The Internet Link Exchange: FAQ

<!-- BEGIN INTERNET LINK EXCHANGE CODE -->
<a href="http://ad.linkexchange.com/X961000/gotoad.map"
target="_top">
<img width=440 height=40 border=1 ismap alt="Internet Link Exchange"
src="http://ad.linkexchange.com/X961000/logoshowad?free"></a>
<br><font size=1><a href="http://www.linkexchange.com/">
Member of the Internet Link Exchange</a></font><br>
<!--  END INTERNET LINK EXCHANGE CODE  -->

Q13: Can I change the code and/or remove the "Member of the Internet Link Exchange" text in the HTML code you sent me so it looks better on my site?

If you'd like to, yes. However, we'd prefer that you kept it in.

We encourage you to insert your favorite adjective between Member of the and Internet Link Exchange. If you can't think of an adjective, try inserting FREE or COOL. We also don't mind TOTALLY AWESOME or ULTRA-COOL. :)

Q14: How many credits does my site have to earn before my ad is displayed on other sites?

One. As soon as you earn one credit (each hit to your site counts as 1/2 credit), you are immediately scheduled to be advertised on another member site, assuming that you've sent us your GIF already. If we don't have your GIF on file, you will accumulate credits until we receive your GIF, after which your credits will be redeemed for exposures on other sites.

So it's to your advantage to put the HTML code into your web page as soon as possible, instead of waiting until after you create the GIF. This way, you will still be earning credits towards exposures even though we don't have your GIF yet.

Q15: What is the approximate chance that the ad I'm showing on my site will be to a paid sponsor?

We don't always have sponsor ads running, but when we do, we are envisioning showing ads according to the following ratios:

50% member ads

25% Internet Link Exchange ads

25% combination of sponsor ads (if any), more Internet Link Exchange ads, or more member ads

We guarantee that members will always receive at least 50% of all ad space.

Q16: Okay, if members are getting 50% of all ads, why does it sometimes seem like that Link Exchange ads show up much more than 50% of the time?

This is a temporary condition due to new members signing up. When a new member signs up, there is often a delay between when the member inserts the HTML code into his/her site and when the member sends us the banner for advertising the site. During this interim time, the new member is accumulating credits because people are visiting his/her site -- but the credits can't be redeemed for actual exposures on other sites yet because we haven't received their banner ad yet! So, extra ads for the Internet Link Exchange are shown instead. When we finally do receive the banner ad from the member, then the member redeems the credits that were accumulated and we wind up (temporarily) with the reverse situation, in which there are more member ads and very few Internet Link Exchange ads.

Hopefully that explanation wasn't too confusing. If it is, you can just ignore it. Basically, the Internet Link Exchange "borrows" ad space from members that are displaying ads on their site but haven't sent us a GIF yet. When we finally do receive the GIF, then the Internet Link Exchange "pays back" all of the ad space it borrows. So the end result is that members wind up with 50% of all ads, and the Internet Link Exchange winds up with the remaining 50%.

Q17: What if I don't want to show any ads for a particular site or sponsor? Can I control who I advertise?

For specific cases, you should e-mail admin@linkexchange.com with the URL (and account number, if you know it) of the site that you do not want to advertise for, and we'll arrange for the offending ad to not show up on your site.

We have also implemented a ratings system in which you can choose not to advertise potentially offensive sites. If you are really paranoid about an inappropriate site appearing and our rating system is not good enough for you (or you're worried about a competitor's ad showing up), you can e-mail admin@linkexchange.com and we can arrange for only Link Exchange and/or Surf Point advertisements to appear on your site.

Q18: How do you determine when a web administrator is artificially inflating hits?

We check the logs randomly and manually look for unusual patterns in traffic to your web site, such as an unusually high number of hits from a single IP address. We also run a computer program every now and then to alert us of sites with unusual changes in traffic. If we determine that you are artificially inflating hits to your site, we will terminate your membership in the Internet Link Exchange.

Q19: Do we have any guarantee or assurance that the e-mail addresses of the web administrators will remain private, and that we won't have unsolicited e-mail sent to us?

Yes. We will do our best to make sure that your e-mail address will only be used by the Internet Link Exchange for good, not evil. :) During the beta-test period, we may be e-mailing you every once in a while with important news and announcements about our beta program.

Q20: Do I have any guarantees that the ads I show will not link to offensive sites?

No. However, we do have a ratings system in place now and try to ensure that member sites with a Level 2 rating will not contain material that is offensive to most people. We try to visit each member site, but our visits are usually only long enough to make sure that there is nothing blatantly offensive about the site.

If you are very concerned about the possibility of an ad for an offensive site appearing, then you can e-mail admin@linkexchange.com and we can arrange for only Link Exchange and/or Surf Point advertisements to appear on your site.

Q21: Will the Internet Link Exchange be providing the number of times a user reached my page by clicking on my ad?

Yes, this feature was implemented on April 15, 1996. You will also be given an exposure-to-click ratio on your stats page.

Q22: How many people are registered with the Internet Exchange? How can I find out what other members are participating in the Internet Link Exchange?

Visit our member directory at Surf Point. Members are listed by category there.

Q23: I am not on the active member list yet. I have submitted my graphic and the HTML code is on my page. If I look at the stats page everything is correct. Are there other reasons besides the two you give that may be keeping me off the active member list?

We update the active member list at least once every 48 hours. So if you submitted your graphic within the past 48 hours, wait a day or two and then check the list again.

Q24: When I look at my stats page, it says that I've accumulated 1000 hits but I haven't received any exposures yet. Why not? Aren't I supposed to receive 500?

