For those that may be new to the Internet and even to some old hands. There has been an enormous growth in web sites that provide links to health products, health advice and similar kinds of web sites. Many of these link sites seem to be offering the public a useful service. However, beware most of them are a scam aimed at listing as many links as they can in order to make money from advertisers. I get an average of 3 requests a week from link sites wanting me to link to them, and in return them to me. When I have checked them I have been horrified by some of the web sites they direct you to. They rarely check the site they are referring people to, and some of these are among the biggest scam artists on the Internet. These links sites may add a link in their pages just by obtaining the URL of an appropriate sounding web site using search bots. They then tell you they have "added your URL" and request a link back to them. This can all be done automatically and on the cheap; some of these sites are almost certainly run out of teenagers bedrooms! They make their money from advertisers based on the number of hits they get and on the number of referring links they provide. Quiet a stack of money can be made this way without moving from someone's office or bedroom. Some consumer advice organisations and medical web sites are using this method to raise their profile. Most are not attempting any kind of checking of the sites they refer you to. I have queried the ability of some of these organisations to police their referrals. The only answer most can give is "we send a questionnaire to the respective site owners and rely on their honesty" - what a joke! Please bear in mind anyone can register themselves as a www.something.org (myself included). This suffix does not provide automatic credibility to who is operating the web site. Therefore, please be very careful in what you believe on any health care sites that seem to have lots of links on them. The chances are high that it is a site run simply to make money and is not a reputable source of information, also there may be no organisation involved at all as the title may suggest to you. On my own website I once had a link to what seemed a good Complementary Medicine links site. A year or so after they commenced I had to remove them. They were adding links to Young Living distributors, and when I questioned their wisdom of doing this, there was no answer. The reason you need to beware is because so many people are assuming that web sites they come across using these link sites are above board and honest. This is critically important when dealing with matters of peoples health. Yet many of these sites just want to sell you quack medicines and mind condition people with their convincing sales hype. The number of sites selling herbs and essential oils now is staggering; often the owners have no training of any kind and will just regurgitate incorrect information gleaned from other sites and popular books. Some even dispense health advice without having any experience or training in anything to do with complementary medicine. So do be careful when visiting such sites with what you believe, and be even more careful when buying health care products from them. If you get a request for a link from one of these scam operators I suggest you insist that they remove your link and send the operator a strongly worded email. Beware also of those sites that seem to be genuine, but which have a column of links to various advertisers. Those site links are probably dumping a load of spyware into your temporary Internet folders and into the cookies file. You would be well advised to use a cleaning program after you leave any web sites, to clear their cookies and other security infringing files. I use 'PurgeIE' from: http://www.purgeie.com/ Particularly beware of the paid links that Google put in the right column when you do a search with them. These are paid for per hit by the web site concerned. Some UK aromatherapy suppliers are making illegal claims on these sites as well as giving dangerous and incorrect advice on the use of the oils. Such sites who indicate a lack of knowledge on the laws of their country, and on the properties of their goods, suggest a business out to make money at any cost - including posing a danger to their customers health. Back to Articles Archive Back to Home page Source
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