For Good Sake..Stop Hiring These F***ing Idiots!

by A Bary
177 replies
Sorry for the title, but I am really pissed off.

During the last 3 weeks, I spent what could be hours of wasted time, deleting stupid comment spam, that recently spread like a plague, where the idiot poster try to look smart by posting some garbage about how great my content is, and how useful he found my post, or how she just bookmarked my sitee..bla..bla...bla, with a close look, you can easily spot these comments as a prewritten spam that has nothing to do with the blog content.

The problem is, I believe that these are done by some people (some of them are here on WF), who charge for this as backlinking service..

They take your money for doing this, and waste my time to delete it, so, at the end, you lost your money for nothing, I lost my time for nothing, the only winner is the idiot spammer.

Please, stop paying for these services, they will never do your site any good, on the contrary, it is probably harmful than being useful.
#fing #good #hiring #idiots #sakestop
  • Paul cleaned a lot of this up over the past two weeks. Maybe it will start to wither down on your blog.
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    • Profile picture of the author A Bary
      Originally Posted by Charles Montgomery View Post

      Paul cleaned a lot of this up over the past two weeks. Maybe it will start to wither down on your blog.
      I appreciate what Paul did, but these spammers still have emails on their lists, and their services are still actually out there (outside the WF), so , even with all Paul's efforts to clean up the forum, it's still important to dry up these spam sources by stop paying for them...
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  • Profile picture of the author Midas3 Consulting
    Originally Posted by goldmind123 View Post

    Sorry for the title, but I am really pissed off.

    During the last 3 weeks, I spent what could be hours of wasted time, deleting stupid comment spam, that recently spread like a plague, where the idiot poster try to look smart by posting some garbage about how great my content is, and how useful he found my post, or how she just bookmarked my sitee..bla..bla...bla, with a close look, you can easily spot these comments as a prewritten spam that has nothing to do with the blog content.

    The problem is, I believe that these are done by some people (some of them are here on WF), who charge for this as backlinking service..

    They take your money for doing this, and waste my time to delete it, so, at the end, you lost your money for nothing, I lost my time for nothing, the only winner is the idiot spammer.

    Please, stop paying for these services, they will never do your site any good, on the contrary, it is probably harmful than being useful.
    Unfortunately it's entirely possible to automate.

    You can implement something like Intense Debate or Discuss
    and put the security settings to high.

    Or simply require them to subscribe to comment.
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    • Originally Posted by SimonHarrison View Post

      Unfortunately it's entirely possible to automate.

      You can implement something like Intense Debate or Discuss
      and put the security settings to high.

      Or simply require them to subscribe to comment.
      There was a highly successful piece of software that was for sale as a WSO that automated everything.

      Why not disable comments, or set WP to make people be registered to leave a comment - with the first comment needing approval before they can post anymore?
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      • Profile picture of the author A Bary
        Originally Posted by Charles Montgomery View Post

        There was a highly successful piece of software that was for sale as a WSO that automated everything.

        Why not disable comments, or set WP to make people be registered to leave a comment - with the first comment needing approval before they can post anymore?
        I did so, but these comments still show in my "spam" folder, and it just fill up very quickly, so I need to empty it from time to time, with a few blogs, this is a really annoying additional work to do...

        But I'll think seriously about disabling comments entirely on my blogs...
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        • Originally Posted by goldmind123 View Post

          I did so, but these comments still show in my "spam" folder, and it just fill up very quickly, so I need to empty it from time to time, with a few blogs, this is a really annoying additional work to do...

          But I'll think seriously about disabling comments entirely on my blogs...
          Setup a gmail account and have all your comments go to that one throw away account. Then you dont have to worry about it.
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      • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
        Originally Posted by Charles Montgomery View Post

        Why not disable comments
        This is something I've toyed with for a long time. A friend of mine, Russ Nelson, has said for many years:

        "I don't blog for you to get your views out. If you want to get your views out, start your own damn blog. Link to me all you want, I don't mind."

        The only thing that holds me back is the general idea that your blog is a conversation with your audience, and if the other person can't say anything it isn't so much a conversation as a monologue.
        Signature
        "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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        • Profile picture of the author RLfan
          Originally Posted by CDarklock View Post

          This is something I've toyed with for a long time. A friend of mine, Russ Nelson, has said for many years:

          "I don't blog for you to get your views out. If you want to get your views out, start your own damn blog. Link to me all you want, I don't mind."

          The only thing that holds me back is the general idea that your blog is a conversation with your audience, and if the other person can't say anything it isn't so much a conversation as a monologue.
          Hhmm..I've never thought of it that way. If you're going to look at it closely, it does make sense in a way.

          However, I think a lot of people would be turned off by the whole "I speak, you listen" complex. What if they have legitimate questions? If they can't clear up things when they read your blog, they might stop reading it.
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          • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
            Originally Posted by RLfan View Post

            However, I think a lot of people would be turned off by the whole "I speak, you listen" complex. What if they have legitimate questions? If they can't clear up things when they read your blog, they might stop reading it.
            Russ thinks we have this wonderful trackback/pingback system out there which interconnects blogs, and that will do just fine.

            He thinks you'll be better off with your own blog than a blog comment, anyway, because now the owner of the blog can't censor you. And I sort of agree with that.

            But I do sort of dislike the "I speak you listen" thing, as you've said. I've been toying with some answers to it, but I don't think any of them will really work.
            Signature
            "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Oksa
    I know how you feel, but the reality of it is that as long as people believe they are deriving a benefit from these "services", they will continue to buy them.

    Hey, I don't think people should smoke (I used to smoke, by the way), but me telling them to stop buying cigarettes will do NOTHING to help the problem. Nothing. At. All.

    In fact, if I were to tell them to stop buying them, I would really only be wasting MORE of my time.

    These "services" aren't going anywhere any time soon, so the real question is what effective things can be done to minimize their impact?

    All the best,
    Michael
    Signature

    "Ich bin en fuego!"
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  • Profile picture of the author Raja Kamil
    hey friend, I used to get hundreds of "I bookmarked your site" kind of comment everday, but since I used wp-spamfree plugin. (refer to here to download)
    It reduced by no spammy comment at all.

    I dont want to be hype or make you more pissed, but try yourself. Its pretty amazing plugin though.
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  • Profile picture of the author KhirRahman
    Same to me, I got a lot of spam comments into my blog. They just say thanks thank and thanks.. some of them include their crappy html code.. when I checked it, most are from the same IP address.. Man you are right, they really are F***ing idiots!
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeremy Kelsall
    Originally Posted by goldmind123 View Post

    Sorry for the title, but I am really pissed off.

    During the last 3 weeks, I spent what could be hours of wasted time, deleting stupid comment spam, that recently spread like a plague, where the idiot poster try to look smart by posting some garbage about how great my content is, and how useful he found my post, or how she just bookmarked my sitee..bla..bla...bla, with a close look, you can easily spot these comments as a prewritten spam that has nothing to do with the blog content.

    The problem is, I believe that these are done by some people (some of them are here on WF), who charge for this as backlinking service..

    They take your money for doing this, and waste my time to delete it, so, at the end, you lost your money for nothing, I lost my time for nothing, the only winner is the idiot spammer.

    Please, stop paying for these services, they will never do your site any good, on the contrary, it is probably harmful than being useful.
    Dumb question, but if someone makes a post on your blog saying how useful it is, and how they enjoyed your content, regardless of whether they just wanted a backlink or not, what's the difference?

    100 people commenting on one of your posts talking about how good your website is, and how useful your content is, will likely give you instant credibility, and at least a hint of authority to the average web surfer (ever hear of social proof?).

    If you would have made a comment saying that you were getting comments just full of links or comments that offered to show you how to add 6 inches to your schlong, I would agree with you...but, not for the kind of comments you described.

    If you don't want people saying they enjoyed your content or that your site looks good - Don't blog.
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    • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
      Originally Posted by Jeremy Kelsall View Post

      Dumb question, but if someone makes a post on your blog saying how useful it is, and how they enjoyed your content, regardless of whether they just wanted a backlink or not, what's the difference?
      They don't actually think it's useful.

      They just think if they say that, you'll be all egocentric and not delete the comment.

      It's clear on most of these comments that they don't belong. You have a conversation like this:

      Article: "Weird esoteric idea about human cognitive development"

      Comment: "Interesting, what about other weird esoteric idea?"

