For the “fun” of it, I have created a “view” for tracking the various and multiplying seo contests here http://www.seodata.com/SEO-Contest/re-default.aspx

There is nothing on the contest page that says contestants can use a no follow link for entering the contest. On the contrary, your post states that “We are not specifying the type of link – that’s entirely at your discretion.”

Instead of blatantly saying that the contest entrant can slip a condom on their link, your sentence can refer to the text that is used in the link, image vs. text, image and text, redirect, opening in a new window, anchor text…. etc.

As an alternative to blasting the news post because I mention Bower’s contest in the same breath, you could atleast try and clear things up. Why even do so? Because you claim that the contest is an effort to educate publishers on the forms of SEO which are working with Google. Since education is the mission of the contest, then why not also educate your entrants that a specific no follow code can be used… instead of attacking me or my credibility.

By requiring a link back you are also raising the eyebrows of the search community to the consequences of entering your contest and becoming associated via link grouping with sites which may be involved in questionable manipulation of search inddexes in order to achieve such ranking. Even if a no follow is being used on the link itself, that link is still trackable by quality editors in the business, and still indexed by engines in some occasions.

I’m not blasting your contest in any way, just addressing a concern which you have brought upon the contest due to your requirements. Your link baiting method is smart, and will be monitored throughout the SEO community and by Google… Greg’s identification of the hole in your requirements and the concerns of such a linking campaign is just as valuable to not only our readers, but all practicioners of SEO.

Thanks for dropping in, don’t slip on the cow patties,
Loren

Just for you:

http://www.v7n.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23140

Cheers,

John