If you can see the suggested edit queue or Matthieu's profile you'll see they have been suggesting a large number of edits inserting links to Amazon.
Are these edits appropriate?
asked Nov 4, 2011 at 14:45
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5So far it's been a good way to farm rep while adding value to the posts, and adding rads link to SO, till I get to 2000 rep. But it seems that moderation is not homogeneous about those edits. They get accepted during weekdays, and rejected on Fridays/Week Ends for some reasons. I'll be glad to stop or continue depending on the answers here :)– MatthieuNov 4, 2011 at 15:02
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This is what rads is: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/30392/…– NullUserException อ_อNov 4, 2011 at 15:05
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Usual rejection comments are : "don't link to book selling site" , "Amazon is not the only bookseller" , or the auto-generated "This edit is too minor; ... ". Last one being in contradiction with the privilege description found here : stackoverflow.com/privileges/edit which states "When should I edit posts? - to add related resources or hyperlinks"– MatthieuNov 4, 2011 at 17:39
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1I would much rather see the books linked to their publisher's/author's page, where actually valuable information may be found, such as errata. The only benefit to linking to the Amazon page is referral bonuses for SO, it does not add any value to the post.– user229044Nov 8, 2011 at 17:55
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@meagar That's not the only benefit. The Amazon pages contain descriptions, reviews, and excerpts. That might be more helpful than what many of the publishers give you.– NicoleNov 22, 2011 at 22:41
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2 Answers
Seems fine to me. Arguably these should have already been linked to Amazon - it's something of a tradition. If someone else wants to pick up the slack, let 'em go for it...
That's not saying the posts are necessarily worth the attention though. However, if you see edits like this made to answers on a lousy question, the first step should be to close the question - then you can reject the edits (or not).
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stackoverflow.com/search?page=1&tab=relevance&q=book is the way I get to them quicky. You'll find "still open" questions like "Good Book" / "Which is the best book ..." from page 1. I flagged a few of them.– MatthieuNov 4, 2011 at 20:12
Most of the questions seems to be asking for book titles in the first place. I guess forwarding the asker to the exact book you mean (be it on amazon, Google books or even Good Reads if this is feasible) serves the propose. Books with similar titles are always there, so it saves a lot of time wasted in confusion.
Another thing, I don't think Amazon is in that need for ads, it's the de facto source of books online, + other things :)
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5Furthermore, StackOverflow rewrite Amazon URLs to make use of affiliate program, so any items purchased as a click through for StackOverflow gives them some money ;)– MattNov 4, 2011 at 14:59
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@AlEverett : Neither in comments, it's a reported bug : meta.stackexchange.com/questions/52117/amazon-links-in-comments– MatthieuNov 4, 2011 at 15:54