Why is this Post labeled Spam ?

[LochnarITB]

Jim, I believe referral links are counted as spam. The poster of such links is generally not giving the links to share a cool site they found, but to just get points from you clicking.

So posting http://www.thisisacoolsite.com would not be spam (generally), while http://www.thisisacoolsite.com/refer/cod...44mdk.html would be (especially if it is the only thing a person has ever used the account for).
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And just as little further clarification. It seems that a link can be placed that includes a referral without showing in the text such as this super duper game. If you mouse over this link, your browser probably shows you the actual link. Note the "?refer=234234234". This means that the site will credit the person identified by the 234234234 with points which might get them cash or prizes or free time. They don't care if you actually sign up or not, they just want you to click to get their credit. Actually, they might want you to sign up too. It is possible that you would then be tracked through their site and the person who posted would get even more credit for actions you take on their site. A link to a site to check out will not elicit the spam guardians response where as one with the embedded referral will. (I hope I have contributed my quota of equine flogging with this response. I want to be a good Lurker. ;) )