New Link Display Policy Effective Aug 4, 2009

Because of the recent launch of regional filters in the mobile version of BungeeBones (http://BungeeBones.com/mobile) it is no longer feasable to limit link submissions to 20 links per category and is also no longer feasable to limit links to one submission and one category only.

• We added "pagination" to the links display resulting in the display page to be limited to just twenty links
• There is no limit to the number of page results (just like in search engines) per category
• You can add a link one time, in any catgeory free regardless of the link population
• Paid links will be displayed first on the page in the category before free ones
• Links in both the Paid and Free sections will be ordered according to their Peer Rating (within their perspective Paid/free class)
• When the number of Paid and/or free links exceeds 20 the excess ones will be displayed on subsequent pages
• Links can be added to more than one category by paying a fee
• There is no limit to the number of categories a paying link can be added to
• A request for links in a particular location/region will naturally bring back less results and as a result, links will be displayed on higher pages as a result of a regional search
• In order to be found with a regional query a site needs to add some regional info (such as their continent, country, state, city)

As long as there are fewer than 20 links (the limit of links to be displayed per page) then you are certain to be on the first page. You now have the option to add regional information to your link which will effectively enable you to avoid competition in regions or locations you care little about. For example, you are a used car dealer is Osh Kosh. You have little need to advertise in Los Angeles do you? So even though there may be thousands of used car dealers in the directory there are only fifteen in your customer base in Osh Kosh. Add your location information to your link and you will be displayed prominently on the first page when users look for car dealers in Osh Kosh.

Why the change?:

The previous policy stated we would list a link for free in any category with less than twenty links, the goal of which was to maintain a population within readable amounts and to encourage webmasters to select the most relevant categories for their website listing. After our recent launch of the mobile version of the BungeeBones directory a problem was discovered that was unintentionally caused by the twenty link per category limit. Our previous policy worked fine if the number of links in a category were to remain static but our new regional filtering abilities, which are an integral part of the mobile version, changes that expectation. For example, the early links added in the travel category were from many locations, none of which were India. Then, later we got new links added from India and when they saw the travel category full they opted for the hotel category. But when we use the regional filter to pull only links from India we had to go through an empty travel display (i.e. there were none from India there) to the links in lower level categories such as hotels. This happened across many other categories also.

Why or When To Use Regional Filters?:

Some sites are global in nature while others are very local in scope. A restaurant for example, would likely not be interested or need to compete for global advertising (unless they were a chain) but “Restaurant” would definitely be the most descriptive category. A webmaster must prioritize how important regional identification is to their website and link. Our policy change will mean that from now on the region will be as major a factor for determining their display as the category will be.

• There are 6 regional “levels”: Global, Continental, Countrywide, Statewide, District wide and Citywide. A selection from a previous level must be made before another can be made from the next level
• A paid link from a lower regional level will take priority and be displayed first, over free links, even at higher levels, on a "space-available" basis (i.e. that means purchase a paid link at a city level and it may be displayed ahead of free links all the way up up through the district, state, country, continent and global levels if there are unpaid slots available)

Our Priorities In Selecting Links To Display...

Twenty links will be displayed per page for each category and/or at each regional level. The twenty available spots will be allocated first to paid links and then to free links. Thus the number of paid links determines the number of spots remaining on that page for free links to be displayed (if any). Those remaining free spots will be allocated to free links according to their Peer Ranking with the highest ranked sites taking priority over lower ranked ones. As the categories fill up lower ranked sites will be pushed deeper and deeper. As the number of paid links increase the free links will be pushed deeper and deeper as well. The number of pages available are infinite, however, so there will always still be a place for a free link in BungeeBones.

Suggested Procedures

1) Decide which regional level is best for your website and business situation (global, continental, country, state, district, city)

2) In your "Add Link" or "Modify" (depending on whether this is a new link or not) form navigate to the best category for your website

3) After you selected your category, and entered your link information, use the dropdown menus to select your location