Recently I compiled a review of reference exchanges and decided to compile information for an article on Habré. Such a brief reference material on the subject of "who is who in the market."

Link exchange is a service that allows you to buy and sell links (traffic).
Someone may call this “paid advertising” and he will be right, because this definition is the main essence of the service.
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Using link exchanges, you are exempt from a very important part of the work - you do not need to look for advertisers on your own (if you have your own website, and you want to make money by placing advertising links on it) or advertising platforms (if you have any or a project requiring promotion on the Internet).
There are two main types of reference exchanges.
In the first type of payment occurs for the number of unique clicks (with a unique IP once every 24 hours). The cost per click in this case is the difference between the price of the advertiser and the exchange commission for the provision of services. As practice shows, on average, for one click it is about 50 kopecks (prices range mainly from 0.1 to 1.2 rubles).
In the second type of payment occurs during the placement of advertisements on your resource.
And now we will try to consider some reference exchanges in more detail:
SAPE (http://www.sape.ru).
Creation date - October 2006.
Recognized by all market leaders. Plus the exchange - in its openness: an offer contract is drawn up with customers. It is believed that SAPE is more optimized to work with Yandex algorithms.
Statistics:
113 524 users
Sites 116 367
Pages 34 975 157
But, as elsewhere, there are a number of disadvantages and features in SAPE:
1. URL when selecting sites are not displayed.
2. The sites where the acquired links are hidden are not tracked.
3. No money is charged for a period of time shorter than 12 hours. Thus, there is no struggle with "flashing" links.
4. Accepted so-called sites, garbage.
5. Frequent failures in indexing.
6. Practical lack of feedback from the exchange.
7. There are overlays with the settings of the sites by the number of seats sold and the links purchased.
LinkFeed (http://www.linkfeed.ru).
Creation date - April 2008.
Almost complete analog of SAPE. Many SEO experts rightly note this similarity, putting this fact in a reproach to the creators. Thus, LinkFeed has far from the best reputation in professional circles. It is worth adding that during registration there is no possibility to conclude an agreement.
Statistics:
6,400 members
Sites 6 320
Pages 1 457 040
I will give some of her characteristics:
1. Full monitoring of the indexation of pages of sites, exchange participants, Google and Yandex search engines.
2. Several currencies for accounts in the system - rubles, dollars, euros.
3. API availability.
4. Import from SAPE.
5. New options in the site search:
5.1. Domain age.
5.2. Languages and themes sites.
5.3. Domain zones.
5.4. Platforms with IP from new networks of class C.
5.5. Only sites open to the optimizer - default setting.
5.6. New system script with advanced functionality.
XAP (http://www.xap.ru).
Creation date - November 2006.
Statistics:
Users 60 685
Pages in the base 28 674 386
Links sold 26 903 419
There is a forum on the exchange website, and in several languages, since the exchange positions itself as an international one. Also on the main page there is a calculator for calculating the income from the site.
MainLink (http://www.mainlink.ru).
Creation date - the beginning of 2006.
The site is made in the same pleasant white and blue tones.
Statistics:
Users 19 147
48 459 sites
Pages 13 695 832
But what is indicated in the description of the exchange on its website:
Advertisers:
Find a lot of sites in a short time is almost impossible. On the MainLink pages, you can select sites and pages according to a variety of characteristics (CY - the Yandex Yandex / PR Citing Index, Google’s Page Rank, external links, categories, domain level, and more). It is possible to place links in a complex with the provision of discounts on a package of links, and it is also possible to buy links at the lowest prices in RuNet using the wholesale sales mechanism implemented in MainLink.
We check every link you buy in Yandex search engine using indicator mechanisms (colors of checkboxes) and thus you can immediately discard unnecessary and non-indexable links to save money.
Webmasters and site owners:
If you are a webmaster and want to earn extra money on your website, you can offer your pages to the MainLink service. You select a small block on any page of the site for links, install a small script code. After that, links purchased by advertisers will appear on the site.
With us you will be sure that the links will appear automatically, and in the case of non-payment - disconnect. Your task is to ensure that your website works and check your e-wallet on time.PROPAGE.RU (http://www.propage.ru).
Creation date - 2007.
The project of CJSC Digital Technologies.
The site already contains sections that are quite standard for all exchanges, but the exchange forum is simply a separate topic in the well-known and most influential search engine optimization forum searchengines.ru, in which the exchange consultant answers all users' questions and gives information about all the innovations of the exchange.
As an example - one of the messages in the forum about the distinctive features of the exchange:
1. Only sites indexed by Yandex are allowed to participate in the system. Checking the pages in Yandex and screening are non-proxied, we do it ourselves.
2. PROPAGE.RU offers its services on very favorable terms: the amount of commission for buying links is 10%. From sellers of links commission is not withheld. The money is deposited without deduction of the commission; when withdrawing money, a commission of 10% is withheld (withdrawal orders are executed instantly, slower only with the first order and change of payment details). All other system services are provided free of charge. Of particular interest is the purchase of links to money earned in the system - then all costs will be 10%, and this is the most favorable conditions in runet.