      Comment: "Other weird esoteric idea blah blah blah."

      Comment: "Well have you considered blah blah blah?"

      Comment: "Good article I enjoy a lot will check out this product or service soon."

      WTF, get off my damn blog. You are interrupting a real conversation among real people who actually read the damn article and have some kind of coherent thought about it.

      So you tell me, Jeremy. Why is it bad to have a hundred people interrupting my conversation?

      Do you really need to ask?
      Signature
      "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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      • Profile picture of the author R Hagel
        Originally Posted by CDarklock View Post


        It's clear on most of these comments that they don't belong. You have a conversation like this:

        Article: "Weird esoteric idea about human cognitive development"

        Comment: "Interesting, what about other weird esoteric idea?"

        Comment: "Other weird esoteric idea blah blah blah."

        Comment: "Well have you considered blah blah blah?"

        Comment: "Good article I enjoy a lot will check out this product or service soon."

        WTF, get off my damn blog. You are interrupting a real conversation among real people who actually read the damn article and have some kind of coherent thought about it.

        Your post is really good. Are you a journalist?
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        • Profile picture of the author FredJones
          Great conversation indeed - that series of comments.

          And this is exactly what makes me think, Allen and Paul Myers did a great job on Warrior Forum by simply stopping many "backlink products" - they may not be able to stop what goes outside the Warrior Forum but they have done their level best to prevent the portion of tarnish to the real world and real value that they could.

          Great job Paul and Allen, once more, if you guys are reading this.
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        • Profile picture of the author theultimate1
          Originally Posted by R Hagel View Post

          Your post is really good. Are you a journalist?
          LOL. I like your post. Very funny. I'll check out some more jokes on your blog and bookmark them. :p
          Signature
          If Content Is Your King, Then This GhostRider.. err.. GhostWriter Is Your Knight!
          My Sample Articles
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    • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Jeremy Kelsall View Post

      If you don't want people saying they enjoyed your content or that your site looks good - Don't blog.
      Spammers aren't going to stop me from blogging and they're not going to trash my blogs either.

      Ever walk into a neighborhood and you instantly know you just walked into a bad neighborhood ... there's trash lying all over the place, hookers on every street corner, drug dealers all over the place. That's what these spammers are and that's what they do to the neighborhood ...my blog, my neighborhood.
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    • Profile picture of the author Heidi White
      Originally Posted by Jeremy Kelsall View Post

      Dumb question, but if someone makes a post on your blog saying how useful it is, and how they enjoyed your content, regardless of whether they just wanted a backlink or not, what's the difference?

      100 people commenting on one of your posts talking about how good your website is, and how useful your content is, will likely give you instant credibility, and at least a hint of authority to the average web surfer (ever hear of social proof?).

      If you would have made a comment saying that you were getting comments just full of links or comments that offered to show you how to add 6 inches to your schlong, I would agree with you...but, not for the kind of comments you described.

      If you don't want people saying they enjoyed your content or that your site looks good - Don't blog.

      I mostly turn off commenting - but in some cases where I don't I always read the url first. If it's some businessy thing - I usually just trash it. If there's no url - then I'll read the comment.

      It's not always obvious from the title of the URL what type of link it is.

      In the even that a reader decides to click on the commenters link, I want to be certain it's not going to take my reader somewhere they do not want to be. I'm not going to waste my time clicking those links either to find out what that site is all about.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alan Petersen
      Originally Posted by Jeremy Kelsall View Post

      If you don't want people saying they enjoyed your content or that your site looks good - Don't blog.
      Seriously? Don't blog. How about Don't Spam! We should not blog because we don't let people pollute our blogs in their search for a backlink, I don't think so. My blog. My rules.

      These blog spammers are not "saying they enjoyed your content or that your site looks good" there going through their backlink packages and copy/pasting the same drivel/spam down the line.

      I chose to leave my comments open because I want to encourage communication with my readers not to provide a landfill for backlink seekers.
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      • Profile picture of the author Jeremy Kelsall
        Originally Posted by Alan Petersen View Post

        Seriously? Don't blog. How about Don't Spam! We should not blog because we don't let people pollute our blogs in their search for a backlink, I don't think so. My blog. My rules.
        Yes, Seriously!

        Here is an sample of the comments that the OP SAID HE WAS GETTING:

        how great my content is, and how useful he found my post, or how she just bookmarked my site...

        So, what exactly makes that spam? - The fact that it is automated? The fact that they are including a link in the name field? More importantly, with comments like that, how do you know it's spam?


        Originally Posted by Alan Petersen View Post

        These blog spammers are not "saying they enjoyed your content or that your site looks good" there going through their backlink packages and copy/pasting the same drivel/spam down the line.
        Are you guys psychic bloggers, or you much can't believe that someone thought your post was great, I don't get it?

        Exactly what kind of comments are acceptable? Do the blog comment nazis have a minimum word count that they will accept, or does some super secret keyword have to be used in the body of the comment so that you know it isn't spam?

        Originally Posted by Alan Petersen View Post

        I chose to leave my comments open because I want to encourage communication with my readers not to provide a landfill for backlink seekers.
        Again, if you make a post and someone comes to your blog and says:

        "Hey Alan, Great post!" - that's spam?

        "Great looking site, I just bookmarked it" - that's spam?

        " I just grabbed your RSS feed, and will keep an eye on what comes next" - that's spam?

        Just to be clear - obviously, nobody wants their blogged tapped repeatedly by some idiot with a piece of software that is filling the comment box up with links back to their Viagra site - that's a given.

        But, if the comment " Great post, I really enjoyed it" sends up your spam radar...it's for one reason and one reason only...because your blog gets little or no traffic, and even less "legitimate comments". Probably to the point where you are falling out of your chair even seeing that you have a comment. Because if there truly was conversation, and discussions going on, most folks would welcome a "great content, I really like what you have to say on this subject" comment on their blog.

        Again, I'm not saying that you should be happy about being spammer or even that spamming blogs with link riddled comments is acceptable, because it's NOT - But for a whole thread to be devoted to being pissed off at people for saying that they enjoyed your blog and your content is goofy.
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        • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
          Jeremy,
          If you don't want people saying they enjoyed your content or that your site looks good - Don't blog.
          "If you don't want email spam, don't leave your address out there for people to contact you." "What's the big deal about profile linking? It makes your site look like it has more members." Blah blah, yak, etc.

          Bushwah.

          Any reasonably intelligent reader will spot most of these comment spams for what they are. Leaving them up just makes you look stupid to those people, who, unsurprisingly, tend to leave the most useful comments.


          Paul
          Signature
          .
          Stop by Paul's Pub - my little hangout on Facebook.

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          • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
            By the way... I am not the only one involved in getting rid of this stuff. I'm more vocal than some, but all the active mods are involved, along with some members who've taken up the cause (for which we are all appreciative!).

            Nothing significant happens in a place this big as a one-man show. The days where a solo player could make that kind of difference here are long gone.


            Paul
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            Stop by Paul's Pub - my little hangout on Facebook.

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          • Profile picture of the author Jeremy Kelsall
            Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post


            Any reasonably intelligent reader will spot most of these comment spams for what they are. Leaving them up just makes you look stupid to those people, who, unsurprisingly, tend to leave the most useful comments.


            Paul
            If your blog readers know whether or not when someone says that they liked your content is being genuine or not, please tell all of us where the honey pot for psychic internet users is...please.
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            • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
              Jeremy,
              If your blog readers know whether or not when someone says that they liked your content is being genuine or not, please tell all of us where the honey pot for psychic internet users is...please.
              Not psychic. Just awake. If a blog owner can tell, why would it be harder for a blog reader?

              Besides, most people don't appreciate the mindless one-liners regardless of who posted them.


              Paul
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              Stop by Paul's Pub - my little hangout on Facebook.

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        • Profile picture of the author Shannon Spoon
          [QUOTE=Jeremy Kelsall;2104132]

          Exactly what kind of comments are acceptable? Do the blog comment nazis have a minimum word count that they will accept, or does some super secret keyword have to be used in the body of the comment so that you know it isn't spam?

          QUOTE]

          Jeremy that was just too funny the blog comment nazis

          Like the soup nazi on Seinfield. No soup for you Jeremy!!

          Anyway, i am confused about this spam thing too. If i make comment saying i like your blog is that spam?

          If someone makes a comment on my site a i think it is relevant i approve that comment.

