6 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
6 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Yikes! Spammy backlinks being created faster than I can delete them!

by menace2yerbrain
5 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I have a solid site with good content but I had someone look into my recent fall in rank and learned that there were a lot of spammy backlinks to the site. Many were to my forum which for a while was overrun with comment spam. I have deleted all spam comments and banned all spammy users.

I then hired a guy to remove the backlinks. Trouble is, they are still being created (not by me)! So basically my guy removes them and more show up in their place.

Yes, I made the mistake of purchasing a backlink pyramid and some auto submissions to directories some time ago, but I haven't in months.

1) how do I find out where the new backlinks are coming from and how to can I get them to stop?

2) If I can't get it to stop, will google eventually realize that all the new links are to dead urls on my site?
#backlinks #created #delete #faster #spammy #yikes
  • Profile picture of the author DizenSounds
    There is no way to know where the links are coming from and stop them, are you checking the dates on these new posts? Are they infact new?

    I doubt the negative SEO campaign will last for long. People will get bored of doing that at some point and just move on. I would stay on top of the link removals though so that you can manage it now rather than later when its too much to handle.

    Are you sure your link removal guy isn't the cause so he can keep his job? I'd recommend using a service instead.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8821019].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author menace2yerbrain
      Okay, it appears that the links came from spam comments on my phpbb forum. This means that they are (probably) not related to any links that I purchased.

      Apparently someone automated backlinking to their spammy posts on my forum. All these spam comments have been deleted so that none of the backlinks go anywhere, but they just keep backlinking, either in the hope that the pages will one day be green lighted, or because it's just too much effort for them to take you off and they don't care.

      Seems pretty unfair that I need to contact hundreds or even thousands of spammers to ask them to remove backlinks to their spam comments in my forum that have been deleted or were never even published.

      Disavow these domains and explain the situation to Google?
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8826489].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author danparks
        I don't use php forum, but most forums have some option to moderate comments, or disallow comments that includes links. You need to look into the admin aspects of your forum.

        I would be a nightmare to expect a forum owner to try to eliminate or disavow every spam comment link. That's not expected. Figure out how to stop the spam links in the first place. php forum is a big name established forum, I'm sure it's very possible and probably very easy to prevent the links from appearing in the first place.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8826561].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author menace2yerbrain
          Thank you Dan.

          Your suggestion is a good one. I have disabled linking in comments. I am also installing a phpbb plugin that will *supposedly* stop the spam. I think it works by preventing auto registrations, making it possible to register only if you do so manually. I have also been checking daily to see if there are any new spammy comments. When I find them, I ban the user by IP and delete. New spam comments have dropped from a torrent to a trickle at most.

          It sounds from your comment that Google views spam on forums quite differently than on traditional blogs/websites. That sweet news.
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8826622].message }}
          • Profile picture of the author DizenSounds
            Originally Posted by menace2yerbrain View Post

            Thank you Dan.

            Your suggestion is a good one. I have disabled linking in comments. I am also installing a phpbb plugin that will *supposedly* stop the spam. I think it works by preventing auto registrations, making it possible to register only if you do so manually. I have also been checking daily to see if there are any new spammy comments. When I find them, I ban the user by IP and delete. New spam comments have dropped from a torrent to a trickle at most.

            It sounds from your comment that Google views spam on forums quite differently than on traditional blogs/websites. That sweet news.
            Is the forum necessary? If not get rid of it. Spammers try and target forums as you've seen so that they can get posts going and then attempt to rank those posts for keywords and or increase the value of those links through spam.

            If you don't need to forum just kill it. I would however still recommend removing links from the spam if possible.
            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8828582].message }}

Trending Topics