I recently added a link to the “vanity plates” page on Wikipedia titled, “Plate Show is a web show about life, vanity plates and the meanings behind them” (this is the show’s tagline). I was getting pretty steady traffic from it for a few weeks and, after noticing that was not happening anymore, I went to check the page and found that my link is no longer there.

I’m wondering if this is just the expected moron factor, where someone decided my link somehow interfered with theirs and decided to remove the “competition” or if I possibly broke a Wikipedia rule that I would not have known about (since I never read anything) by posting a link to my own web site or something else I overlooked? If I add my link back, am I in danger of starting the wiki equivalent of a flame war—or maybe even breaking some other wiki rule?

I’ve already noticed that my personal collection of vanity plate images is growing beyond “Largest Gallery of Vanity Plates on The Web” listed and so titled on Wikipedia. I don’t want to go removing links… I can make mine “The Largest Individually Collected…” or something—even though mine actually will also be the largest gallery with just one more image!

So, should I just add my link again? Have I broken the law of the wiki?

What’s the deal? Please reblog or email plateshow@gmail.com with any and all Wikipedia expertise.

Thanks!