Is this common practice and I've somehow not known all this time?

So I've been having - what I would classify as - some rather odd experiences lately (like a dozen back to back) while doing backlink outreach..

So, here's what's been happening:

I go about it the textbook way - google search keywords that are related to my niche (but not direct competitors), vet some some promising looking sites based on aesthetics, DR, Alexa, and SimilarSites (not just rank but traffic sources, etc).... and start emailing a handful at a time of the most desirable prospects' webmasters, personalized email for each one, stating what I liked about their site, expressing an interest in perhaps linking to one another, and of course a bit about my site and how our visitors would likely have shared interests..

A dozen times in a row - from completely different sites (I'm assuming anyway) completely different people - pretty much the same reply:
This perplexes me on many levels - for one, bells and whistles are going off immediately, leading me to speculate that there must be a scam a brewin ...

For another - Who the F uses ICQ? Let alone like 12 random people in a row that I contacted?

What part of this exchange could possibly warrant further discussion beyond a "yes" or a "no"

Am I just kind of out of touch and somehow unaware of this? I know Outreach for links isn't exactly part of the "Google Preferred" methods of link building -but contextually relevant and would provide visitors added value enhancing their experience (in my mind) rules out the theory that maybe they're all paranoid about some sort of google "Link scheme sting operation"

I guess the short form of my question is: Does that sound odd or Scammeresque to you as well? or does that match up with your experience?

And seriously do any of you still use ICQ? I haven't been on ICQ since 1998 lol

bump

ICQ? I thought no-one uses that anymore besides a few hardcore affiliate managers. It was weird enough for me some 5 years ago, when i needed to make an ICQ account, because there was an affiliate manager at a network, who didn't have any other contact option. Maybe veteran scammers too like it. If i were them, i'd switch to something a bit more modern, because those who ever used or at least heard about ICQ will go extinct soon enough.

Use to use ICQ playing UO...Oh those were the days!

It's def. odd that you ran into ICQ on a random Wednesday in 2019, let alone 12 times. It makes me wonder where you got the leads from in the first place. Is it possible you're talking to the same person across multiple pages? If I encountered it once, I'd probably figure it was an older blogger that's been around a while. 12 would get my heckles showing. If I personally sourced all 12 pages 100% randomly, I'd probably end up paranoid looking for cameras and peaking through the blinds wondering who's f**kin' with me.

Houdinii said:

It's def. odd that you ran into ICQ on a random Wednesday in 2019, let alone 12 times. It makes me wonder where you got the leads from in the first place. Is it possible you're talking to the same person across multiple pages? If I encountered it once, I'd probably figure it was an older blogger that's been around a while. 12 would get my heckles showing. If I personally sourced all 12 pages 100% randomly, I'd probably end up paranoid looking for cameras and peaking through the blinds wondering who's f**kin' with me.

Click to expand...

I was thinking that as well - but I'm not sure - literally I contacted these people after doing a google search for sites in that niche, and finding the website contact info (or some of had forms)... They were in the same niche, but at the same time they didn't look necessarily identical, contact info was different - just bazaar