          If i do happen to leave my door unlocked (maybe i forgot) i don't think i deserve to get robbed?
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        • Profile picture of the author bgmacaw
          Originally Posted by Jeremy Kelsall View Post

          More importantly, with comments like that, how do you know it's spam?
          When you see the exact same comment or an obvious spin of it on multiple blogs.

          When you see links to the same site posted on multiple blogs

          When you see a comment like this...

          "I was wondering about [Post Title] | [Blog Name]. I was looking for this information for a long time. Thanks for this post!"

          Or something just plain silly like this...

          "Countless for taking the time to discuss this, I think strongly regarding it and enjoy learning quite good on this topic. If plausible, despite the fact that you gain expertise, would you mind updating your internet sites with large sum information? It is really definitely helpful for me."

          But, in the spirit of being helpful, if you need some poorly moderated blogs to spam, do a Google search, in quotes, for this phrase....

          "I was looking for this information for a long time"
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          • Profile picture of the author Jeremy Kelsall
            Originally Posted by bgmacaw View Post

            When you see the exact same comment or an obvious spin of it on multiple blogs.

            When you see links to the same site posted on multiple blogs

            When you see a comment like this...

            "I was wondering about [Post Title] | [Blog Name]. I was looking for this information for a long time. Thanks for this post!"

            Or something just plain silly like this...

            "Countless for taking the time to discuss this, I think strongly regarding it and enjoy learning quite good on this topic. If plausible, despite the fact that you gain expertise, would you mind updating your internet sites with large sum information? It is really definitely helpful for me."

            But, in the spirit of being helpful, if you need some poorly moderated blogs to spam, do a Google search, in quotes, for this phrase....

            "I was looking for this information for a long time"
            Some of the examples you gave are obviously spam, and someone would pretty much have to be asleep at the wheel to publish those comments on their blog.

            But, remember - this thread is about someone complaining about people making comments saying how they liked the content, and how they would continue coming back to see what kind of updates were happening.
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            • Profile picture of the author bgmacaw
              Originally Posted by Jeremy Kelsall View Post

              But, remember - this thread is about someone complaining about people making comments saying how they liked the content, and how they would continue coming back to see what kind of updates were happening.
              That comment is a spam cliche to the point that even if anyone was using it legitimately they would deserve to get Akismeted just on general principles.

              But, it is true that there are a few out there that could fool people easily because the autogenerated comment looks so authentic. Since I have so many blogs, I get to see more generated comments than most and I'm able to figure out when somebody is doing a automated run for a particular site/keyword pretty quickly.
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            • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
              Originally Posted by Jeremy Kelsall View Post

              But, remember - this thread is about someone complaining about people making comments saying how they liked the content, and how they would continue coming back to see what kind of updates were happening.
              No it isn't.

              "...with a close look, you can easily spot these comments as a prewritten spam..."

              This thread is precisely and specifically about the obvious spam comments.
              Signature
              "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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              • Profile picture of the author Jeremy Kelsall
                Originally Posted by CDarklock View Post

                No it isn't.

                "...with a close look, you can easily spot these comments as a prewritten spam..."
                And as I've said to 2 other people in this thread.....

                If you can tell the intention behind "Great blog post, I look forward to reading more from you" Sylvia Brown must be the one approving or throwing comments to spam on your blog

                The fact that people actually go to their blog, check the comments, pick one, cop a portion of it, go to google, search for it, look at the results, and then approve a comment or send it to spam, totally and utterly baffles the crap out of me.

                If anyone wants to stop by my blogs and let me know how great my site looks, how great my content is, or kiss my ass in general, in return for a backlink that doesn't affect my site or it's rankings in the slightest, please do so whenever you want. As long as you are not linking out to porn, gambling, or a pharma site, I can assure you that it will be approved just about each and every time.

                And just for clarification, here is the initial quote from the OP:

                During the last 3 weeks, I spent what could be hours of wasted time, deleting stupid comment spam, that recently spread like a plague, where the idiot poster try to look smart by posting some garbage about how great my content is, and how useful he found my post, or how she just bookmarked my sitee..bla..bla...bla, with a close look, you can easily spot these comments as a prewritten spam that has nothing to do with the blog content.


                How does "great content" "how useful someone found your post" or the fact that someone "bookmarked your site" equal prewritten spam?

                Following that logic, 80% of the replies to threads here on the forum are spam.
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                • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
                  Originally Posted by Jeremy Kelsall View Post

                  If you can tell the intention behind "Great blog post, I look forward to reading more from you"
                  Jeremy, you just said earlier that some blog comments are obviously spam.

                  The OP said outright that the blog comments he's talking about are obviously spam.

                  It looks to me like you agree about that. Why are you arguing?
                  Signature
                  "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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                  • Profile picture of the author Jeremy Kelsall
                    Originally Posted by CDarklock View Post

                    Jeremy, you just said earlier that some blog comments are obviously spam.

                    The OP said outright that the blog comments he's talking about are obviously spam.

                    It looks to me like you agree about that. Why are you arguing?
                    I'm not arguing for "spam"... Obvious spam to me is a comment box filled with links, or the comment still has the spin syntax visible, or a comment that you can tell just from looking at it, that it has somehow been spun because it makes no sense.

                    I expect to get comments like "Thanks for the good content" or "Wow, that was a really great post" - The fact that some just assume that it is spam, really makes me wonder what some blog owners think about their own content lol

                    How many comments are you guys "spamming away" from legitimate readers of your content? The fact that you would "spam away" a comment just because their is a link to another site when the comment says that your doing a good job, or you are providing great content, for fear that someone gets a backlink from your site...makes me go hmmmmmm...then makes me go.......hurrrrrrdurrrrr....

                    So, rather than take a comment that basically praises you, and possibly adds to social proof when Joe Blow web surfer lands on your niche blog...you spend a couple minutes googling the comment, spamming it away, and getting annoyed by it? lol
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                    • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
                      Originally Posted by Jeremy Kelsall View Post

                      I expect to get comments like "Thanks for the good content" or "Wow, that was a really great post"
                      I expect them to have names instead of keywords in the "name" field.

                      I expect them to be different from one comment to the next.

                      I expect them to be posted by human beings.

                      When I have fourteen posts on four blogs at 3:44 from "Digital Books Online" and every single one of them says "Great post I really enjoy to read" - I call that three strikes, you're out.
                      Signature
                      "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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                • Profile picture of the author agc
                  Originally Posted by Jeremy Kelsall View Post

                  If anyone wants to stop by my blogs and let me know how great my site looks, how great my content is, or kiss my ass in general, in return for a backlink that doesn't affect my site or it's rankings in the slightest, please do so whenever you want. As long as you are not linking out to porn, gambling, or a pharma site, I can assure you that it will be approved just about each and every time.
                  Mind posting a list of your blogs? I'm sure lots of warrios have non gambling, non pharma, non porn links to drop. I'm sure they'll post whatever congratulatory comment you prefer.
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            • Profile picture of the author genietoast
              Good post.

              Hmm. This makes me think.

              I changed my comment box to comment luv to allow people have the link to their last blog showing.

              I didn't know how to make comments do-follow so I thought by adding comment luv it would allow people to share their link automatically and would reduce the need for "try my travel deals" but encourage people to have a more engaging comment discussion.

              I also set my filter words for all the swear words, porn, and other words I don't like.

              However, I do have askimet, and I moderate all my comments, so we'll see how it goes.
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            • Profile picture of the author sylviad
              How does backtracking work? It's always baffled me.

              You set something in your blog to allow backtracking? (I think that's the term), and then comments appear in quotes "...(a quote from your post)..." and nothing else.

              What the heck IS that? I don't get it.

              My point is, if you are getting stuff like that, maybe you need to turn that off, wherever it is in your WP blog admin area.

              Other than that, I do what others have suggested: either turn off comments, or make them register and answer the Captcha question to gain access. And even then, nothing goes live unless I approve it.

              I only approve those that offer something worthwhile and if a link is included, that it goes to a site that complements mine, rather than competes with it. I'll also allow quality comments from irrelevant sites as long as they are suitable for general audiences.

              Sylvia
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              • Profile picture of the author agc
                Originally Posted by sylviad View Post

                My point is, if you are getting stuff like that, maybe you need to turn that off, wherever it is in your WP blog admin area.
                On your WP control pane, under Settings -> Discusssion

                Find this option and make sure it's UNCHECKED.

