Link Bait Hall of Fame

The Treatment of Bush Has Been a Disgrace

What have we to learn from an opinion piece in defense of George W. Bush? That it sometimes pays to go against the tide. Forget that this piece came from the Wall Street Journal. The point is that of all the opinion pieces the Wall Street Journal publishes every day, week, and month of the year, [...]

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Lies, Half Truths and Contradictions: Chronicle ”Hidden” Audio on Lies, Half Truths and Contradictions: Chronicle ”Hidden” Audio on Obama

Attack hook link bait can be effective, if risky. But one way to use the attack hook against itself is in a vindication or, in the absence thereof, a defense. This is one way that those who wish to avoid the negative underpinings of using attack hook link bait can still reap some of its [...]

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McCain Did Not Disclose Keating Business Deal To Investigators

The Huffington Post is one of the more accomplished craftspeople at the attack hook (as any top-rated political blog has to be). And here’s a perfect example. Policy debate is one thing. But attacking someone’s character (even if well-founded) is another (remember - we’re just analyzing this from a purely impartial copywriting standpoint here). So, what [...]

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Sarah Palin Lover Revealed

For a magazine that’s comprised of pretty much 100% link bait, it seems almost redundant to acknowledge a National Enquirer piece as exceptional link bait. But if any piece can pull that off, it’s this one, on the contentious Republican VP candidate. Only a part of this scandalous story of Sarah Palin’s secret lover, the [...]

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Web Pages That Suck

It’s rare to find an entire site that’s one great big piece of link bait, but this one, educating and informing webmasters amateur and pro alike in how to make great websites by negative example, definitely qualifies. That’s why I nominated the homepage for induction (a rarity in these pages). Scan down the page and [...]

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Security

Here’s a crafty political cartoon making the rounds at Digg, a simple and pointed illustrative version of attack hook link bait. Check it out if you want to see the basic components that comprise today’s idea of “Security”. This one’s bound spur lots of lively online debate for quite a while.

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Five Things You Don’t Know About Sarah Palin

How does a topline magazine like People stay on top? By making breaking headline news stories work for them. Just look at this wily link bait: making People the first to really bring McCain’s running-mate to the people. A few hints: it includes the unique ethnicity of her spouse, and one of her little-known victories [...]

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Did Police Eject a Man from Yankee Stadium for Trying to Use the Bathroom During “God Bless America”?

America, America, what has become of thee? This news story is so outlandish as to raise eyebrows as to its veracity. But true or not (I believe it, sadly, is), this report of a man roughly ejected from a Yankee game for running to the bathroom during the 7th inning stretch’s ritual playing of “God [...]

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McCain’s Million Dollar Parking Lot

OK, I can’t avoid the presidential election any longer. Not with such a preponderance of stellar link bait circulating the web that’s either praising, lambasting, or merely lampooning one of the other of the candidates. This one, about the $10-per-spot Phoenix lot McCain rents to the Arizona Diamondbacks, is link bait for anti-McCain site, TheRealMcCain.com.

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11 Reasons Why Bill O’Reilly is Completely Insane

Whether you’re a Bill O’Reilly fan or not (I’m not) you’ll appreciate this collection of 11 video clips and write-ups lambasting the controversial Fox News political pundit and his “No Spin” m.o., if for no other reason than because of the controversy it stirs. Reasons include: “His tendency to flip out”, Because he has the [...]

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