conspiracy theory

msplinks.com kills MySpace link SEO karma

MySpace has been redirecting all external links in comments through msplinks.com for a couple of months. Msplinks turns any posted link into a redirect, supposedly in an attempt to cut down on spammer redirects and phishing.

From Tom:

Hey everybody, we just launched another program to stop dirty spammers from hasseling[sic] you. When you input a link in myspace it may be converted to a redirect link.... They still point to their original url, but let us easily turn off links to spam, phishing, or virus sites. booyah!

Until a week or so ago, only links in comments were redirected through msplinks. This fit well with the explanation given in Tom's message. Now external links in profiles are redirected through msplinks as well. The effects of this change are drastic and somewhat sinister.