A quick surf through a sea of advertising

“Ten cents a click” is how this banner-blitzed, logo-loaded website hawks itself to potential advertisers. Visitors to this blatantly commercial site will find links to links to links. Some are useful, but there’s little editorial input or a savvy POV to help leaven the onslaught of sales pitches for equipment, tours, bed and breakfast joints and consumer festivals.

With a definitive address like outdoorsportsonline.com, you would expect more original content. But it’s thin pickings throughout. The water sports section antes up weak entries for ocean racing, surfing, windsurfing, board-sailing and scuba diving. Ditto for fly-fishing, surf casting and deep-water fishing. Links abound for heavily sponsored bike races and canned trips.

If you want to go mano a mano with the great outdoors, this info-light, hard-sell site is not for you. But for a quick troll through specialty outfitters, it’s worth a surf.

-- Susan Dworski