Slightly Off Topic: Link Bait Hitting Geo: Why?

Earlier this week I got an odd e-mail (via Joe Francica):

Hi,

We would love to share with you an article that we just posted on our own blog! “Google Earth for Educators: 50 Exciting Ideas for the Classroom” (http://www.associatesdegree.com/2010/03/14/google-earth-for-educators-50-exciting-ideas-for-the-classroom/ ) would be an interesting story for your readers to check out and discuss on your blog, so we hope you will consider sharing it!

Thanks for your time!

Kitty Holman

Why was it odd? The e-mail was from a Gmail account, which is not that weird, but most folks who are pitching something for the blog have addresses related to their product or site. Their “own blog!” is a site for finding an institution to get an associates degree. I posted it (with some questions about its strange source) in an education tidbits post. I noticed Glenn Letham posted it, as did GIS Pathway. They are among some 3500 links to the article I saw on a Google search. While I was a bit suspicious of the source, the listed ideas were legit and I had no reason to believe the article was not original. It joined a number of articles of the same form in the “Learning Tools” section of the blog including “100 Essential Tips & Tools for Writers of the Future” and “50 Useful Mind-Mapping Tools for College Students.”

A few days later we got another e-mail touting “The 10 Most Devastating Earthquakes of all Time” on a very similar website - but this one focussed on online degrees. I found Kitty’s name on a nursing edu website, too.

Interesting marketing approach! I just thought I’d note it to see if any other bloggers have run into these types of link offers. And, I have to give Kitty kudos - she selected bloggers to contact (at least these three) that covered the topic in question. We get far more pitches for APB and Directions Magazine that fall way outside our purview.