What I'm trying to convey ... is that the links you see are not "URL's" ... they are the retreived "titles" of the pages that the URL links to.
So the first issue, is that the links could be short normally like:
http://www.dishnetwork.com
but the system went to that URL (waste of server time) and retreived this arbitrary title:
DISH Satellite TV Packages From $19.99. Ask About HD Free For Life.
And look at it... its already twice the length of the original URL
Secondly ... you don't know, from looking at that text (the Dish Satellite .... ) that the link is to DishNetwork dot com. There are literally hundreds of thousands of sites out there, that could be selling dish systems, and would have something similar as their title.
Third ... is that because some people are not web savvy ... they may think they found some great information, they put their link into their thread... the "title" is retrieved, and it might make people think they're going to "Happy Fairy Land" ... or something innocent ... where instead, they might actually be linking to anything .. be it good, bad, or even just good info *hosted* on a bad web site that has been hacked/compromised.
The original poster in that "third" bullet point I'm making is innocent ... they found some information, maybe its good info but because titles are retrieved and the URL hidden, it makes it harder to know that it goes somewhere that isn't trustworthy.
One final example... here's the url
http://www.ordersatellitenow.com/
that isn't dish network ... but look at the title text:
DISH Network Satellite TV | DISH TV Packages - $24.99 Mo | 295 Channels | FREE Installation
Thus my point ... in my case .. I would rather always have the "retrieve titles from external links" off by my choice ... rather than always having to go into the advanced editor, where *then* I get the option to turn off the title retrieval ... thus when ever I post a link, users *do* get to see the URL rather than some "title" which gives you *NO* indication of the real site you're linking to.
and that "ordersatellitenow" site.. they aren't dish network, notice their starting price is showing 24.99 (Dish shows 19.99) and it would take clicking on the link just to see "oh its not dish"
Its also frowned upon as a webmaster
Quality guidelines - specific guidelines
http://www.pearsonified.com/2010/04/wordpress-pharma-hack.php
(Wordpress "Pharma" hack explanation)
If people really can't understand the insecurity having title text replacement causes ... even though its "never been that way before", even if "no one posts bad things", I would hope that they get it from the concept that hackers do bad things ... hackers (bad ones/crackers) have gotten into very prominent web sites before .. they will do it again ... and hiding the URL behind a "title" as is the default, is a bad idea..
But again I'm not saying make policy for the site .. I'm just saying it would be nice, for those of US that *do* realize how bad things could be ... that we get an option to set that feature off ... for any posts we make, without having to go extra steps just to do so.
I view my posting without title replacement as a courtesy ... so people have some clue as to where I'm linking them, rather than requiring someone to know to trust "me" or my links... or to trust and believe that "no one posts anything bad". (sorry but that really just irks me that someone would believe that, like Scott & company have never had spammers try to get in and post links?)
So the first issue, is that the links could be short normally like:
http://www.dishnetwork.com
but the system went to that URL (waste of server time) and retreived this arbitrary title:
DISH Satellite TV Packages From $19.99. Ask About HD Free For Life.
And look at it... its already twice the length of the original URL
Secondly ... you don't know, from looking at that text (the Dish Satellite .... ) that the link is to DishNetwork dot com. There are literally hundreds of thousands of sites out there, that could be selling dish systems, and would have something similar as their title.
Third ... is that because some people are not web savvy ... they may think they found some great information, they put their link into their thread... the "title" is retrieved, and it might make people think they're going to "Happy Fairy Land" ... or something innocent ... where instead, they might actually be linking to anything .. be it good, bad, or even just good info *hosted* on a bad web site that has been hacked/compromised.
The original poster in that "third" bullet point I'm making is innocent ... they found some information, maybe its good info but because titles are retrieved and the URL hidden, it makes it harder to know that it goes somewhere that isn't trustworthy.
One final example... here's the url
http://www.ordersatellitenow.com/
that isn't dish network ... but look at the title text:
DISH Network Satellite TV | DISH TV Packages - $24.99 Mo | 295 Channels | FREE Installation
Thus my point ... in my case .. I would rather always have the "retrieve titles from external links" off by my choice ... rather than always having to go into the advanced editor, where *then* I get the option to turn off the title retrieval ... thus when ever I post a link, users *do* get to see the URL rather than some "title" which gives you *NO* indication of the real site you're linking to.
and that "ordersatellitenow" site.. they aren't dish network, notice their starting price is showing 24.99 (Dish shows 19.99) and it would take clicking on the link just to see "oh its not dish"
Its also frowned upon as a webmaster
Quality guidelines - specific guidelines
- Avoid hidden text or hidden links.
- Don't use cloaking or sneaky redirects.
http://www.pearsonified.com/2010/04/wordpress-pharma-hack.php
(Wordpress "Pharma" hack explanation)
If people really can't understand the insecurity having title text replacement causes ... even though its "never been that way before", even if "no one posts bad things", I would hope that they get it from the concept that hackers do bad things ... hackers (bad ones/crackers) have gotten into very prominent web sites before .. they will do it again ... and hiding the URL behind a "title" as is the default, is a bad idea..
But again I'm not saying make policy for the site .. I'm just saying it would be nice, for those of US that *do* realize how bad things could be ... that we get an option to set that feature off ... for any posts we make, without having to go extra steps just to do so.
I view my posting without title replacement as a courtesy ... so people have some clue as to where I'm linking them, rather than requiring someone to know to trust "me" or my links... or to trust and believe that "no one posts anything bad". (sorry but that really just irks me that someone would believe that, like Scott & company have never had spammers try to get in and post links?)
LOL 
