I think however, that the fact companies are starting participating in blog conversasions is great, as they can give us some insights about their philosophy and ideas.

But seriously — I hear what you’re saying, absolutely. We deal with a lot of these things on our own blog, and it’s often difficult to decide when to remove the link (or the entire post), because you certainly don’t want to censor people; but at the same time you want to foster useful conversation for your readers, not just accumulate comments toward some sort of count.

I do notice the “poaching” of sorts that goes on, too. To be honest, that’s never particularly bothered me, just because it’s a great metric by which you can judge the folks who resort to it.

Like you, I prefer that the conversation continue and that it be constructive and beneficial to those who are participating. Thanks for your post and I hope some of these companies take what you say to heart and actually contribute something we can use.