3. We work with electronic currencies - WMZ, WMR, Yandex in money and by wire transfer with the conclusion of the Agreement and the provision of all necessary accounting documentation. The rate of a conventional unit when paying by wire transfer is 25 rubles per cu.
4. Using the company’s PROCHANGE.RU exchange office, we are able to offer favorable rates for the input and output of electronic currencies.
5. It is possible to sell pages of any degree of distance from the main one with non-zero PR. With zero PR, pages are allowed into the system if there is no more than 2 clicks away from the main one.
6. It is possible to sell links both on pages added to the database when the site is indexed by a robot, and manually added.
7. Sale of links is possible both on sites with PHP support, and on static ones.
8. The system implements manual and automatic modes of operation.
9. It is easy to connect a website implemented in any programming language to the system for working in automatic mode.
10. There is a profitable referral program: we pay 25% of our income from each referral you attract, whether it is an advertiser or a site owner.
11. We offer convenient interfaces, detailed statistics, detailed reporting with the reflection of all cash transactions on the account with details up to 0.00000001 cu.
12. Your questions will be answered by a qualified and friendly support service.SetLinks.ru (http://setlinks.ru).
Creation date - 2006.
Project LLC Inprime.
Statistics:
23 115 users
Main pages 13 234
Internal pages 3 081 128
A feature of this resource is that sites with narod.ru are allowed to work.
Other characteristics of the exchange are listed below:
1. Indexing site for two days. The most important pages from your site are indexed first.
2. Automatic and manual setting of prices for pages both for the group, and separately for each page,
3. No commission for webmasters,
4. The ability to prohibit the sale of links on individual pages,
5. Restriction of the placed links by the size and by the forbidden words (there are “mat” and “porn” system filters),
6. Calculate for links every day.
Seolin.ru (http://www.seolin.ru).
Creation date - May 2007.
Another project, the site of which is solved in bright colors and has the character of minimalism in design.
Statistics:
1 572 users
733 sites
Pages 234,707
A small description of the resource, taken from the site:
We automatically check:
1. The presence of links on the page owner of the site.
2. Whether the page is closed from indexing in robots.txt.
3. Is there a noindex, nofollow meta-tags on the page?
4. Is the link in the tag.
5. TIC and WR sites, PR pages, their indexing by various search engines.
6. The presence of sites in the catalogs of Yandex and DMOZ.
7. The number of backlinks of the site by Yandex and Google.
8. How many total external links on the page are installed.
We offer the seller of links:
1. Manual or automatic placement of links on their sites.
2. The ability to automatically filter out non-thematic links.
3. Ability to limit the number of external links on the page.
4. To provide all pages found for sale by our scanner or only those you have selected.
5. Various information about the already received and planned income for each site.
We offer links to the buyer:
1. An original approach to creating advertising campaigns for your site, which allows not only to improve the position of high-frequency queries, but also to raise thousands of low-frequency ones.
2. Ability to place links surrounded by text.
3. Built-in handy text link generator.
4. Comprehensive search of pages for placement of links and a convenient choice.
5. Filter by domain zones and subject sites when searching.
6. Control over the quality of donor sites using black and white lists.
7. When you increase the price of the link you have a month to make a decision. If you made a decision earlier, the link still works at the old price a month from the date of the increase.
8. Information on the spent funds on the links and the estimated budget for different periods of time.
CLX (http://www.clx.ru).
Creation date - 2002.
Or rather, this is not exactly a link exchange, but an integrated advertising broker that provides a very wide range of services in the field of promotion and advertising on the Internet. And by the date of creation it can be judged that the company is quite confident in the market.
But we will not dwell on this broker for a long time, but proceed directly to the next participant in our review, the EliteLink exchange.
EliteLink (http://www.elitelink.ru).
Creation date - January 2007.
The exchange has a standard set of services for such a service, as well as its own forum. They call themselves not only the "Link Exchange №1", which, with the successfully existing SAPE, personally seems to me a little exaggeration.
From the description on the site follows:
Using the services of our link exchange, you will receive:
1. A huge number of quality sites for placing your links. We care about quality 24 hours a day and constantly check the sites for suitability for placing links to them for maximum effect.
2. Convenient and intuitive service to work with links.
3. Professional tool to promote your own sites or sites of your clients.
4. Detailed reports on working with the system.
5. Save time and money, which is especially important now. Money from your account is debited 1 time per day.
6. You pay for each link by the day, and not by the month on all other systems. All prices are for one link per day.
7. Convenience of payment for the services of links exchange. You can replenish your account in a variety of ways, including by bank transfer with the provision of all necessary documents. Discounts are available for recharging large amounts.
If you have your own website and want to make money on it, you've come to the right place! We make you an offer that you simply cannot refuse:
1. You no longer need to look for customers who would buy links on your site - we do this for you.
2. In order to start earning, you just need to register and place our code on your website. It's simple! Start earning now!
3. You can sell links only from the main page of the site. At the same time you have the opportunity, though not within the framework of this system, to sell links from absolutely all pages of your site, which will help you to use the resources of your portal by 100 percent. Details here. You can also sell 10, 15 or 20 links from each page of the site. You can calculate your earnings right now through a calculator.
