Thanks to both of you. That was the problem. Funny thing. I thought the button was doing nothing. Actually, it was a webpage link pointing to itself.

glad you found it...and yes it linked to itself....

Thanks. I think I learned the difference early on. I wrote a rather critical comment just before I grasped the difference. I wrote to the author and apologized and suggested he delete it. But he was a magnanimous sort and approved it anyway. Since then I have bee veryn careful. That’s why this disapproval perplexed me.

Ahhh, now I understand your issue better. Thanks.

You are probably right. It’s not worth the effort. I guess I’ll let it go. The irony is that the author did a great job of piquing my interest in the service he was reviewing. I really wanted to learn more about it, but couldn’t figure out how to do that from the article. That was my only concern in an otherwise complementary review.

It’s really Wealthy Affiliate’s fault. They’ve gotten me used to a more personal, more collegial relationship with other members. Now I want that all the time.

Yeah, commenting isn't exactly like PMing another person and I believe there are reasons they don't list the author of the website in Site Comments. They do in Site Feedback, but NOT site comments.

I've heard of people getting disapproved for asking a question when 'questions' weren't what was requested by the site owner, it's just crazy.

My favorite is people telling rejecting my comment and telling me to go read Kyle's Site Comment instructions.... as if I don't know what I'm doing. I got nearly 100% approval rating of all time and I'm a certified commenter. I do quite a few of them.

But people want to use comments to influence their audience and what they're doing is manipulating them, and I definitely don't agree with that. I want genuine comments. And if I can't completely sell someone on my article, I don't want my COMMENTS to do it for me.

Comments are supposed to improve engagement, we're not supposed to be manipulating it and rewriting them. We might as well create fake accounts and comment all over our websites as if we're going to buy stuff. That's just silly.

I don't even mind a little bit of feedback in my comments. I once approved an organic comment from a troll. Just said thank you with a happy face. I want REAL, not manipulation. Plus if you think an AI algorithm like Google can't figure out people are faking comments, you're wrong. They're getting smarter all the time. People are better at seeing fake stuff online all the time. If you don't have mediocre comments as well as good comments, your entire site will look staged. Or that you censor every comment, which doesn't lead to trust with your audience.

So I'd rather have real, thank you very much. But I learned Site Comments is frustrating and to let it go. There's no point arguing about it and contacting them, it's not reversible. I keep doing comments and just move on from rejections.

That said if I get rejected for something really silly? I remember that website and I have it in my site comments history so I just don't comment on that website again. I will comment on sites where they legitimately rejected me (say I was really tired and wasn't at my best).

Thanks so much for such a brilliant reply. So, a few negative comments make me look more “real” to the Googlbots? great to know. I feel better now.

And speaking of irony, an Artificial Intelligence is in charge of determining what is real and what isn’t.

I don't know if a few negative comments look real to the Googlebots, but it looks real to your visitors as well as having comments like "Good article" and nothing more. Most people online aren't very verbose like we require on Site Comments, actually.

Googlebots just like the engagement. If people are commenting, that means that something in that article is worth discussing. I would make sure to edit comments for spelling, because Google sometimes chooses to show them in your descriptions during a search, and delete any that are spam, or use a ton of profanity, but otherwise, why?

Even the dumbest content adds some value to our site. Even if two hundred people pop up to put "This was a good read" or "You are an idiot", that looks better than an article with 5 comments, right?

But I know for a fact that Amazon has an algorithm for determining fake reviews on their site, and while Google never said they do, I can't imagine Amazon can do it and Google can't. It's not foolproof or anything, but it's there.

Now, of course, we're using credits we earned to ask for comments, so I expect at least semi-thought out ones here, but I don't reject for silly reasons. I even had one I don't think read the article, but she asked decent questions about my niche, so that was perfectly fine. Now if they make comments that make no sense as they didn't read it or even skim it? I'll reject it.

I also do NOT rewrite comments. Nowhere does Kyle suggest we REWRITE comments! >_< This drives me nuts. He says edit for spelling and grammar if needed, he does NOT say just rewrite it. That's deceptive to your readers. If a reader comes back to find their comment rewritten, you just lost the trust of your audience as well. It's just not okay.

In fact, any comment made to your site is actually content that belongs to the commenter. This is to protect YOU legally from anything they may post to your site, like if they committed libel or defamation or they plagiarised something. You cannot be sued for that. ON the other side of that, if they want to create a poem on your site, you can't copy it without their express permission either, unless you have a disclaimer stating people are giving away their rights to their content on your site. See what I am saying?

I'd much rather see 10 crap comments, two excellent comments and one troll on a site's comments, because I know they're not censoring their comments, and people are allowed to express themselves, and that seems more genuine to me and I'm more inclined to trust that blog than one with 3 excellent comments and nothing else.

So you're spot on for what to do by referring back to your review posts. That said, it doesn't hurt to offer a top accessories post and have 5 to 10 recommended items and associated affiliate links from time to time...just don't make it a habit.

You can also toss a quick link in an article if you think it's relevant and you don't have a review post for that item. Again, just don't do it all the time.

Thanks. I’ll publish it and see what happens