                [ ] Allow link notifications from other blogs (pingbacks and trackbacks.)
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                • Profile picture of the author sylviad
                  Originally Posted by agc View Post

                  On your WP control pane, under Settings -> Discusssion

                  Find this option and make sure it's UNCHECKED.

                  [ ] Allow link notifications from other blogs (pingbacks and trackbacks.)
                  Ah. That's looks like it. Yes. Thank you. I still don't get why that is even an option. What is it supposed to do? What is the benefit, and for whom?

                  Sylvia
                  Signature
                  :: Got a dog? Visit my blog. Dog Talk Weekly
                  :: Writing, Audio Transcription Services? - Award-winning Journalist is taking new projects. Warrior Discounts!
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                  • Profile picture of the author agc
                    Originally Posted by sylviad View Post

                    Ah. That's looks like it. Yes. Thank you. I still don't get why that is even an option. What is it supposed to do? What is the benefit, and for whom?

                    Sylvia
                    I imagine is was nice for reciprocating links... back before the spamaggots learned to exploit it.
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                  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
                    Banned
                    Originally Posted by sylviad View Post

                    Ah. That's looks like it. Yes. Thank you. I still don't get why that is even an option. What is it supposed to do? What is the benefit, and for whom?

                    Sylvia
                    The reason it's there is because in a perfect world, your blog will be so interesting that other bloggers will link to it and blog about it. That is a trackback and it provides you with a great link and traffic. I don't turn it off. I moderate.
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        • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
          Banned
          Originally Posted by Jeremy Kelsall View Post

          Just to be clear - obviously, nobody wants their blogged tapped repeatedly by some idiot with a piece of software that is filling the comment box up with links back to their Viagra site - that's a given.
          Well, you're not that naive ... give me a break.
          It is automated blog spam. They have not even visited your blog. The majority of this crap is out of context and yes ... most of it does have links to every drug ever manufactured or every porn site on the Internet.

          The fact that these disappear very quickly when you use wp-spamfree is proof enough that it is just automated spam. Not only that, but the same assholes hit the same blogs over and over and over again.
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        • Profile picture of the author Martin Luxton
          Originally Posted by Jeremy Kelsall View Post

          Here is an sample of the comments that the OP SAID HE WAS GETTING:

          how great my content is, and how useful he found my post, or how she just bookmarked my site...

          So, what exactly makes that spam? - The fact that it is automated? The fact that they are including a link in the name field? More importantly, with comments like that, how do you know it's spam?
          I did this fantastic post entitled Hello World

          "Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!"
          It was incredibly popular! Over 30 people commented on my exceptional writing abilities.

          This acclaim inspired me to write a follow-up post entitled Hello Solar System which got an even higher total of favourable comments.

          I am sure my forthcoming Amazon book Hello Universe will become a runaway bestseller given the amount of raving fans I have from just two posts.

          Martin
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          • Profile picture of the author Midas3 Consulting
            Originally Posted by Martin Luxton View Post

            I did this fantastic post entitled Hello World



            It was incredibly popular! Over 30 people commented on my exceptional writing abilities.

            This acclaim inspired me to write a follow-up post entitled Hello Solar System which got an even higher total of favourable comments.

            I am sure my forthcoming Amazon book Hello Universe will become a runaway bestseller given the amount of raving fans I have from just two posts.

            Martin
            You made me smile , the thread needed a little humor.

            Some salient points worth noting in this discussion are being
            made but I doubt they will change opinion, you either
            see it one way or the other, looks like never the twain shall meet
            to me.

            When an article gets published in a directory, it gets it's own page. That's the end of the process.

            When a comment gets posted to a blog it's in the middle of an active conversation.

            The problem we are discussing here isn't that you are submitting lots of content, but that you are submitting lots of content that does not meet the standards.

            If you can submit 100 articles that meet the standards, you're fine.

            If you can write 100 blog comments that meet the standards, you're fine.

            But if you don't meet the standards, both are unacceptable.

            Comment spam is a different situation. It goes against the intent of the providers of the resource, and their purpose in providing it.

            For all the word-splitting that's going on in this thread, that's really what it's all about: Intent and purpose.

            First of all, however you spin it, it is NOT the wishes
            of blog owners to have generic 1 liners posted to their
            blog , it IS the wishes of ezine or another article
            database to have content in the format they ask
            for submitted to them.
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    It's not just people here ... they're everywhere. You'll never stop it with complaints. Spammers don't stop. Ever. Use anti-spam plugins or Akismet or whatever works best to reduce it.
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  • First of all... **CHEER** **APPLAUSE**

    One plugin - math comment spam protector. Or whatever its called. Its just a basic captcha, and it has let NO spam through - and I used to get hundreds in a day.

    Don't disable comments. Your comments are the best way to engage readers in a discussion. Just because a few nasty people have decided to take advantage doesn't mean you have to give up on one of the most crucial elements for interacting with your audience.

    Just remember, those blog spammers - both the spammers and the people that hire them, actually - don't have a viable long term business model. They'll fail, and drop into obscurity at some point. Of course there will be someone there to replace them, but take comfort in the fact that YOU will see success because of your blog, and they will fail by using black-hat techniques like that.

    - Cherilyn
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    • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
      Originally Posted by Cherilyn Woodhouse View Post

      Don't disable comments. Your comments are the best way to engage readers in a discussion.
      I have another idea that could engage readers in a discussion, but I need to think about it for a while.

      Just remember, those blog spammers - both the spammers and the people that hire them, actually - don't have a viable long term business model.
      Lots of people every day start up new businesses with no viable long-term prospects.

      MLM will never die.

      Sure, the overwhelming majority of people who start MLM will make no money and quit. But for every one that quits, another one joins up saying "That won't happen to ME!" and then it does and he quits, but someone else joins up saying "I have a better idea" and then later he goes "no, wait that's the same idea" as he quits.

      And meanwhile, there are just enough people making major bank with MLM that you can never convince anyone of their own inability to be one of those people. Look, George over there did make millions in MLM - it's true. But George would make millions doing anything. George is completely awesome at this stuff and could lease the moon's reflection to people with lakefront property. He sold me a bridge once. And you're not George.

      "Yes I am!"

      *sigh*
      Signature
      "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Oksa
    This post is really good. I enjoyed reading it and will read more.
    Signature

    "Ich bin en fuego!"
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    • Profile picture of the author bfas
      Originally Posted by Michael Oksa View Post

      This post is really good. I enjoyed reading it and will read more.
      Too funny!

      Yup, I get a lot of those. Fwiw, Akismet - standard installed plugin on WP 2.8+, catches 98% of them. And you can set Akismet to delete spam comments after 30 days. As such, you really don't have to do anything.

      bfas
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    • Profile picture of the author agc
      Originally Posted by Michael Oksa View Post

      This post is really good. I enjoyed reading it and will read more.
      Wait I missed the backlink to your site.
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    • Profile picture of the author txconx
      Originally Posted by Michael Oksa View Post

      This post is really good. I enjoyed reading it and will read more.
      AHA! Caught ya!

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      • Profile picture of the author PatriciaJ
        A couple of months back I checked out a WSO selling a comment spammer - No I didn't buy it. The WSO had a video showing how it worked and a several of the regular like your blog or saw it on Yahoo comments were used as examples. Some of the spamming idiots are using those examples word for word showing how unimaginitive they are.

        It used to annoy me but sometimes I look though and approve some of them but remove the links first. I also find some of the out of context comments hilarious. For instance I was just going through some and am still laughing at this one

        'Valuable tidings and excellent enterprise you got here! I would like to thank you in place of sharing your thoughts and metre into the poppycock you advise!! Thumbs up'

        It was on somebody elses article so I can't even take the credit for writing poppycock.

        Then I came across a linkback in the spam comments. A kitchen utensil site is now linking back to an article about ways to improve the size of a mans wotsit. Well I think it's funny.

        At least I get something out of the spam comments even if it is only a good laugh.

        I use akismet and it's simple enough to click on empty spam if you don't want to see them, but looking at the bigger picture more blog owners will get cheesed off and turn comments off if the obvious comment spamming continues to grow.

        PS. How article directories can be compared to comment spam is beyond me!
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        • Profile picture of the author Trent Brownrigg
          It used to annoy me but sometimes I look though and approve some of them but remove the links first.
          I sometimes do that too. If the comment is decent, but still obvious spam, I just remove the links, tidy it up a bit, and approve it. Instant content without giving anything back to the A-hole spammer.
          Signature

          You can find internet marketing strategies, SEO consulting, and tons of business advice at BAM!

