A
link exchange
is a confederation of websites that operates similarly to a web ring.
Webmasters register their web sites with a central organization, that
runs the exchange, and in turn receive from the exchange HTML code which
they insert into their web pages. In contrast to a web ring, where the
HTML code simply comprises simple circular ring navigation hyperlinks,
in a
link exchange
the HTML code causes the display of banner advertisements, for the
sites of other members of the exchange, on the member web sites, and
webmasters have to create such banner advertisements for their own web
sites.[1][2][3]
The banners are downloaded from the exchange. A
monitor on the exchange determines, from referral information supplied
by web browsers, how many times a member web site has displayed the
banner advertisements of other members, and credits that member with a
number of displays of its banner on some other member's web site.
Link exchanges
usually operate on a 2:1 ratio, such that for every two times a member
shows a second member's banner advertisement, that second member
displays the first member's banner advertisement. This page
impressions:credits ratio is the exchange rates.[1][3][4]
One of the earliest
link exchanges was
LinkExchange, a company that is now owned by Microsoft.[1]
Link exchanges
have advantages and disadvantages from the point of view of those using
the World Wide Web for marketing. On the one hand, they have the
advantages of bringing in a highly targeted readership (for
link exchanges
where all members of the exchange have similar web sites), of
increasing the "link popularity" of a site with Web search engines, and
of being relatively stable methods of hyperlinking. On the other hand,
they have the disadvantages of potentially distracting visitors away to
other sites before they have fully explored the site that the original
link was on.[2]
Feig[5] notes several aspects of
link exchange companies that prospective members take into account:
Banners that are animated images result in member web sites taking a
long time to load. Some companies impose restrictions on animation
lengths.
The size, in bytes, of a banner is important, affecting
both how long it takes to load and how long it takes to render the web
site displaying the banner.
Control over the subjects of
advertisements is important. Some companies offer guarantees that
advertisements will be restricted to certain subjects, will not include
advertisements for pornography, and so forth.
Companies that
provide mechanisms to design banners for webmasters often use automated
facilities, where the generated banner design is not reviewed by a human
being
