NoFollow Just Isn’t Cool
I understand why Google wants us to nofollow tag all of the comments on our blogs.
Comment spam is crappy -true. It’s a nuisance and an eyesore -true. Add to that the weight and importance Google places on links in their ranking algo… It’s no wonder Google perceives comment spam as such a problem.
I got it.
Now, here’s the problem - and mind you, this isn’t anything that hasn’t already been said by people a lot smarter than me. The problem is, slapping a nofollow tag on somebody’s link when they’ve taken the time and effort to make a thoughtful and compelling remark or comment on your blog or site, just isn’t cool.
What does it say?
Does it say; ‘Hey, thanks for being a contributor to my site and helping to develop a great discourse about the topic to everybody’s betterment!‘?
Not exactly. It’s more like; ‘thank you drive thru‘ - it’s not even that nice. More accurately, nofollow - in my mind at least - says;
‘You left a comment. I would love to acknowledge your existence, but you might be a spammer. Since you might be a spammer, I better not link to you. Google doesn’t like spammers and… you know, you’re either with Google or you’re against them. So, I can’t really, you know, risk it.’
Well, here’s a newsflash for you: that sucks.
The Internet, is about links. Links are why Google is good -remember? Links make the algo hum and the results relevant (to some extent at least). That’s great and I appreciate Google for their work. That said, if the links are abused and somehow manipulated to leverage some advantage in Google… why is that any body’s problem but Google’s?
Why all of a sudden do we have to start being rude (and yes, nofollow is rude) to people who have shown us courtesy by leaving us a comment? I’m from the South. I guess maybe I’m hypersensitive to rudeness - but that’s how I see it.
