Pingbacks are hyperlinks in a blog’s comment section that notify the linked blog and provide a reciprocal link. They increase readership and SEO but can be abused by spammers. Both blogs must have ping enabled, and vigilance is necessary to prevent spam.
A pingback is a type of hyperlink that appears in the comment section of a blog and is one way bloggers can link to each other’s posts and promote their own content online. When a blogger creates a live link to another blog, that other blog receives a notification and usually also a comment on the linked post that contains the reciprocal link of the citing article. That comment itself is known as a “pingback” — in part because it provides a “ping” or “bounce” to the referring source so readers and authors know where a particular post has been quoted, linked to, or otherwise referenced. These types of pings are automatic, but usually only show up if both blogs specifically have them enabled. If a blogger has turned them off, usually in the blog dashboard or settings menu, they won’t show up. Some of the biggest benefits are increased readership and potentially better search engine rankings, although the medium has also been a target of spam and other abuse. Most blogs block this type of linkback by default, and writers usually need to weigh both the pros and cons before deciding to enable them.
Basic concept
Pingbacks are used exclusively in blogs, which are web-based collections of articles, photos, and other posts. They’re one of several types of “linkbacks,” which basically means they’re a way to identify instances where content from one blog has been referenced and linked to another. So, for example, let’s say Blogger A writes a post about apples on his blog, Blog A. He provides a link to something an apple grower wrote on Blog B. Anyone reading Blogger A’s piece can quickly and easily access the Blog B by simply clicking on the link, but the report does not end there. The owner of Blog B will receive a notification in the form of a linked comment which will identify both the link and its location. The apple grower article also usually gets a link to Blog A embedded in the comments section.
How they are identified
These pings almost always appear in the comments section of a blog. Most blogs have robust comment sections, where readers and other bloggers can leave messages or thoughts. A pinged comment is usually pretty sparse; in most cases it is little more than a link to the citing article. These links and references are sometimes also visible in a “ping counter” box, usually at the side of the page or in a box at the bottom. Much of this depends on the preferences and sophistication of the site owner.
How do they work
The most important thing to note about this type of linkback is that it will only work if both the original citer’s blog and the linked blog have ping enabled. This is usually something that can be controlled in the settings menu or dashboard of a blog’s control panel. If both blogs are set up to send and receive these alerts, they will usually happen automatically.
Pingback software uses XML-RPC technology. It basically scans the web for linked material, verifies that the link is correct, then leaves an auto-generated comment; in that comment, verify that the linkback is to the correct source.
pros and cons
There are reasons both for and against enabling these types of links. On the positive side, they can increase readership and can also improve a blogger’s ranking in search engines, often known as “search engine optimization” or SEO. Popular articles and posts can get a lot more exposure, and people who scan the comments of a particular post may be inclined to click links in pinged comments. Bloggers looking to increase their readership sometimes link to many other articles to get their mutually featured content in the comments of the linked blog.
It’s important to remember that pings work both ways, and once enabled, a blog owner will also receive comments whenever their posts are linked elsewhere. Ideally, this is also good, but it leaves room for exploitation, particularly among spammers and content generation systems. Advertising-based websites and pay-per-click sites sometimes set illegitimate pings to ordinary content in the hope that readers will click on it and raise the spam site’s ratings. This type of business is abusive and sometimes illegal, but hard to stop. In extreme situations, people’s blogs can be flooded with spam links and illegitimate pings. Preventing this usually requires vigilance and some degree of proactive monitoring on the part of the blog owner.
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