Squidoo Newsflash!

Dear Squidoo lensmaster,

You're getting this special Newsflash update because you're a Squidoo lensmaster and because we're making some significant Terms of Service and policy changes. So we wanted to send you a very early heads up about it.

The most important thing to know is this: 99% of you probably won't ever even notice these policy changes! If you're busy creating authentic, useful, unique lenses, you're fine.

The next thing to know is: Take a deep breath. We won't begin implementing these new policies until mid-July 2009, which means you've got more than a month to review and adjust to the changes.

We hope you'll take a little time to read them so that you can keep using and thriving on Squidoo.
If you'd rather not read this email...

If you'd rather not read the rest of this email, here's one big overview page for you. It's a supplement to our Squidoo Terms of Service. Or, read on for a quick summary.
1. No Spam. This one's not new, but it's worth saying again.

It's simple: given our pedigree, our point of view and our dyed-in-the-wool, we-will-never-change-our-mind conviction on this issue, spam is not okay at Squidoo. For a few years now we have had a very strict and enforced stance against spam. That's staying the same, and if anything, getting even more rigorous. If you actively spam people with your Squidoo lenses (by email, in blog comments, by stalking and harassing people on Twitter, by tricking people with the content in your lenses, and more) we'll lock your entire account.
2. No more X-rated or Porn lenses

If you came to Squidoo to create X-rated or pornographic content, the time has come to say farewell. We're not discontinuing these lenses because we've suddenly grown shy, or because we no longer believe in the freedom to publish what you want. We do. Practically though, supporting X-rated pages no longer makes sense, and it invites more spam and empty traffic and wasted overhead than anything. Find out more about why we're making this very hard decision, and what it means for your X-rated lenses. (Don't panic! You can export your content and take it with you).
3. No Junk Topics from our "SquidDon't" List

Lenses on free movie downloads. Toenail fungus cures. LoseBellyFatNow promotions. Reverse Phone Lookup 4U. You know junk when you see it. And lots more examples.

Unforunately, topics like these are overwhelmingly conditioned and proven to attract spammers. If a topic has displayed enough trickery and spam and bad activity, we choose not to support it. If we find a lens on a SquidDon't topic or something very similar to it, we'll lock it. For good. Our best recommendation: Don't bother with topics like these. There's plenty of incredible stuff to write about and recommend online without having to go near the edges of what we're got going here.
4. A new limit on overly promotional lenses

Making a lens to promote or recommend something is a terrific endeavor. It's a big part of why a lot of our people are here. But: Less is more! Sales lenses far too often turn into junk lenses, as described by the relentless number of outbound links to the same exact domain. Being overly promotional rarely works. "Buy here buy here buy here!" never does.

So to help you focus your lenses, and sell even better--and to help surfers find our pages more useful overall--we're introducing a limit to the number of outbound links to the same domain that you can have on a lens. If you have more than 9 links to the SAME domain on a single lens, your lens will get locked for review. Of course we'll have domains that are whitelisted out of this (meaning, you can have as many outbound links to them as you like), as well as sites that are blacklisted (meaning, even a single link to that domain will get your lens locked).

Please read all the important details on how this works.
What now? First, take a deep breath.

We won't be flipping the switch on these new policies until July 20, 2009 or later. So you've got more than a month to review your lenses to make sure they're playing by the rules.

In the meantime, here are 4 things you can do to get ready for these changes.
Thanks, guys.

Thanks for reading this far. And thanks for caring about the quality, community and infinite possibility that is Squidoo.

Live long and prosper.

--The SquidTeam
Squidoo.com

I'm kind of glad they are introducing these new changes... Especially the sales stuff. I sell products on squidoo, but in a "tasteful" manner- I supply decent content loaded with information and a hyperlink here and there or a "most important thing" module directing to my product page link. I see way too many lenses just littered with Amazon or Ebay modules and absolutely no content- where is the value in that??

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