10+ years ago I created an annual list of websites that FORBADE you from linking to them, DEMANDED you write to ask for permission or LIMITED links to only their home page. Royal Mail even promised to post me a paper licence.
Now a decade has passed, let’s see who’s still doing it … And yes I’ve linked to your websites to prove this. Uh oh.
Manchester United INEOS should review this: “You agree not to: … establish a link to the Website from any other website, intranet or extranet site without the Club’s prior written consent (which may be withdrawn by us at any time in our sole discretion)”
Bill Gates also gatekeeps linking to his blog, permitting only links to the home page: “Links, frames, and metatags … You may link to the home page of the Site as long as you do not do so in a false or misleading manner.”
Mail Online owner Associated Newspapers has a site – MailMetroMedia.co.uk – which is “the Advertising home of the nation’s most engaged newsbrands”. Not so engaged you can link to them though: “You may not provide a link to this website from any other website without first obtaining Associated’s prior written consent.”
Some sites have weirder restrictions. The Economist forbids photocopying of print outs: “You may retrieve and display Economist Content from the Site on a computer screen or mobile device, print individual pages on paper (but not photocopy them) “.
UPS I did email asking for a linking agreement but they didn’t understand what I was asking so they couldn’t deliver one. “Inbound Links. Linking to any page of the Website other than to http://www.ups.com through a plain text link is strictly prohibited in the absence of a separate linking agreement with UPS”
Real Madrid – bit of an own goal: “Any internet Users who wish to insert links from their own websites to the Website must comply with the conditions detailed below, and ignorance of such conditions will not relieve him/her of any liability under the law: a) The link will only be to the Website home page”
Vodafone I guess this means Elon Musk can tweet Vodafone links but not anyone else: “You must not establish a link to our Site and/or its pages in any website that is not owned by you.”
LinkedIn allow SOME linking (just not to their collaborative articles I guess …): “You agree that you will not … Deep-link to our Services for any purpose other than to promote your profile or a Group on our Services, without LinkedIn’s consent”
Thames Water aren’t too busy dumping sewage in rivers to ban links: “You may create a link to our website from another website, but only if you comply with the following conditions: you may only link to the homepage of our website. You must not create a link to any other page of our website”
YouGov – our survey says … please don’t do this: “You may link to our site home page, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it …. If you wish to link to our site other than that set out above, please contact legal@yougov.com.”
I also spotted that Donald Trump’s website terms of use are shared across his commercial sites. Which means they all contain sentences along the lines of “You acknowledge and agree that if you fail to comply with all of the requirements of this Section 4 [Developer Please Hyperlink], your DMCA notice may not be valid.”
British Gas They’ll put me on a prepaid linking meter: “You may link to our home page, provided you do so in a way that is fair, legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it.”
HSBC SHOUTY: “LINKING, DEEP LINKING … WITHOUT THE EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION OF SITE OWNER IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.”
Some jobsworths at Vanguard: “You may not link to this website unless you comply with these linking conditions (“Linking Conditions”) … the Link must resolve only to Vanguard’s homepage of this website. Linking to other content within this website is prohibited without Vanguard’s express written permission. The text of the Link must read either “Vanguard Asset Management” or “www.vanguard.co.uk”.”
Stansted Express They keep using the word express – I don’t think it means what they think it does: “You may only link to our Web site or mobile application with Our express written permission.”
UCAS Zero points: “Links to the Website are not permitted, other than links to the homepage for your personal use, except with our prior written permission.”
Sunderland Coroner A grave warning: “Users may not link any other website to the Website without obtaining the prior written consent of Office of His Majesty’s Coroner for the City of Sunderland.”
Institute of Water Maybe they think links cause leaks: “Links from other web sites to our home page do not require prior permission from us but deep linking into any other page of our site should not be effected without prior permission from us.”
Which? Nine: OK. Ten: bad. “Unless you obtain our express permission, you must not include more than 10 links to our Websites on any one of your web pages.”
The Shetland Times Not normal: “While we welcome all normal links to our sites we regard “deep linking” as an infringement of our copyright.”
Go Compare The same as the others: “You may not operate any link to our website without first obtaining our written permission.”
NHS (admittedly only in Gloucester): “You may not link to any page other than the homepage of Our Site .. Deep-linking to other pages requires Our express written permission.”
The Safeguarding Alliance Got to keep their website safe: “You may create a link to this Site, provided that … 10.3. the link is to the homepage of this Site at the following URL http://www.thesafeguardingalliance.org.uk”
PPL is the UK’s music licensing company. Taking licensing a bit far: “You will not link to any part of this Site without PPL’s prior written permission.”
And finally … Royal Mail are still at it: “You may not create a link to any page of this website without our prior written consent. To request our consent, please contact our Brand team at brand.team@royalmail.com”.
I’ve emailed the Brand team … I await a Reply.
And Manchester United initially engaged with the idea of giving me permission but the brand team won’t reply 😦 Here’s my email exchange with them:
- ME: Hello, in your website terms of use at https://www.manutd.com/en/Help/Website-Terms-of-Use you say that users “agree not to … establish a link to the Website from any other website, intranet or extranet site without the Club’s prior written consent”. I would like to link to other pages on your website. Please could you write to me and give me consent?
- Man Utd support: Thank you for your email. Could you provide some more information, in relation to why you would like to link the website please?
- ME: Sure. I’m writing a blog post about websites that have terms that forbid you from linking to them without permission. I want to link to your website’s terms as an example of a site that does this.
- Man Utd support: Thank you for your email. In relation to the article, what is the purpose of it? For example, if this an educational guide or a journalism piece?
- ME: It’s an informational guide for my blog, pointing out when websites have strange, unenforceable clauses in their terms.
- Man Utd support: Thank you for your email. I have copied in our Brand Protection team, who will be best placed to advise.
- ME: Hello brand team, any news on whether you’ll give me consent for this?
Malcolm Coles 
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