MediaWiki talk:Spam-whitelist/Common requests

This page lists some domains that are commonly requested for whitelisting at this page. If you want to request whitelisting a page from one of these domains (or domains similar to the domains listed), please first read the reasons below. Having read the instructions, if you are happy to continue to request whitelisting, please state in your request that you have read this page, and why you believe that in your case the comments here do not apply.

Something to bear in mind
The reason for whitelisting sites is so that links to them can be used to enhance Wikipedia articles. It is not to bring more visitors to the site, or anything else. If your reason for requesting whitelisting is for the benefit of the site, you shouldn't request it. You must also declare any conflicts of interest you have with your request.

Requests that are almost always denied
These sites are blocked for blanket reasons and it is rare that any page from them is whitelisted.

Commercial and affiliate marketing
We don't think it's fair for people to make money by taking traffic from our site and sending it to a commercial site. Therefore, links that include affiliate codes, or to sites where all sales pay a commission to the site owner, aren't allowed.
 * CafePress.com
 * Links to Amazon and other sites with affiliate tags

Online petitions

 * Avaaz
 * Change.org
 * GetUp!
 * Gopetition.com
 * Thepetitionsite.com
 * aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Petitions
 * petition.parliament.uk/petitions/* – UK Parliament petitions website
 * epetitions.direct.gov.uk (ceased 2015-03-31)
 * petitions.number10.gov.uk (ceased 2011-07-15)
 * petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/* – We the People (petitioning system)
 * ... and petitions on a hundred other online petition websites

Because Wikipedia is not a soapbox, we don't allow users to add links to Wikipedia to get people to visit and perhaps sign their petition, whatever it is. We also don't allow links to petition sites to demonstrate how many people have signed the petition, as this is a primary source (primary sources may be used on Wikipedia, but should be used with care and should not provide a basis for interpretation). If the fact that X million people signed the petition is notable, it will have been mentioned in some other reliable source; cite that instead. Requests to link to petition sites will, in all but exceptional cases, be summarily denied.

URL shorteners

 * adf.ly
 * archive.today, archive.today, etc. (archiver that veils the original URL)
 * bit.ly – Bitly
 * cjb.net
 * is.gd
 * short.ie
 * snipurl.com
 * TinyURL.com
 * youtu.be (use the full youtube.com URL instead, provided it isn't a link normally to be avoided)
 * ... and shortened URLs on a thousand other URL shortening websites

These are (globally) blocked because they can be (and have been) used to circumvent the blacklist. If the target URL isn't on the blacklist, it should be linked directly. If the target URL is blacklisted, then it shouldn't be linked at all.

We also know that some of these sites contain tracking measures, affiliate marketing codes, obscure where you actually are being sent to, and other undesirable things.

Certain links containing special characters have been known to malfunction when linked from Wikipedia. Instead of using a URL shortener to link to the site, you should fix the URL. This can normally be done using percent-encoding; ask at Help desk if you need assistance with this.

As there simply is no reason to use URL shorteners (the target link can be used instead), URL shorteners will not be whitelisted. Please don't ask.

google.com/url?
These links are produced by copying links from the search results that are presented by Google, and are not a copy of the actual link (rather a redirect) to the actual document. Clicking those links redirects you through to the document and tells Google that you were interested in this result (and therefore, it will increase the Google search ranking of the site in question). Please click through to the result and use that link.

As with other URL shorteners, there is no reason to use these links, and therefore these will not be whitelisted. Please don't ask.

Copyright infringement
Pages on sites known to host content that infringes on copyright will likely not be whitelisted.
 * Scribd.com
 * Whale.to

Self-written commission-paying sites
These sites allow anyone to register and post content with limited to no editorial checking, or pay authors in proportion to the number and duration of pageviews, or both. The result is that most (but by no means all) articles on the sites violate the reliable sources guideline and the conflicts of interest guideline. Therefore, in order to avoid your request being summarily denied, you need to go the extra mile to demonstrate that the article is reliable, not replaceable with a reference from another site, and that you are not connected with the site owner. Requests from new and unregistered users will be given extra scrutiny.
 * ArticlesBase.com
 * Associatedcontent.com
 * eHow.com
 * Examiner.com (defunct) (this is not the website of any paper publication including the word "Examiner")
 * Helium.com
 * HubPages.com
 * InfoBarrel.com
 * NowPublic.com (defunct) (examiner.com sister site)
 * Squidoo.com (defunct)
 * Suite101.com (defunct)

News or blog aggregation
Sites known for aggregating content from other sites will not be whitelisted, because it is preferable to use the original sources.
 * justjaredjr.com

The official homepage of the subject of a page
Where a site is blacklisted because of the content that is normally on it, or because of past behavior of editors linking to the site, but the site does have a wikipedia page where it normally would qualify as the official site (per WP:ELOFFICIAL), then an exception can be made. Requests to whitelist the root of a domain itself (even while technically possible ) will generally not be honoured, as it would negate the blacklisting and would allow abuse of the homepage (which is sometimes one of the reasons the whole site was blacklisted in the first place). Please find a neutral landing page like the site's "about" or "information" page, and request whitelisting in the usual way.

Certain TLDs
Domain names ending in .co.cc and .xyz are handed out very casually, and in many cases are used as URL shorteners. Therefore, everything ending in .co.cc is blocked globally (not just on the English Wikipedia) because most such sites are unreliable, spam, or both. If a request is made for a site that looks reasonably reliable and non-spammy, it is generally approved.

Helpful hint
The editors working on the Whitelist request page are volunteers just like all other Wikipedia editors. The MediaWiki:Spam-whitelist is not the Wikipedia complaints department, nor is it intended to help users with their grieving process. Becoming aggressive or argumentative, making vexatious threats (especially threats of legal action), or otherwise making a nuisance of yourself may result in your request being summarily denied, speedily closed, and possibly getting your account blocked. Please be nice.