Review:

LinkExchange

by Joshua Reimer

September 06, 1999

Just because LinkExchange is the largest banner exchange (with over 250,000 sites displaying their banners) doesn't mean they are the best.

I must say that my opinion of LinkExchange has risen a bit in the last few months, but is starting to fall again. They have become a massive organization, recently bought out by Microsoft, touting countless services for webmasters. They are going on the increasingly popular "big company buying binge", buying up every company they can find that they think will turn their website into the complete stop for webmasters.

They now no longer specialize in their banner exchange. In fact, it seems to be a minor part of their site. When viewing their site I skipped over the tiny link to it as there were so many services advertised on the page.

The stated features on their site said that they offer "free banner advertising on over 250,000 web sites, support for over 3,000 geographic regions and subject, categories and over 30 languages, reports and statistics about the people who visit your site, free listing on the Surf Point directory, and more..."

I don't know about you, but that doesn't tell me much about the exchange! It tells me some general "features", but it doesn't tell me the basics: What is the exchange ratio? How big are the banners? Where do they need to be placed on the site? It isn't until you dig deep into the "quick tour" that you find that information.

When you do find that information, you find they offer a 2:1 ratio, one of the worst on the 'Net. They now offer the standard 468x60 ad banners, however they need to be displayed at the top of the page. And to top it all off, they include a large bar along the bottom advertising their network!

LinkExchange works okay for some people (how else did they get 250,000 websites to participate in their program?!), however there are many other exchanges out there give you a lot more bang for you ad space.

To sign up or to receive more information, visit LinkExchange.

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