Since launching the Poker Chip Tricks site, I’ve been getting numerous requests to exchange links. I’ve even gotten a few for this site recently. My answer is always the same, “I don’t do link exchanges.”

I think link exchanges polute the web. I will never link to a site just because they link to one of mine. I link because I believe a site is worth your browser hit or it’s an ad I’m getting paid to run. Notice my “Weblogs I Read” list isn’t very long. That’s because I personally visit each of those sites several times a week. Since I enjoy reading them, I think that some of my visitors may as well. I’m always looking for sites to add to the list, but there are few out there with the staying power I look for.

A lot of the link exchange requests I get mention ranking and the fact that the requesting site will benefit if I link to them and I’ll benefit from their link.

PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page’s value.

Google PageRank

If everyone is linking just to get a link back, PageRank no longer has a purpose. No wonder Google is having problems with page ranking. Sure, I want to have a high PageRank so that my pages show up higher in Google searches, but not at the expense of having other sites, with no value whatsoever, ranking higher. Links are what make the Internet such a great resource, but sometimes their use gets out of control.

How many times have you used a search engine and ended up at a page with nothing but links? No content at all. Just links. When I search for something, I’m looking for information, not a list of sites related to my search query. That’s why I used a search engine in the first place. A lot of the links on these pages are to sites that should be ranked much higher in the results, but they aren’t because people are abusing the system.

We all suffer because of link exchanges, so just say NO!