Please report these posts...

[Paul Myers]

Do us all a favor, folks?

There's been rather a large rash of idiots posting here for link juice. You can recognize most of them by their short posts (they look like the people who used to post to get enough to run a scammy WSO), and their "distinctive" signature files.

Specifically, the sigs contain a few brief words or phrases of anchor text, designed to help with SE rankings. One very common example is:

moving in hyderabad
moving in mumbai
moving in new delhi

... with links on each search term. They can be any search terms, and they are not limited by the geographic location of the linked site.

The favor: If you spot these, please help us out and report them.

We're on a rat hunt.


Paul

[WritingMadwoman]

Thanks Paul, will do - I try to report the obvious ones when I can but could probably be a little more alert about it. It's definitely clear that they have no desire to contribute meaningfully here.

Wendy

[Joseph Ratliff]

Originally Posted by Paul Myers

We're on a rat hunt.


Paul

LOL...call the exterminators!

My eyes are lookin'...man these individuals sure do work awfully hard.

[David McAnulty]

Oh its opening season. Im in! Paul are we going to get to hunt from a Helicopter. I will bring snacks.

[Elmer Hurlstone]

Originally Posted by Paul Myers

Do us all a favor, folks?


The favor: If you spot these, please help us out and report them.

We're on a rat hunt.


Paul

Interestingly, Paul, there is a caste of "rat hunters" in India. Perhaps we should call them in?

I'll keep my old, bespectacled, eyes out for them.

Elmer

[Michael Mayo]

Hi Paul,

Reporting for duty Sir!
Just need a moment to reset my trap.

[AceHazel]

Oh, that's really sounds something. My eyes are on them.

[Steven Wagenheim]

I'll keep my eyes open Paul.

Thanks for the heads up and for watching over this place.

[Bev Clement]

Thanks Paul, will be watching out for you

[Chris Stigson]

The funny thing is that the Angela's and Paul's backlinks are all about this, except on other forums and those seem to be the most popular WSO's... What is really the difference?

Altough I don't like this, it's just natural that it happens.

Hi Paul
Most of them are paid posters employed to get backlinks from high PR sites.They don't even bother to write something meaningful.Just one line and a signature with anchored text.

These tactics are propagated from the blackhat forums.Recently I came across a post having link to a software which provides you the addresses of high PR sites Angela uses for her linkbuilding strategy then giving the details of how to spam these sites to get backlinks.

[TKChung]

Paul,

I will be watching this kind of sigs for you...

TK

[TommyBussey]

Thanks for keeping us up-to-date on this stuff Paul. I will keep a look out as well.

- Tommy

[Steven Wagenheim]

Originally Posted by NathanFalkner

Paul (the OP) points out that the posts are short
and not really substantive. That's something the
posters will need to tweak over time. I suppose
one could argue that the WSO you're referencing
suggests people make reasonably informative posts
and in essence "earn" the right to have a sig with
links. The complaint here is that the posts aren't
substantive enough to "earn" the sig. But yeah, I
hear what you're saying... it's a bit ironic at some
level when you think about it. LOL

Nathan, you breed, send your children out into the world and they do
exactly as you do...

And that's when you realize just how screwed up your own priorities are.

Yeah, ironic isn't the word for it.

[Tom Goodwin]

Angela's and PJ's backlinks are all about spamming forum signatures with posts? I must subscribe to different packets by Angela and PJ.

Originally Posted by Chris Stigson

The funny thing is that the Angela's and Paul's backlinks are all about this, except on other forums and those seem to be the most popular WSO's... What is really the difference?

Altough I don't like this, it's just natural that it happens.

[Kay King]

it's just natural that it happens

It's not natural when a group of newbies join in a short period of time and all of their signatures are KEYWORDS . Very specific product keywords....

[Dan C. Rinnert]

I'd be ironic if some of those posters reply to this thread.

[David Mcalorum]

Disgusting, isn't it?

@Dan C. : Hahahah, that'd be awesome!

[redicelander]

Funny you call them idiots and thousands of warriors do this same thing in other forums!

Anyway...back to hunting "rats".

[Paul Myers]

Funny you call them idiots and thousands of warriors do this same thing in other forums!

If they're doing it, I hope they get nuked, both at the forum and their ISP. And I hope the forum owner(s) report the spammed-for sites to their web hosts.

That last one is most useful, for people who are sure of what they're doing. If their customers start losing hosting, the people who are paying the link-spammers will have more incentive to adjust their behavior.

