It seems that the latest hot topic on the block is disclosure. It’s been around for a while and, I’m pretty certain, won’t go away in a hurry.

The recent spat between Rand Fishkin and Jeremy Schoemaker over a post at Shoemoney.com led to the two of them fronting up on Webmaster Radio. It’s an interesting debate and, if you’ve got a spare hour, worth listening to.

The latest example of disclosure, or lack of it, involves 901am. They ran an article about Eatonweb which is a free directory service. Unbeknown to me, 901am and Eatonweb are owned by the same company. OK so only one person picked up on it but are we now getting to the point where every single link needs to be explained?

I signed up to Eatonweb a month ago and have had a handful of visitors as a result. When you look at the normal traffic generated by a directory, a handful is actually quite a lot! I read 901am and their endorsement of the product seems to be pretty accurate so what’s the problem?

It’s a free service!

Why should you feel you need to disclose something that doesn’t cost anything?? At what point do you stop?

DISCLOSURE: None of these links are paid. I am not affiliated to any of the companies involved. I once tried to grow a beard but that does not mean that I am receiving any kind of financial, or otherwise, reward from Rand Fishkin. I have never owned a pair of yellow shoes.

I am bald. This is due to male pattern baldness. It does not mean that any reference to Jeremy Schoemaker is as a result of being Baldy Buddies ™ with him.

901am is a time that is alien to me. I do not wake up until 10am.

These links to Darren Rowse, Seth Godin, Steve Pavlina and Guy Kawasaki are, however, a pitiful attempt to get them to mention me on their blog and, therefore, generate large quantities of traffic.

This link to Jane May Blogs is in a pitiful attempt to get me laid.