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Linkback
Method of notifications for web authors

A linkback is a method for Web authors to obtain notifications when other authors link to one of their documents. This enables authors to keep track of who is linking to, or referring to, their articles. The four methods (refback, trackback, pingback and webmention) differ in how they accomplish this task.

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Overview

"Linkback" is the generalized term used to reference four methods of communication between websites. While sometimes confused with one another, linkbacks and backlinks are not the same type of entity. A backlink is what the person referring to a page creates while a linkback is what the publisher of the page being referred to receives.

Any of the four terms—linkback, trackback, pingback, or (rarely) refback—might also refer colloquially to items within a section upon the linked page that display the received notifications, usually along with a reciprocal link; trackback is used most often for this purpose. Also, the word trackback is often used colloquially to mean any kind of linkback.

RefbackTrackbackPingbackWebmention
Trigger mechanismVisitor to linking site clicks on the link, and their browser takes them to the linked siteCode on linking server examines added or updated documents, extracts links, and sends notification to linked server for each link foundCode on linking server examines added or updated documents, extracts links, and sends notification to linked server for each link foundCode on linking server examines added or updated documents, extracts links, and sends notification to linked server for each link found
Notification mediumHTTP referrer valueHTTP POST1XML-RPC callHTTP POST with source and target parameters2
Capture mechanismExamination of incoming HTTP referrer valuesTrackback capture scriptXML-RPC functionWebmention capture script
Information sent by linking serverNone
  • Linking site name (Optional)
  • Linking post title (Optional)
  • Linking post excerpt (Optional)
  • Linking post URL
  • Linked post URL
  • Linking post URL
  • Linked post URL (target)
  • Linking post URL (source)
Additional information presented to linked serverHTTP referrer sent by a visitor's browser upon clicking the linkIP address of linking serverIP address of linking serverIP address of linking server
Autodiscovery mechanism (how the linking server finds out how and where to send the notification)NoneLINK tag in the header of the linked page or trackback RDF documentsSpecial HTTP header or LINK tag on the linked pageHTTP Link header or link element on the linked page
Action required when notification is received
  • Extract referrer value from incoming HTTP headers
  • Retrieve referring page
  • Parse retrieved page for desired information
  • Gather desired information from
    • Given parameters
    • or retrieving and parsing the given URL
  • Retrieve page at "linking post URL"
  • Parse retrieved page for desired information
Verifying that linking page does indeed link to linked page is recommended, not explicitly required
AdvantagesRequires no special code on linking server (the link itself becomes the notification when someone clicks on it)All the information desired by the linked server (Linking site name, post title, excerpt) is present in the notification itself
  • Notification mechanism has a complete technical specification
  • Less susceptible to spamming
  • Uses well-known parts of HTTP wherever possible (autodiscovery, encoding of data, response status)
  • Reuses pingback's existing semantics
  • Minimum amount of data transferred on-the-wire
Disadvantages
  • No notification unless someone actually clicks on the link
  • Relies upon visitors' browsers sending proper HTTP referrer information
  • Linked site must retrieve and parse linking site's page to extract the information it wants
  • Notification requires positive action by linking server
  • Notification mechanism has only a partial technical specification
  • Autodiscovery information may prevent XHTML validation
  • Notification requires positive action by linking server
  • Linked site must retrieve and parse linking site's page to extract the information it wants
  • Can be abused for DDOS attacks3
  • Notification requires positive action by linking server
  • Linked site must retrieve and parse linking site's page to extract the information it wants
  • Relatively new, so less widely implemented

See also

References

  1. "Trackback specification draft". Archived from the original on 2012-11-30. Retrieved 2012-09-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20121130025719/http://www.lifewiki.net/attachments/view/101/2.1 ↩

  2. "Webmention Specification". http://webmention.org ↩

  3. Constantin, Lucian (2014-03-11). "Over 160,000 WordPress sites used as DDoS zombies". PC World. Retrieved 2020-03-11. https://www.pcworld.com/article/2106940/large-ddos-attack-brings-wordpress-pingback-abuse-back-into-spotlight.html ↩