point out that better offers than the ones posted on the blog are available, which one would think would be in the best interests of that blog's readers.

Originally Posted by ma91pmh (Post 20874012)

So why was my comment not posted?

Originally Posted by oliver2002 (Post 20875391)

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Kids,
this threads wikipost is being edited by all and sundry. While its certainly appreciated that members are embracing the new function so wholeheartedly, may I remind everyone to calm down and use their creative energy someplace else. There is a function available to the mod to lock down/freeze the wiki post, which I may make use of and only add entries using my mod powers. This would be a shame, especially in such an interesting topic.

Regards Oliver2002
Mod EM&PR forum

Originally Posted by verygoodpoints (Post 20876008)

Your comment is there, and has been since about 8 hours after you left it. No one on first2board censors, but our configuration does require a 1st time commenter be approved before the comment is visible. This significantly reduces spam.

Originally Posted by ma91pmh (Post 20877234)

I appreciate it's a bit of a circus, but one has to appreciate the irony of the threat of censorship in a post about censorship ;)



Updated wiki, my apologies.

Maybe it will get answered too :D

Originally Posted by Censored Comment

Last week The Points Guy revealed he was being comped by Delta and Hyatt on his trip to Japan. When I read it, I got a funny feeling in my gut. It happens to me at times -- that funny feeling in my gut. Brian is a terrific blogger. If I had to pick out one favorite fellow blogger it would be him. He is extremely detailed in his explanations and covers the same type and variety of topics as I do. Besides all that, he is a really nice guy. Gary at View From The Wing blog covers more high-end properties and first class trips than I do, and Lucky at One Mile at a Time -- the stuff he does is, in my opinion, not attainable, or at times even desirable, by the average Joe (300,000 miles in one year?). He travels every single week, it seems.

I like to think of my blog as a cheering section for the Average Joe who wants to travel but doesn't think he can afford it. You can see the world at prices we all can afford is my motto.

The three bloggers I mentioned above are my daily reads and I consider each and every one of them comrades in the writing world. We all get along well, work together on the Chicago Seminars and Frequent Traveler University, and I get advice about my personal travel from all three of them as well. On the topic of sponsored trips as a blogger, however, I'll side with Gary on this one: I am against them.

Maybe it's my age or possibly a better sense of my own capabilities (I am a recovering alcoholic and drug addict), but it is just not a slippery slope I am willing to go down. The stuff I was offered for the articles I just finished for National Car Rental will all be given away, and I disclosed on day one of my posting that I am not a car rental guy by any means. I'm asked all the time to review travel related products and just turn them down when a free sample is involved. I do receive referrals from my advertisers on the blog and that fact is clearly disclosed on the blog.

For me, if I took one free comp I would want another and another after that. I have never disclosed at a hotel or airport check-in that I am a travel blogger and never will. The temptation for me, to use my position as a blogger, is just too great to start down that long and winding road. I may just like traveling for free on someone else's dime too much to resist asking for it again and again, with the unspoken possibility of them receiving a positive review in return.

To my readers, be assured that when I jump on a plane or stay in a hotel, I have either paid for it with my own money or earned the miles and points to do it for free. To my fellow bloggers and friends that have started down that path, I look forward to revisiting the topic with you as the years pass. It will be interesting to see the results from both our perspectives. There is no right or wrong answer here, just two different flights down the same travel highway.