4. If you are ready to sell links to leisure sites (“For adults”), then you can tick the appropriate box and your income will increase by another 20% regardless of whether such links are placed or not.
5. It is absolutely not important for you whether we have sold links to advertisers or not, you receive money as soon as we accept your site in our system in full size.
6. We pay for the entire block of links, and not for each link separately, this means that even if there is only 1 link in the block or there are none at all, you get 100% of your tariff.
7. Money is credited to your account every day.
8. Convenient system of withdrawal of funds from the system. The minimum withdrawal amount is only $ 10, the request for payment can be submitted no more than once a month, we make a payment within 5 working days from the time of your request.
FatLink (http://fatlink.ru).
It occupies the 1st place in the overall rating in the Webmoney / Megastock directory on the theme "Website promotion". There is a certificate of the Seller in the Webmoney system.
Statistics:
21,942 users
Ad slots 42 197
But what are the advantages of its creators:
Buyer links:
1. Simplify the job of finding quality sites for placing direct links
2. Free from negotiations with webmasters on the price and terms of the transaction
3. Check sites on the ban
4. We monitor the whole placement period whether your link is correctly established, whether it is closed with NOINDEX tags, etc.
5. We do not take a commission above the specified price link
6. Affiliate program! Connect your friend to the system and get 5% of his payments.
Webmaster:
1. Find clients for you and help you earn extra money on your site
2. Freed from the work of installing and modifying links
3. Exempt from tracking whether the placement period has ended
4. We do not charge a commission if you bring a client! You get 100% of the money from such a client.
5. We remind your client about the need for renewal.
6. Affiliate program! Connect your friend to the system and get 5% of his payments.
LuxLinks (http://luxlinks.ru).
Creation date - April 2008.
Exchange quality links! This slogan hangs on the main page of the resource. Unlike SAPE, at LuxLinks - 0% commission for webmasters.
American Resource Hosting - Datacenter is located in Dallas.
It is also possible to withdraw any amount of money without restrictions at any time.
Below is the release of the exchange from its developers:
1. No commission.
2. Easy withdrawal of funds via WebMoney - funds are transferred within 24 hours.
3. Simplicity of work - install a special code on your site, and links will be bought automatically
4. Placing only high-quality links on your sites, all links are manually checked by a moderator
5. Daily pricing, funds accrued every day
6. Tweaking link blocks, the ability to adapt the display of links to the design of your site
7. Affiliate program, get from 25% to 50% of our income, attracting customers!
8. Only high-quality sites for placing links with non-zero PR / TIC and indexed in Google / Yandex, which have been manually checked by moderator
9. A large percentage of the main pages, the possibility of placing on the most high-quality secondary pages
10. Link generator that allows easy link text creation.
11. Automatic checking of placed links every few hours, withdrawal of funds from the balance only during the placement of links for daily rent
12. Low commission (only 20%, all indicated links costs already include commission)
13. Affiliate program, get from 25% to 50% of our income, attracting customers.
And the last place in our review, but not the last in the market, is occupied by the “Doubler” exchange.
“Doubler” (http://www.dubler.ru).
Creation date - April 2008.
Working in the same way as LuxLinks, since April 2008, the Exchange "Doubler" offers manual moderation of sites, as well as a calculator, which, however, is not immune from periodic failures.
Statistics:
215 users
Sites 1 232
Active sites (links) 31,073
Free sites (links) 101 120
To conclude the review, I would like to present the results of voting on the forum.searchengines.ru forum for the best reference exchange (unfortunately, not all of the above resources are reflected in the results):
1. Setlinks.ru - 11.46%
2. Xap.ru - 30.21%
3. Mainlink.ru - 26.56%
4. Seozavr.ru - 7.29%
5. Elitelink.ru - 0%
6. Clx.ru - 5.73%
7. Other - 18.75%
PS:
I found fresh data from the maulnet.ru portal on the rating of key reference exchanges in relation to the number of sites on each:
1. Sape - 127 245 (123 150 participants)
2. MainLink - 50,850 (20,245 participants)
3. XAP (+ TNX) ~ 19,000 (64,126 participants)
4. SetLinks - 14,533 (25,385 participants)
5. CLX ~ 10,000
6. SeoZavr - 8 970 (8 169 participants)
7. LinkFeed - 8,641 (2-3k - tenacious in Yandex) (8,578 participants)
8. Liex - 6,257 (7,010 participants)
9. ProPage ~ 6,100
10. FatLink - 3,942
11. Authority.AdTime - 2,786 (~ 10,000 members)
12. SpaceLinks - 2 504
13. PromoText - 1,518 (8,215 participants)
14. M-Links - 1 262
15. SeoLin - 779 (1,648 participants)
16. LBX ~ 300
17. KupiLink - 520 (1,762 participants)
18. SeoTorg - 478 (1 975 participants)
19. EliteLink - 404 (2,011 participants)
20. SeoLink - 249 (245 participants)
21. MiraLinks - 205 (* high quality level)
22. BuyLinks - 135
23. SystemLinks ~ 100
24. LinksBank - 91
19.07.2008.