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        • Profile picture of the author bgmacaw
          Originally Posted by PatriciaJ View Post

          'Valuable tidings and excellent enterprise you got here!
          Seriously, do a Google search on this phrase and those like it. Much hilarity will ensue....

          "Valuable tidings and choice enterprise you got here! I would like to tender thanks you against sharing your thoughts and term into the choke you despatch!"

          "Valuable tidings and but enterprise you got here! I would like to tender thanks you in place of sharing your thoughts and metre into the poppycock you post!! Thumbs up"

          "I enjoyed the article and thanks recompense posting such valuable tidings emoluments of all of us to skim, I instate it both of consume and educational and I concoct to thumb it as again as I can."

          "I enjoyed the article and thanks in consideration of posting such valuable tidings heartier of all of us to allude to to, I begin it both useful and communicative and I method to admit it as commonly as I can."

          EDIT...

          Here's another good one that just came in...

          "Thanks for this, there was just one part that I didn’t understand.

          If you could, can you elaborate on the last paragraph/part of it. I’m not 100% sure why, but I can’t wrap my head around it.

          I guess it could be all the coffee I have been drinking today"

          Sounds very legit until you Google it and find it or variations of it on about 200 blogs already.
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    • Profile picture of the author Joseph Ratliff
      Originally Posted by Michael Oksa View Post

      This post is really good. I enjoyed reading it and will read more.
      ROFL

      I noticed your site after searching for _______ and will now bookmark it and return.
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  • Profile picture of the author Fallen_Angel
    I usually post that I enjoyed the post and found it helpful, im not using a service to do this. I do not do it often maybe 2 -3 blogs a day. I do not want people to think i am spamming.
    I would take same stance as Jeremy on that.
    Signature
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  • Profile picture of the author KC-Coop
    I agree with Jeremy on this one - what does it matter if they are just saying that they enjoyed your post? Comments on your posts make it look like your blog is active - which can help to make it actually become active.

    As long as they aren't dropping tons of links in the post itself I don't see much of an issue with it.
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  • Profile picture of the author agc
    I just take the flattering spam comments, strip out the back link, copy the email account as the name, and approve em.

    ha.

    Of course, posts like this.... wtf?

    Substantially, the article is in reality the best on this deserving topic. I harmonize with your conclusions and will thirstily look forward to your coming updates. Saying thanks will not just be sufficient, for the exceptional lucidity in your writing. I will instantly grab your rss feed to stay privy of any updates. Fabulous work and much success in your business enterprise!
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    • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
      Originally Posted by agc View Post

      I will instantly grab your rss
      I misread this at first, and had a substantially larger WTF moment.
      Signature
      "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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      • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
        Caliban...I really love reading your posts.

        You'd make a great fiction writer with your imagination and way with words.

        As for this problem, I just use Akismet or whatever the hell it's called, require
        all comments to be approved by me, and that's it.

        If I don't see a freaking Stephen King novel like comment, I don't approve it.

        Contribute to my blog with something meaningful or go play with your toys
        somewhere else.

        That's why, up to now, I only have like 150 comments on my blog with over
        1,500 articles.

        No skin off my nose.
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        • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
          Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim View Post

          You'd make a great fiction writer with your imagination and way with words.
          I have a plot problem with my novel. I have people in situation A and I need to get them into situation B. I've written it about two dozen times and it never feels right.

          So until I get that resolved, I will just stay stuck on page 47 of it, which is where I've been since late 2008.
          Signature
          "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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          • Profile picture of the author Amitywill
            I Eliminated A Ton Of Comment Spam By...

            Downloading this plugin Si captcha.

            It basically adds a little maths question under the comment
            form on your wordpress blog.

            The main site I used it on was getting hundreds of spam comments
            per day but since I've installed it a couple of weeks ago I've had
            around 3 spam comments.

            The spam softwares can't solve the maths question and generally
            if a manual spammer sees the maths question they know that
            the blog is probably moderated so they don't bother.

            Ah and you can also add the maths question to your login page
            as another measure to combat hackers.

            Give it a try.

            Will
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          • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
            Originally Posted by CDarklock View Post

            I have a plot problem with my novel. I have people in situation A and I need to get them into situation B. I've written it about two dozen times and it never feels right.

            So until I get that resolved, I will just stay stuck on page 47 of it, which is where I've been since late 2008.
            It'll come...don't force it. One day it'll hit you in the middle of the forehead.
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  • Or the ones buying them... *headdesk*
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    Take your product from idea to profit in less than 90 days! Work with me to develop and implement a step-by-step plan for success!
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  • Profile picture of the author Imran Naseem
    Banned
    I eliminated a few spam messages too today and a few abusive ones from people "who wanted to punch me in the face".

    Was funny!
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    • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
      Originally Posted by Imran Naseem View Post

      I eliminated a few spam messages too today and a few abusive ones from people "who wanted to punch me in the face".

      Was funny!
      Imran, with you working out now, you should tell 'em, "Bring it!"

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    • Profile picture of the author Thomas Smale
      Originally Posted by Imran Naseem View Post

      I eliminated a few spam messages too today and a few abusive ones from people "who wanted to punch me in the face".

      Was funny!
      There's a difference between spam and personally directed insults.

      I believe the OP was referring to blog commenters who use spun posts to "spam" the same post across hundreds of blogs.

      It's unlikely anyone is going to try spam "I want to punch you in the face" across the whole Internet

      @OP - make your blog no-follow and use Askimet (if you use Wordpress) - that should deter/prevent the majority of posts coming through.
      Signature
      I specialize in selling websites over $10,000 in value. No obligation, confidential valuation here.
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    • Profile picture of the author primhuman
      Originally Posted by Imran Naseem View Post

      I eliminated a few spam messages too today and a few abusive ones from people "who wanted to punch me in the face".

      Was funny!
      Bring "em in mate
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  • Profile picture of the author rjaf
    A Message for the Whining Milksops:
    If you have a blog that allows comments and you don't police it in an adult, sane way, then how can you possibly be surprised/angered/bewildered/whatever by someone posting an anodyne comment on your unprotected site, in order to try to get themselves a backlink? What next? "I left my front door unlocked and a burglar took advantage of me?" Grow up and take control of your life and stop blaming others for your own ineptitude.
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    • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
      Originally Posted by rjaf View Post

      A Message for the Whining Milksops:
      If you have a blog that allows comments and you don't police it in an adult, sane way, then how can you possibly be surprised/angered/bewildered/whatever by someone posting an anodyne comment on your unprotected site, in order to try to get themselves a backlink? What next? "I left my front door unlocked and a burglar took advantage of me?" Grow up and take control of your life and stop blaming others for your own ineptitude.
      One more person to put in my little black book of who never to do
      business with.
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      • Profile picture of the author rjaf
        Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim View Post

        One more person to put in my little black book of who never to do
        business with.
        Steve, what gives? I merely pointed out a fact: if you don't take care of the security of your blog comments, someone will take advantage, and you'll be spammed.

        I suppose I should feel uncomfortable, hurt and distressed at now being in your Little Black Book, but, given that I don't think I'd have ever done business with you anyway (as you don't do "500K Backlinks for $27" WSOs), I am feeling relatively unscathed, and think I may just be able to face going out in public again in the near future.
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        • Profile picture of the author Karen Blundell
          I too got a ton of comment spam until I discovered this plugin:
          WordPress › Conditional CAPTCHA for Wordpress WordPress Plugins
          Signature
          ---------------
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        • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
          Originally Posted by rjaf View Post

          I merely pointed out a fact: if you don't take care of the security of your blog comments, someone will take advantage, and you'll be spammed.
          You're missing the part where you apparently think that's okay.

          Even if you are doing something monumentally stupid like dancing naked in a bad part of town while waving a handful of cash, taking that cash from you is still wrong and should not be done.

          "You were asking for it!" is NEVER the right response when someone complains of being victimised.
          Signature
          "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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          • Profile picture of the author rjaf
            [quote=CDarklock;2114964]You're missing the part where you apparently think that's okay.

            I think that the reason I'm missing that is that I never said it.
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            • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
              Originally Posted by rjaf View Post

              I think that the reason I'm missing that is that I never said it.
              You're right. You just left...

