Deep linking is where one site links to a page on another site, bypassing its home page. The BBB has approached Bizmove.com, a publisher of management information, and requested that it removes all links to BBB resources, stating that such links may Bizmove.com has refused to remove the links and said it plans to continue deep linking.
BBB lawyers claim that the links provide access to copyrighted materials that Bizmove.com requires permission to use. However, no lawsuit has been brought and BBB representatives said this is unlikely.
Deep linking has proved to be a contentious area of law. Sites often earn advertising revenue based on traffic to their home pages. If the pages are bypassed, the revenue is lost. There can also be situations where it is not obvious to the site visitor that they are leaving one site and entering another.
In a recent case in Germany, on-line recruitment agency Stepstone successfully sued a rival recruitment agency to stop it deep linking to Stepstone job adverts, basing its claim on European database regulations.