Estampe123

Re:Car dealerships in the USA

Because Knol is a competitor to Wikipedia!!! No, it was an accident. I have put it back. ... discospinster _talk 03:22, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

Your link in Wikipedia articles (such as Car dealerships in the USA) will be deleted because the site is an advertisement masquerading as an article. It clearly fall in the "Links normally to be avoided" guideline because it falls in the category of: Links to sites that primarily exist to sell products or services... The linked article is clearly an ad since it ends with: For more information contact: Malcolm Uffelman, Estampe Auto Dealer Supplies... — CZmarlin (talk) 03:45, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

Welcome to Wikipedia, Estampe123! I appreciate your comments about some of the the external links in the car dealerships in the USA article. Thanks for pointing out their problems. It seems that they were not checked after some contributor(s) added them. They do not meet the guidelines and have now been deleted, per WP:ELNO.

There is a difference between sites that should be linked (see: WP:ELYES) and your contribution which lists specialized office forms and supplies an auto dealership should have to run their business, that you also sell. Although it is not a direct link to your company's web page (which I will not note, but I have checked it and you are located in Manassas, Virginia) the indirect link that you have provided via an article in Google's Knol system of "ownership" of articles is still spam. Wikipedia specifically identifies that: [a]dding external links to an article or user page for the purpose of promoting a website or a product is not allowed, and is considered to be spam. Moreover, [a]dding material that appears to promote the interests or visibility of an article's author, its author's family members, employer, associates, or their business or personal interests, places the author in a conflict of interest. There is fine line to follow in Wikipedia!

I hope this helps in explaining the situation with the reverts. I have noted the problem with the external link on Discospinster's talk page. I trust that you will continue to share your knowledge within Wikipedia! Thanks! — CZmarlin (talk) 04:46, 13 August 2008 (UTC)