              Originally Posted by rjaf View Post

              A Message for the Whining Milksops
              Yeah, clearly you don't blame the victims at all.
              Signature
              "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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              • Profile picture of the author rjaf
                Originally Posted by CDarklock View Post

                You're right. You just left...



                Yeah, clearly you don't blame the victims at all.

                Of course I blame the victims. They are twerps. They remind me of the character in the following Emo Philips joke:

                When I was a kid my parents used to tell me, "Emo, don't go near the cellar door!"

                But one day, when they were away, I went up to the cellar door.

                And I pushed it.

                And walked through.

                And I saw strange, wonderful things, things I had never seen before, like...trees. Grass. Flowers. The sun... that was nice... the sun.

                It's like they never interracted with real life before.
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                • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
                  Originally Posted by rjaf View Post

                  Of course I blame the victims.
                  Now, see, that's why we think you're a jerk.

                  I'm sure you don't agree with us, but we're entitled to our opinion.
                  Signature
                  "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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                  • Profile picture of the author rjaf
                    Originally Posted by CDarklock View Post

                    Now, see, that's why we think you're a jerk.

                    I'm sure you don't agree with us, but we're entitled to our opinion.
                    If describing moronic behaviour as being moronic beahviour makes me appear to be a jerk, then I guess I'll just have to live with it.
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                    • Profile picture of the author agc
                      Originally Posted by rjaf View Post

                      If describing moronic behaviour as being moronic beahviour makes me appear to be a jerk, then I guess I'll just have to live with it.
                      I personally would have described the inability to distinguish the guilty party between a thief and a careless victim more as a lack of enlightenment rather than moronic.

                      But I think you just convinced me!
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                    • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
                      Originally Posted by rjaf View Post

                      If describing moronic behaviour as being moronic beahviour makes me appear to be a jerk, then I guess I'll just have to live with it.
                      Have you ever heard the phrase "adding insult to injury" before?

                      This is what that means.

                      Imagine Joe doesn't lock the door of his car, and Bob steals the car.

                      And now here you come to tell Joe what an idiot he is for not locking his car.

                      But Joe's already sitting here with a stolen car. Hasn't he suffered enough for not locking the damn doors? Why does he need you to come over and call him names over it? Dude, honestly:

                      Signature
                      "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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                      • Profile picture of the author dvduval
                        Originally Posted by CDarklock View Post

                        Have you ever heard the phrase "adding insult to injury" before?

                        This is what that means.

                        Imagine Joe doesn't lock the door of his car, and Bob steals the car.

                        And now here you come to tell Joe what an idiot he is for not locking his car.

                        But Joe's already sitting here with a stolen car. Hasn't he suffered enough for not locking the damn doors? Why does he need you to come over and call him names over it? Dude, honestly:


                        Pretty funny. I've had my car stolen enough times now that I only drive it in my gated community surrounded a mote and where the sun never sets.
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                        It is okay to contact me! I have been developing software since 1999, creating many popular products like phpLD.
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                      • Profile picture of the author rjaf
                        Originally Posted by CDarklock View Post

                        Have you ever heard the phrase "adding insult to injury" before?

                        This is what that means.

                        Imagine Joe doesn't lock the door of his car, and Bob steals the car.

                        And now here you come to tell Joe what an idiot he is for not locking his car.

                        But Joe's already sitting here with a stolen car. Hasn't he suffered enough for not locking the damn doors? Why does he need you to come over and call him names over it? Dude, honestly:

                        If the said car owner were to then whine and moan on a public forum, then I think I'd probably say, "Mr. Car Driver, you were practically on your knees begging for your car to be taken. Stop crying about it." I'm nothing if not consistent. I also think his insurance company would tell him the same thing.

                        People like the OP and your hypothetical car driver appear to have escaped the slings and arrows of the real world, and are bewildered by life not having been engineered for their own, personal, comfort and pleasure. They are the ones who, having handed over $5000, are now waiting for General Abacha in Nigeria to send them their generous share of the $15M that has been locked away for the past 3 years in that dead prince's frozen bank account.

                        As for calling names... well, I think you might want to take a look a little closer to home. So far you have called me a jerk and a dick. Which, for a fantastic copywriter like you, is a bit weak. I want your next attempt to have at least two syllables. Jerky Dicky is not sufficient, I'm afraid.
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                        • Profile picture of the author agc
                          Originally Posted by rjaf View Post

                          People like the OP and your hypothetical car driver appear to have escaped the slings and arrows of the real world, and are bewildered by life not having been engineered for their own, personal, comfort and pleasure.
                          See this is the difference between the third world and the civilized world.

                          In the civilized world, the difference between the victim and the thief basically understood.

                          This basic fundamental security in one's person and property is part of what enables the civilized world to BE civilized.

                          But go ahead, do what you want. Just make sure you do it in your own ghetto.
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                          • Profile picture of the author rjaf
                            Originally Posted by agc View Post

                            See this is the difference between the third world and the civilized world.

                            In the civilized world, the difference between the victim and the thief basically understood.

                            This basic fundamental security in one's person and property is part of what enables the civilized world to BE civilized.

                            But go ahead, do what you want. Just make sure you do it in your own ghetto.
                            You have twice now written about confusing victim and thief. Darklock chimed-in with car theft. How long before murder, rape and pillage are introduced into this thread about ... er ... SPAM!!! I think you both are watching too much television. CSI New York, is it? I thought so. It's not real, you know. It's well done, sure, but not real. Mac was in Forrest Gump. He's not really a cop at all. It's true, I tell you.
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                            • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
                              You have twice now written about confusing victim and thief.
                              The offline analogies are used because they're familiar. It comes down to the tendency some posters have of equating "I have the ability to do this" with "I have the right to do this." That same principle is at work in spamming, car theft, and any other violation of someone else's property rights.

                              Physical assaults are a step up the ladder, yes. I don't see anyone making that particular error. Trying to introduce it is disingenuous on your part.

                              This is not a particularly complicated issue. If you're directly damaging someone else's business for your own benefit, you're doing something wrong.


                              Paul
                              Signature
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                            • Profile picture of the author agc
                              Originally Posted by rjaf View Post

                              You have twice now written about confusing victim and thief.
                              Yet, interestingly you have nothing to say about this:

                              Originally Posted by agc

                              I especially love the premise that if don't put up a 6' perimeter of barbed wire, security lighting and 24 hour surveillance then it's my own fault when my house gets graffiti painted on it.
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                        • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
                          Originally Posted by rjaf View Post

                          If the said car owner were to then whine and moan on a public forum
                          You don't seem to understand the difference between these two people.

                          Over here is a person who did not lock his car door.

                          And over there is a person who STOLE THE CAR.

                          What do you not understand about this? One person did not do anything illegal, unethical, or immoral... and the other one did.

                          You don't appear to understand that. You're concerned about berating the guy who doesn't lock his car door, but you don't seem to care that someone is out there stealing cars.

                          People like the OP and your hypothetical car driver appear to have escaped the slings and arrows of the real world, and are bewildered by life not having been engineered for their own, personal, comfort and pleasure.
                          Actually, they're bewildered by the existence of people like you... who don't seem to think it's a problem when people break the rules and mistreat their fellow man.

                          Because you're out here advertising to the world that you don't see the problem with being a criminal.

                          So the guy's car was stolen. So what? He didn't lock it. He was practically ASKING to have it stolen. Right?

                          In other words, you'd probably have stolen it yourself. You know, if that other lucky ******* hadn't gotten there first. Damn, forgot to check if it was locked. If you'd only known it wasn't locked, you could have had yourself a car. I mean, that's $150 just for the scrap metal, and who knows what it might have had in it?

                          You don't look like part of the solution to me.
                          Signature
                          "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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          • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
            Banned
            Originally Posted by CDarklock View Post

            Even if you are doing something monumentally stupid like dancing naked in a bad part of town while waving a handful of cash, taking that cash from you is still wrong and should not be done.
            Doh ... you mean we shouldn't be doing this?
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  • Profile picture of the author JMartin
    Why not allow comments but remove the URLs so that the name isn't linked to anything?

    Regular people aren't going to stop commenting because they can't get a link—last I checked.
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  • Profile picture of the author Trent Brownrigg
    I get these all the time and I agree they are VERY annoying! The other day I had one that said how they love how I always give such great news and sports updates on my blog... but it's a blog about dogs and I have NEVER given any sports updates or news on there. LOL
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    • Profile picture of the author Midas3 Consulting
      Originally Posted by Trent Brownrigg View Post

      I get these all the time and I agree they are VERY annoying! The other day I had one that said how they love how I always give such great news and sports updates on my blog... but it's a blog about dogs and I have NEVER given any sports updates or news on there. LOL
      You have amateur spammers, generic wins the day.

