I'm not exactly sure why Universal reacted so negatively to Bazinet's links. However, I read that it might have something to do with that fact that he was using 'deep' links into the Universal website. What this means is that a link does not go to the homepage of the website but rather goes to a specific page 'deep' within the website. Some websites complain that this sort of linking can bypass sponsor/advertisements, thus taking awayfrom revenue streams.

I have always believed that the more links you can get on the Internet, the better. If you look at Yahoo or Amazon, they have millions of links to their websites. In fact, I believe that in years to come the amount of links a website has will be a key indicator of the value of that website and will be accounted for on its balance sheet.

Why is linking so important? A website without any links to it is at Point 0 in Internet time and space. A link is like a road, and a website without any roads leading to it is truly isolated. We all talk about the necessity of getting registered/linked in the major search engines. That's important but it is only the first step in the linking process.

Generally speaking, no link is too small to get because a link is the best possible advertisement in that it is positive word of mouth. Think about it for a moment. Someone who runs another website has decided that they will encourage people who visit their website to also visit yours. It's difficult to buy that sort of promotion.

This publication, Nua Internet Surveys, and all other Nua publications actively encourage people to republish them on their own websites once they link back to the Nua website. The strategy has unquestionably worked. Nua is linked from thousands of websites and people often remark on that. Even though many might not follow a particular link to us, the fact that they keep seeing our name and a link to our website impresses them.

Does this mean that all linking is good? As with everything, there are always some exceptions. When someone links to you but keeps the user in their website by the use of frames, the power of the link is significantly reduced. When someone creates a whole set of links to your website, linking to elements of your content rather than your brand, that can almost be an act of passing off your information as their own.

A case that might have reflected the above approach was settled between Microsoft and Ticketmaster earlier this year when Microsoft agreed in an out-of-court settlement not to link deep within the Ticketmaster website. But the general law is vague in such a new area as linking and, even in the United States, there are no comprehensive court opinions as of yet.