Every sensible marketer, particularly in the social media space, advises to link, link, link. Benefits of linking are commonly accepted: outbound links generate inbound links (give and you shall receive); links improve search rankings and thus generate traffic; linking, particularly on blogs, generates goodwill and builds community. Linking is what the web is all about. Right?
WebMD[dot]com doesn’t think so. Halfway down their About page is this statement (all links have been removed from the paragraph, just in case):
“Did you know that it is illegal to link to any of WebMD’s content (other than our home page) without accepting our terms and conditions? WebMD is eager to provide you with a convenient and simple way to quickly review and accept these terms. See our online linking form.”
Pondering the implications on this gray, windy Saturday. For starters, I immediately navigated away from the otherwise helpful site and will not be returning.
What do you think?
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Peter, I completely agree with your conclusion to walk away. They don’t get something fundamental about being online, that linking is what makes the Internet. I think this reflects why I have never been a fan of WebMD. It always struck me more as a walled off portal.
How lame! There’s no content being redistributed even under fair use. It’s like saying no to referrals. They only stand to gain.
Technically the only way a link could cause harm would be to use misrepresentational or slanderous words in the anchor text.
It’s WebMD’s loss. Typical of the old-school medical field. The younger, social media-hipper practitioners will get a clue and turn the mighty WebMD around some day; or perhaps simply replace them.