      At least the spammers of our blogs have some skillz.

      I was cleaning up some great ones yesterday on
      a professional blog of ours.

      "I had some real problems registering for your blog
      apparently it didn't like my e-mail address, great
      information though, spot on, really addressed
      my concerns , especially what you wrote at the
      end"

      Now that's pro blog spamming.

      It would have been perfect apart from 2 things:

      1) It was a Youtube video, not a text post, nothing
      had been written "at the end".

      2) His backlink to an Arabic dating site. (Didn't
      even know they existed).

      Still got to give the guy credit who loaded up the
      message to his bot, nice try, if it had hit any
      other post on the blog I might have skipped over it.
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonmorgan
    this thread is funny.

    many of you are very misguided with the who/what/when/where/why this is happening.

    It has nothing to do with backlink packs and it doesn't involve a living human being adding a single comment to your blog.

    it's all from a wonderful piece of software that will scrap up your blog url's and post comments all at the touch of a button. It's completely automated and requires almost no effort on the users part.

    it even goes as far as random usernames and emails and spinning the comments because we all know unique content is king

    best part is... it's only going to get worse.

    time to get some better spam protection or shut down commenting completely.

    I {think|believe|feel} that {stopping|preventing|eliminating|fighting} spam is a giant {headache|pain|annoyance} and this {threat|post|conversation|discussion} is full of {irate|angry|unhappy} {people|webmasters|bloggers|marketers}
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    • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
      Originally Posted by jasonmorgan View Post

      I {think|believe|feel} that {stopping|preventing|eliminating|fighting} spam is a giant {headache|pain|annoyance} and this {threat|post|conversation|discussion} is full of {irate|angry|unhappy} {people|webmasters|bloggers|marketers}
      It sure looks like someone has experience with article spinners.
      Signature

      Just when you think you've got it all figured out, someone changes the rules.

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  • Profile picture of the author jasonmorgan
    It sure looks like someone has experience with article spinners.
    Yep. But I only use my powers for good. It's been months since I've been tempted by the dark side.
    Signature

    I'm all about that bass.

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  • Profile picture of the author Midas3 Consulting
    Jeremy

    It's spam if it's just some bot or outsourcer
    looking for related blogs to back link from.

    They don't really "like your blog" or really
    "bookmark your site". It's just generic
    verbiage to give them a chance to place
    a backlink.

    They didn't really like the content, "they"
    don't even know what the content is, they
    won't come back again to see the updates
    because it's most likely a bot.

    You know its spam instantly when you're a blog
    owner because they almost all take on
    exactly the same wording.

    I'm also rather keen on:

    "You have a great blog, it's so well researched"
    "I love this site, I'm always coming back, great topic"
    "I think you've really hit the nail on the head with this information"
    "i think your blog design is fantastic"
    "Your site is the best site for this information"

    Always accompanied by some link to some god awful
    crud they are pushing.

    Generic, see it a mile away twaddle.

    They arn't involved in the conversation
    or interested in your blog and in reality
    it probably wasn't even a human.

    So it's SPAM.

    Same way if we get an email in my inbox
    from somebody I don't know who wants
    to push a link in front of me to buy
    some Viagra, it's spam.

    I don't know the person who posted it
    I didn't give them permission to send it
    to me and they don't really give a crap
    about my life, they just want to get
    their link in front of me.

    I ain't playing the holier than thou card here
    but when it walks like a duck and sounds
    like a duck - it's a fricken duck.

    The only kind of blog commenting that
    isn't actually spam, is when a human
    being with an actual interest in your
    content , reads the post, and has a
    genuine interest in asking a question
    or becoming involved in the dialogue
    with others in the comments etc.

    You know we see eye to eye on a lot
    of this stuff Jeremy but you and I know SPAM
    from a real person with a genuine interest
    in your blog content who leaves a real
    comment and happens to have a decent
    website that they also bung the link in for.

    Nobody minds that, or their link, that's fine.

    I'm not making an argument as to the rights
    and wrongs of it, I am making the point that
    it is SPAM, and it gets really messy to the point
    it ruins professional blogs, real comments
    get drowned in dross.

    Lets put it this way , I'm yet to come across
    one of those comments from my list or yours
    that didn't link to some utter crud website.
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  • Profile picture of the author Adam James
    I am new to internet marketing and this forum, wow reading this really opens my eyes to the scams going on the internet. I want to build a business online by being honest and a person people can trust and get valuable content I hope you have sorted this out now and the spammers leave you alone.
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    • Profile picture of the author Midas3 Consulting
      Originally Posted by Adam James View Post

      I am new to internet marketing and this forum, wow reading this really opens my eyes to the scams going on the internet. I want to build a business online by being honest and a person people can trust and get valuable content I hope you have sorted this out now and the spammers leave you alone.
      If only you had put a link with some anchor text in it, this
      would have been really amusing Adam. :-)
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      • Profile picture of the author theimdude
        Why is this so difficult;

        1. If you don't want spam use askimet (or whatever the hell it's called ~ steve)
        2. If you don't want comments - SWITCH IT OFF

        Spam is here to stay (or is it spam) - I mean think about it - all article directories is websites filled with spam articles as they just the replicated over 1000's of sites so what is the difference if people go around read 1000's of blogs with a nice piece of software and say to you that your post is very good.

        Or do people actually go to 1000's of article directories and submit there articles one by one

        What is the ultimate goal in both cases - to get a BACKLINK to your site.


        and you will have a hard time trying to convince me otherwise

        This is how I spam

        1. I write one article and submit it to ezine articles
        2. Then I take that article and use a few article submitters to submit to 100's of article directories
        3. Then I take the article and use my "spam article spoofer" and rewrite the article and submit it using UAW to 1000's of article directories
        Shall I explain how spam work in a link wheel?

        Do you really think I do this so that people can read my valuable information. Oh yes .............. or is it the backlink I want
        Signature
        Do you want 30 back-links in my PRIVATE BLOG network for ONLY $20 ???
        [LIMITED ACCESS + FREE ARTICLE INCLUDED OR YOUR OWN]

        CLICK HERE NOW
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        • Profile picture of the author Midas3 Consulting
          [*]If you don't want comments - SWITCH IT OFF
          The "missing the point award" goes to...

          Blog owners do want comments.

          Some bot going from blog to blog spinning variations of:

          "your blog is really great and I am coming back a lot"

          Is not of any value and a blog owner has no interest in it.
          Entirely different issue.

          Spam is here to stay (or is it spam) - I mean think about it - all article directories is websites filled with spam articles as they just the replicated over 1000's of sites so what is the difference if people go around read 1000's of blogs with a nice piece of software and say to you that your post is very good.

          Or do people actually go to 1000's of article directories and submit there articles one by one

          What is the ultimate goal in both cases - to get a BACKLINK to your site.
          The submission process whether automated or by some Indian
          outsourcer is irrelevant.

          An article directory is not the same as the comments section
          of somebody's personal blog. It's a moot analogy in every sense.

          If you're using a tool to distribute to a blog farm , such as SEO LV
          etc, then that's fine, they are akin to an article directory, there's
          no issue , spam away, feel free.

          Those kind of sites, and article directories are designed to take
          your content , they are asking for your content and allow
          a backlink,as part of the deal to get your content, it's part of
          what they are there for .

          What people in this thread are talking about is their own blogs
          being infested with generic drivel to push somebody a back link.
          A blog owner did not give you carte blanche to upload any old
          pile of crud to their personal blog.

          and you will have a hard time trying to convince me otherwise
          There's nothing to convince you about.

          This is how I spam

          Do you really think I do this so that people can read my valuable information. Oh yes .............. or is it the backlink I want
          The point that's whooshing over your head right now is that
          we all know WHY you're doing it, how you're doing it and
          what your objective is with the content you're putting out there.

          There's no confusion over this, it's not "difficult".

          The point is blog owners don't want a pile of irrelevant repetitive
          garbage cluttering up their comments section to the point their
          loyal visitors can't see the wood from the trees.

          Blog owners are NOT article directories which are specifically
          asking for your content and in turn accepting a back link.