Or see if there's a contact address on the site, and send them a little note, if you can get their IP address from your blog or forum. Example: "Why are people from Pakistan posting spam on my blog with links to your pet care site in Delaware? How does your web host feel about that kind of abuse? Want to find out, or should you consider getting someone else to do your search engine work?"

The sites that benefit from these sorts of links normally can't use the kind of rapidly changing DNS tricks that email spammers and phishers use. They need stable hosting, which makes them the most useful point of attack. They're benefitting from the link games, and they're paying the "SEO" people to generate the abuse. They're the primary source in the food chain. Take them out of the equation, and you create real pressure.

It'd be interesting to see if dropping a note to the folks at Google, Yahoo, et al might have any effect. I can just see the ads for the "SEO" firms offering this service after that: "Let us get you to the top of the search engines' blacklists!"

You want to be careful doing more than reporting them here, though. There are plenty of legit members who use keyword anchor text links in their sig files. If you report someone and the mods see that they're legit, no harm is done. And the mods have access to information that's not available to everyone else, so they can usually tell.

In response to Chris Stigson's question... If someone is making posts that are useful enough to avoid negative attention, they've "earned" the sig space. If they want to give that to someone else, that's their business. As long as they're not being destructive, it's a different question. These constant useless posts mess with the conversations and the tone here in ways that go beyond the little bit of space they take up.


Paul

[Charann Miller]

Originally Posted by Dan C. Rinnert

I'd be ironic if some of those posters reply to this thread.

I'm not sure if you're being ironic because somebody actually did.

He was a noob and had racked up 16 posts in about 30 minutes. His posts were all one liners that were out of context with the flow of conversation and with most encouraging people to check out his signature which could only have looked more spammy if it were covered in flashing neon lights.

I thought it was so funny that he kindly offered to report these spam posters, ah bless him. He vanished into thin air before the day was out. Man that was quick.

[lakshaybehl]

Damn!

Why do I always miss out on the fun???

Why is that I am always late to the party?

[sbucciarel]

Who You Gonna Call?

We're On It ....

[mikemcmillan]

Paul, it's exactly like the spam posters who come by your blog and leave a comment such as, "Exacly rite, good wrok. I will come bakc offen." And below that they have links to 40 pharmaceutical sites.

Oh wonderful, I will wait with baited breath for your return!

No, what we need here is a system like when old Western gunfighters would put a notch in their gun for every dude they dusted in a gunfight. We should get Allen to add little icons like Sbuccairel has above next to our Avatar to show how many "kills" or rat bast&*ds with one word posts we turn in.

Seriously though, the forum could be changed so that no more than five words would be allowed per post. More than that would get truncated. It would make us all more frugal and economical with our words.

Now I'm just being silly. Got five more minutes to kill before lunch. Time for 20-30 one line posts. Better get to it .

[Dan C. Rinnert]

Originally Posted by Charann Miller

I'm not sure if you're being ironic because somebody actually did.

Was gone before I posted then. I guess I missed out.

Originally Posted by mikemcmillan

Paul, it's exactly like the spam posters who come by your blog and leave a comment such as, "Exacly rite, good wrok. I will come bakc offen." And below that they have links to 40 pharmaceutical sites.

But, they're just being honest. They will be back. They have another 960 pharmaceutical links to promote.

[Angela V. Edwards]

Originally Posted by NathanFalkner

Paul (the OP) points out that the posts are short
and not really substantive. That's something the
posters will need to tweak over time. I suppose
one could argue that the WSO you're referencing
suggests people make reasonably informative posts
and in essence "earn" the right to have a sig with
links. The complaint here is that the posts aren't
substantive enough to "earn" the sig. But yeah, I
hear what you're saying... it's a bit ironic at some
level when you think about it. LOL

Exactly. And because some of our subscribers WERE doing stuff like this to other forums, both Paul and I have removed those types of backlinks entirely. I do not advocate that people do the sort of thing that Paul is talking about and I took steps to stop it with my program.

[Paul Myers]

Who You Gonna Call?

We're On It ....

[chuckle]

Okay. That's cool.

It's working, folks. Got a few of them already. The goal, of course, is to make it clear to them that their efforts are better spent in something else. Hopefully without just pushing them off onto another site.

If you run a forum, blog, or other site that's a target for these pests, re-read my last post, and consider putting at least some effort into using those tactics to create more pressure on the "SEO" firms that employ these link-spammers.


Paul

[Peter Bestel]

Originally Posted by David Halek

You aren't going to stop the idiots. Don't try.

Wow! Now there's an attitude that makes change happen!

[sarcasm]

[Boricua]

Do us all a favor, folks?

