A small firestorm is brewing over at Dennis Howlett’s blog over the apparent censorship meted out on the AccountingWEB site. The explanation given by the publisher – "We don’t allow self promotion – It’s not in our commercial interests to send people away from our site” – is the thing that seems to be stirring up the ire of various commentators.
Although not familiar with the fine detail of the case, from the outside it does seem a rather curious stance. The web, by its very nature, is designed to assist travelling to various destinations rather than stopping at one.
Also, surely readers will be able to evaluate for themselves whether something is a gratuitous plug – and thus refrain from clicking on a link away from the site?
Providing a comment isn’t offensive or libelous, common sense says let the community decide for themselves.