rotten bananas

John Chow has recently begun a campaign to charge people to have their comments marked as nofollow. I intended to post about this, but then I realized that I could group it into a review post and get a linkback from the ChowMan himself! So, to kick things off - John Chow runs a blog that attempts to teach you how to make money online. Read the rules here to find out how to get your own JC link back.

For starters, I would like to point out this review that John did. It’s excellent, as John calls out a basic scammer who paid $400 to have him do it. I was very impressed by that; I think it’s the only negative (read: honest) review that I’ve ever seen, so props to JC for that.

In addition, I do find John’s blog very entertaining. He provides a lot of information, and the man makes a ridiculous amount of money. He also has very little shame. I’ll certainly continue reading everyday (which is all that matters to him I’m sure - or maybe he doesn’t care), as I think it’s fair for him to do whatever he needs to to make more money, which is the ultimate goal. I just think that everyone has that line in their head that they won’t cross, and while mine lays a few miles behind John, his seems to waver somewhere between burying his own mother alive and buying a nuclear device to detonate on American soil - all for a buck.

I think this pay-for-nofollow thing is pretty sleazy. Turning off nofollow is a good will action that bloggers exchange, not charge for. It’s like holding the door for someone or trying to hide your laughter when a stranger falls in the middle of the mall. Like I said, the man can do what he wants, especially in the name of scholarship (learning how to make money online), but every man has his boundaries, and everything John does will push some buttons. This one pushes mine.