Buzz about programmes

How it works

• How do links end up here?
• Why do you only search for blogs which include a link to a BBC programme?
• How can my blog appear on these pages?
• Are the links moderated?
• Where do these links appear?
• Why aren't all programmes included?
• How do you decide if a blog link is relevant?
• What is "nofollow"?
• Why do you use nofollow tags on links to blog posts?
• Feedback and suggestions

How do links end up here?

The links to external sites that appear on these pages are supplied by a company called Nielsen Online. They provide access to a service which automatically trawls over 125 million blogs every few hours, and filters out any spam or inappropriate content. We then query this service for any links to iPlayer or TV and radio programme websites, and publish the results as links on these pages.

Why do you only search for blogs which include a link to a BBC programme?

We only search for links because we want to be absolutely sure people are referring to BBC programmes. Lots of results are returned when searching for the key words "the apprentice", but the results for http://www.bbc.co.uk/apprentice are more relevant.

How can my blog appear on these pages?

All you have to do is:

• include a link to the BBC programme website or to the programme on BBC iPlayer
• keep to our external link guidelines

Please note: All the blogs we link to go through numerous checks by our data supplier and by us before they go live and so there can be a delay of a few days from when a blog post is written to when it appears on bbc.co.uk.

Are the links moderated?

Yes, all blogs and messageboards are checked against our guidelines before they appear on bbc.co.uk. We're just checking for unsuitable content though; most sites are fine and pass our criteria easily.

It's important to us that the links we display are an accurate reflection of people's opinions. We do not select links on the basis of whether or not they contain positive or negative views about our programmes. However, we don't link to blogs if they are deemed to be offensive, libellous, defamatory or incite hatred towards the BBC, our talent or to any contributors to our shows. For more information about our moderation criteria, see our external link guidelines.

Where do these links appear?

Once the blog posts have been checked, the most relevant appear in a section on the programme page itself. For example, here is the programme page for an episode of Later with... Jools Holland. Links to all blog posts discussing this programme appear here, in order of the most recent first.

Why aren't all programmes included?

We don't capture buzz on all programmes. Children's programmes aren't included, as CBBC and CBeebies make a promise to parents that they'll only link to child-safe websites (read about this on CBBC Grown-ups). We also only include the types of programme where people are likely to be discussing the programme itself, rather than what it is reporting, for instance weather, sports, news updates and BBC Parliament programming. Moderation limitations also mean we are concentrating on UK-wide services. These decisions will be reviewed as we learn more about how people discuss and interact with our programmes.

How do you decide if a blog link is relevant?

We consider a link "relevant" if the blog post is really about that programme, and not just referencing it; so it's instantly clear to the user clicking on the link why we have included it on the page.

Links to all blog posts are still represented, however. Those deemed particularly "relevant" are shown in a section on the main programme page and, when you click on "See all buzz for this programme" and go to that programme's buzz page, they are highlighted in yellow among all the links to blog posts we've found.

What is "nofollow"?

One of the things search engines use when deciding how to rank search results is who is linking to them, or how much "authority" they are deemed to have. A link from bbc.co.uk is often seen as having high authority, so when we link to a page it could be boosted in search results. "Nofollow" is a tag added to tell search engines not to pass on this authority to the page.

Why do you use nofollow tags on links to blog posts?

We use an automated system to find our blog links which means if you link to a BBC programme page and your blog passes our external link guidelines we will usually link to it. This opens us up to possible abuse with people linking to us just to boost their page's search positioning. To counter this we add a nofollow tag to pages we've looked at and decided are not fully relevant within the context of the programme (find out how we judge relevancy here). We don't put this restriction on relevant posts, so if the post is very much about the programme and not trying to gain search positioning it does get the authority from us.

Please note we only check blog post relevancy during office hours and it may take a while to get through any backlogs that have built up. So if your blog is recent, relevant and has the nofollow tag it may just because we've not checked it yet.

How can I send feedback and suggestions?

Use our contact us form to let us know what you think of buzz pages and any suggestions you have.