You probably submitted your graphic within the past 48 hours, so you weren't scheduled for exposures on other sites until very recently. Wait a day or two and then come back and check your stats again.

Q25: I like your service so far. Is there anything I can do to show my appreciation?

Yes. Choose one or more of the following:

Go to our Feedback page and tell us what you like about our service and what parts we can improve on.
Tell all your friends about us.
Go to Pointcom or Magellan or some other rating service and tell them about us.
Buy us pizza. Make sure it comes with soda.
Become a Friend of the Internet Link Exchange.

Q26: Can I submit extra pages to your service? Instead of just my main page, for me to also have some of my other pages? They all are very different and attract many visitors.

Yes, as long as the ads are on different pages. You have a few different options here for how you can go about having ads on different pages within the same web site:

You can register multiple times and use different account numbers for different pages. The disadvantages of doing this are that you have to submit multiple graphics for each of the pages, and view your stats separately for each page. This is also annoying for us if you do this for several different pages on your site, because we have to process your graphic for each one. We prefer you use option #3 below.

You also force your visitors to load a new graphic on every single page. Forcing a visitor to wait while a new ad loads on every single page they go to on your site could get annoying.

You can use the same HTML code on all your pages. The advantage or disadvantage of doing this (depending on how you look at it) is that the same visitor will see the same ad on all pages, unless he/she reloads the page. That means that unless your visitor reloads, your site will only register 1 hit no matter how many different pages with ads your visitor goes to.

You can use the same account number, but insert a unique number between 1 and 99, followed by a slash (/) before the TWO occurrences of your account number in the HTML code we give you. MAKE SURE THAT YOU INSERT THE SAME UNIQUE NUMBER BEFORE BOTH OCCURRENCES OF YOUR ACCOUNT NUMBER.
Many people make the mistake of not putting the same unique number before BOTH occurrences of the account number -- they only do it once. DON'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE. So, to repeat: MAKE SURE THAT YOU INSERT THE SAME UNIQUE NUMBER BEFORE BOTH OCCURRENCES OF YOUR ACCOUNT NUMBER. Got it?
Okay, now to repeat a THIRD time just to make absolutely sure you read this. MAKE SURE THAT YOU INSERT THE SAME UNIQUE NUMBER BEFORE BOTH OCCURRENCES OF YOUR ACCOUNT NUMBER.
For example, if your account number was X961000 and you wanted to use the unique number 7, then your code would now look like this (the unique number and account number are in bold below -- you should change it to reflect your account number):
```

<a href="http://ad.linkexchange.com/7/X961000/gotoad.map"
target="_top">
<img width=440 height=40 border=1 ismap alt="Internet Link Exchange"
src="http://ad.linkexchange.com/7/X961000/logoshowad?free"></a>
<br><font size=1><a href="http://www.linkexchange.com/">
Member of the Internet Link Exchange</a></font><br>

```
This will cause your visitor's browser to load a new ad for each unique number it encounters before your account number and register all the hits to the same Internet Link Exchange account. You should use a different unique number for each page that a Link Exchange banner appears on. You may NOT place multiple banners on a single page. Each page may have at most one Link Exchange banner, and the banner must be placed such that the majority of visitors to that page will see the banner.
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Q27: Can we have more than one GIF advertisement or can we occasionally change the GIF advertisement?

We currently do not have the capability of offering multiple GIFs but this is a feature we are planning on adding in the future.
If you want to change your GIF advertisement, simply submit your new GIF through the Profile page.
Keep in mind that each graphic you send is processed by a real human being, so please don't send us a new graphic every day.
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Q28: Can you tell me more about your ratings system?

The ratings system is meant to give you a degree of control over the types of sites you advertise for and advertise on. There are three ratings to choose from:
Level 1
These are sites intended for children. We will examine all Level 1 sites thoroughly to make sure that they are appropriate for children. Please do not classify yourself as a Level 1 site unless your site is intended for children.
Level 2
These are sites of general interest. Most Link Exchange sites come under this rating which roughly corresponds to 'PG'.
Level 3
This is the most inclusive rating and includes sites which contain language or subject matter which may be considered inappropriate or controversial to certain members. This rating does NOT include pornographic sites, sites with links to pornographic sites, sites encouraging illegal activity, racism, or other sites the administrators deem to be inappropriate. Such sites are NOT allowed to participate in the Internet Link Exchange. Level 3 sites are merely sites whose appeal is not as general as those under the Level 2 rating. This rating roughly corresponds to 'PG-13'. Examples of sites that would probably fall under the Level 3 rating: Sites with swimsuit pictures, Sites relating to alcohol, Humor sites using strong language, etc.
On our Join form, you be asked to select your own rating, as well as the ratings of sites that you want to advertise FOR and the types of sites you want to be advertised ON.
If you are very concerned about inappropriate banners showing up on your web site, you can e-mail admin@linkexchange.com and ask for only banners that advertise the Link Exchange service and Surf Point to appear on your site.
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Q29: How come only banners that are advertising the Link Exchange show up on my site?

We only display Link Exchange banners on your site until we have received and processed your banner graphic. Once we process you banner, you'll start seeing the banners of other members. We process banners within 72 hours of receipt so, barring any problems, you should see member ads soon. If you don't start seeing member ads within 72 hours, please let us know.
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Q30: I've visited the sites of many other members, but have never seen my banner appear. Why not??

We have many, many members and are currently displaying over 1 million banner ads a day for all of our members. So you probably won't see your banner being displayed right when you happen to visit another site unless you are extremely lucky or have a very popular site. If you want to know whether your ad is being shown, you can check to see how many times your ad has been displayed by viewing your statistics from the Profile page.
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