There's been rather a large rash of idiots posting here for link juice. You can recognize most of them by their short posts (they look like the people who used to post to get enough to run a scammy WSO), and their "distinctive" signature files.

Specifically, the sigs contain a few brief words or phrases of anchor text, designed to help with SE rankings. One very common example is:

moving in hyderabad
moving in mumbai
moving in new delhi

... with links on each search term. They can be any search terms, and they are not limited by the geographic location of the linked site.

The favor: If you spot these, please help us out and report them.

We're on a rat hunt.

Paul

One of my forum partners had to do the same. This forum might also benefit by limiting signature files to a minimum amount of post, like for example, 50 post to have signatures files allowed. It's a good idea to implement and consider. I've found that it also works best for maintaining quality in check.

Paul, would love to have someone like you in the next years in my forum Would keep in touch when the opportunity arises, so you can also get your fair share and take action doing the same you do here perhaps. It'll be my honor accepting you too. It's about keeping it clean and sweet for all of us in the end.

Regards from Puerto Rico

[Liam Hamer]

I don't know if this is related, but I've noticed a lot of newbies joining, asking a really simple/generic question about making money online/traffic etc and they usually have 2 links in their signatures - one is usually a .com domain, the second a .blogspot address. The site names often seem to be about credit and debt. Like I said, I don't know it this is related but it's just something I've noticed recently

[Paul Myers]

Liam,

A lot of them fit that profile, yes. Another common one is the quick one-line reply, with no real content, and similar signatures.


Paul

[JayXtreme]

Ok...

I did as requested, Paul. I reported some of these posts... I assume you mean the ones in this thread that followed yours?..

I reported yours, too... just to be safe.

Is there a particular reason you wanted us to report the posts in this thread?...

Moderators testing new software?

Peace

Jay

[Paul Myers]

Jay,

Have I told you today that you're a smartass?


Paul

[Elmer Hurlstone]

Originally Posted by JayXtreme

Ok...

I did as requested, Paul. I reported some of these posts... I assume you mean the ones in this thread that followed yours?..

I reported yours, too... just to be safe.

Is there a particular reason you wanted us to report the posts in this thread?...

Moderators testing new software?

Peace

Jay

Jay,

You obviously misunderstood Paul's intent.

At the point of his OP there were no other posts within this thread. This leads to two potential conclusions:

1. The implied posts had been reported and, subsequently, deleted.

2. Paul intended all posts prior to his initial post in this thread be reported.

I've taken it upon myself, as I believe it was reason 2 (listed above), to begin reporting the posts preceding Paul's post.

As it will take a considerable amount of time due to the massive number of posts on this board I've decided to begin alphabetically by country of origin.

I will start with "UK" as it precedes "US" in alphabetical order.

Then I will report by User Name.

Fortunately for "John Taylor", his name comes after, "JayXtreme", alphabetically.

Respectfully submitted,

Zygulph from Zzygombia

[sbucciarel]

Originally Posted by JayXtreme

Ok...

I did as requested, Paul. I reported some of these posts... I assume you mean the ones in this thread that followed yours?..

I reported yours, too... just to be safe.

Is there a particular reason you wanted us to report the posts in this thread?...

Moderators testing new software?

Peace

Jay

*** sigh ***

[damongreene]

Gotta love the abusers. The value stealers. Im just becoming active here so Ill pay attention and report when I see. Thanks

[Bill Farnham]

I know this won't happen for a litany of good reasons, but having to wait 60 seconds of "online time" between reporting spammers is a pain sometimes. They can spam without that constraint, as far as I can tell, (no experience ), so if that time barrier could be shortened...

KJ

[Paul Myers]

Bill,

The time limit has good reasons, and it doesn't affect reporting. There are a lot more people who can report things than there are people who need reported...


Paul

[JayXtreme]

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

*** sigh ***

[JayXtreme]

Originally Posted by Paul Myers

Jay,

Have I told you today that you're a smartass?


Paul

You have now, sir!

Peace

Jay

[Rod Cortez]

Originally Posted by Paul Myers

Liam,

A lot of them fit that profile, yes. Another common one is the quick one-line reply, with no real content, and similar signatures.


Paul

Great response! Hey, I saw a green bumble bee the other day......

[Bill Farnham]

Originally Posted by Michael Mayo

--- Bump ---

I'm havin' a déjà vu all over again. Must be Friday...

KJ

[Michael Mayo]

Originally Posted by Michael Mayo

--- Bump ---

Originally Posted by Killer Joe

I'm havin' a déjà vu all over again. Must be Friday...

KJ

Mmm, maybe?...

~Michael