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The Curious Case of Fullers Library and Its Deceptive Link Requests

This isn’t strictly writing-related, but it is the kind of weird rabbit hole I enjoy going down, and it’s a writer (and artist) who drew my attention to it. The writer got in touch to share an email with me. A local library, a young writer, a suggestion for a helpful resource to add toRead More

It’s easily enough pierced by someone who looks closely, but just credible enough that many website owners, beguiled by its clever and insidious appeal to help eager students invested in learning, won’t think to question. Hundreds of websites, including universities and advocacy organizations, have bought into this scam (some more than once), and are unwittingly helping sometimes unsavory businesses boost their search engine rankings. Unlike the other four, it identifies itself with a verifiably real place (Bay Minette, Alabama), but otherwise is the same, with a website convincing enough to the casual glance but lacking any address or contact information, and the same solicitation M.O.

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