          Blog owners did not , like an article directory, ask for your
          content , you are given the comments section to add to
          the conversation, add something of value and so on. All
          blog owners know the difference between a comment
          from a truly interested visitor and some generic spammage.

          Sending some bot out to post spun words on 1000 blogs to
          get a back link does not constitute content of any value, it's
          purely for the back link and blog owners have no wish to have
          their blog used as a marketing tool for spammers.

          Your analogy is moot as is your point.
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        • Profile picture of the author A Bary
          Originally Posted by Jeremy Kelsall View Post

          And as I've said to 2 other people in this thread.....

          If you can tell the intention behind "Great blog post, I look forward to reading more from you" Sylvia Brown must be the one approving or throwing comments to spam on your blog

          The fact that people actually go to their blog, check the comments, pick one, cop a portion of it, go to google, search for it, look at the results, and then approve a comment or send it to spam, totally and utterly baffles the crap out of me.

          If anyone wants to stop by my blogs and let me know how great my site looks, how great my content is, or kiss my ass in general, in return for a backlink that doesn't affect my site or it's rankings in the slightest, please do so whenever you want. As long as you are not linking out to porn, gambling, or a pharma site, I can assure you that it will be approved just about each and every time.

          And just for clarification, here is the initial quote from the OP:

          During the last 3 weeks, I spent what could be hours of wasted time, deleting stupid comment spam, that recently spread like a plague, where the idiot poster try to look smart by posting some garbage about how great my content is, and how useful he found my post, or how she just bookmarked my sitee..bla..bla...bla, with a close look, you can easily spot these comments as a prewritten spam that has nothing to do with the blog content.


          How does "great content" "how useful someone found your post" or the fact that someone "bookmarked your site" equal prewritten spam?

          Following that logic, 80% of the replies to threads here on the forum are spam.

          Jeremy, I don't want to turn this into an argument with you, but it seems that you didn't get my original post correctly...

          For sure, I didn't mean that comments like "I like your post", or "this is a useful content" ..etc are entirely spam...
          But, when you go these comments from someone calling himself "viagradisucounts.com" or "cheaphotelreservations.com" on your mental health blog, and to discover that the poster was thrilled and amazed by the content of your ""TOS" or ""Contact Us" pages, I don't think you need much time to decide if these comments are legit or not...

          Originally Posted by theimdude View Post

          Why is this so difficult;
          1. If you don't want comments - SWITCH IT OFF
          I can't understand this! why are spammers allowed to decide what I switch on or off on my own blog?? if I want a useful discussion on my blog, then I have to tolerate spam, otherwise, I better shut my blog in the faces of my legit users???:confused:

          For all Akismet advice, thanks, BUT I ACTUALLY USE IT, however, I still receive tons of spam comments that I have to manually remove from my spam comment folder (well, I know, you can adjust your spam folder to remove spam automatically every 30 days, but how do you feel when you open your dashboard and find 500 spam comments there??), also, Akismet blocks around 80% of spam comments, and the other 20% you need to approve/trash manually...
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  • Profile picture of the author Underground SEO
    Personally I obviously don't use these promotion methods. However with the sheer amount of automation software out there today and the increasing numbers who seem to use it I'm afraid I believe the problem will get worse regardless of whether people stop paying for these services. Obviously it will be a step in the right direction but not a major plug.
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  • Profile picture of the author Fernando Veloso
    I will NOT show you one of my new resources to backlink BUT I will say this:

    Normal blog owners don't see the difference between a spammy comment and a truthful one.

    There's this guy dropping hundreds of comments "I love your blog, just added to favorites..." per day and I bet 70% plus are approved right away.

    Yesterday did a back check on his most used comment and he has thousands of comments recently approved, and most funny of all, some blog owners start a conversation with him

    keep in mind we're IM'ers. Most of blog owners worldwide don't know the difference between a post and a page.

    Just my 0,010 cents <<< It's the crisis, baby!!
    Signature
    People make good money selling to the rich. But the rich got rich selling to the masses.
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonmorgan
    An article directory is not the same as the comments section
    of somebody's personal blog. It's a moot analogy in every sense.
    Are they really that different?

    Blog comments...

    A space is provided on that website that allows me to leave content. Sometimes that content is moderated, other times it is not. The owner of that site would like that I leave content that contributes to that article and to the discussion.

    Article directory...

    I am allowed to add content to the site. Sometimes the content is moderated, other times it is not. The owner of that site wold like that I contribute quality content that benefits the site and it's readers/users.

    Really, what is the big difference if I comment on 1000 blogs "nice post buddy" or spin an article 1000 time and submit it to article directories.

    Both have given me the opportunity to add content to their site.

    The hard truth is in both cases you are abusing and taking advantage of those sites and the ability to add content to them to further your own gains.

    Spin it how you want but spam is spam... 4 word comment or a 200 word barely coherent article, it's all the same.

    You say article directories exist for you to leave articles, I say blog comments are there for me to leave comments. I think most of those articles are garbage and you think my comments are spammy.

    It's like blue collar vs white collar crime... which is worse when both are committing crimes.

    And how many article writers are using spinning software and automated content submitters? Is this really any better than a piece of software that auto posts comments? In both cases you are using automation software to distribute your content to as many places as you can... sounds kinda spammy to me.

    Good sites moderate the content they allow others to add. The rest are fair game to the blog spammers and article spammers.

    FLAME ON POT, THE KETTLE CAN TAKE IT
    Signature

    I'm all about that bass.

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    • Profile picture of the author Midas3 Consulting
      Originally Posted by jasonmorgan View Post

      Are they really that different?
      Yes, for the reasons already stated.

      The rest is strawmans.

      The hard truth is in both cases you are abusing and taking advantage of those sites and the ability to add content to them to further your own gains.
      Incorrect, for the reasons already stated. One is actively asking
      you to submit an article in return for a back link.

      All this is just diversionary arguments at best.

      Whether they are both spam is pretty much a moot point as well.

      What's a point however is this, however you "spin" it.

      Throwing useless 1 liners such as "Your blog is really good" onto
      personal blogs of individuals in order to gain a back link is spam.

      It's a pain in the ass for the blog owner.

      An article directory btw, is actively wanting you to submit your
      article for the back link.

      You can't see why that's wrong, you also can't see why that's
      different to submitting an article to ezine articles.

      I say blog comments are there for me to leave comments.
      Indeed they are under the conditions already stipulated numerous times.

      Somebody's personal blog is not there however for you to send
      some bot to with a bunch of generic BS with a back link.

      Like I said, if you can't grasp that, there's no communication that's
      going to help you with the difference.

      I'm not an article directory owner but if I ask people to submit
      an article to my site in return for a back link and I get people
      submitting articles to my site for a back link , I would presume
      there's no issue there.

      If I'm a blog owner of topic (a) and somebody sends a bot out
      to throw up useless comments which spoil the enjoyment
      of that blog for others, then it's an issue.

      All this aside, even if submitting an article to an article database
      was SPAM, it wouldn't make the blog issue ok.
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      • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
        Again, I am making note of who defends this crap and who is, like myself,
        against it.

        That "Folks I'll never do business with" list is getting bigger and bigger each
        day.

        No wonder I do so few JVs.
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  • Profile picture of the author Eric Graudins
    Love all these intellectual arguments about what is and isn't spam.

    I have a computer on my shoulders.
    It's called a brain.
    And I use it to monitor the comments to my blog that Akismet lets through.

    If I decide that a comment is spam - then it's spam and gets deleted.
    If I decide it's not spam - it lives.

    Simple.
    Am I 100% correct?
    No. But I reckon I'll be close :-)

    cheers,
    Eric G.
    Signature

    The biggest benefit of the internet is that almost everything can be automated.
    The biggest curse of the internet is that almost everything can be automated.



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  • Profile picture of the author jasonmorgan
    Yes, for the reasons already stated.

    The rest is strawmans.
    Nope. Don't see it. I see people taking advantage of different web platforms to further their own goals... to make money, and some people want to feel that their spam isn't as bad as the other guys spam.

    I so no arguments that convince me that spinning an article 100 times and auto submitting it to article directories is any better than auto submitting 100 blog comments. The 1st article was legit, the other 99 are spam.
    Signature

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    • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
      Originally Posted by jasonmorgan View Post

      I so no arguments that convince me that spinning an article 100 times and auto submitting it to article directories is any better than auto submitting 100 blog comments.
      Article directory: "Please submit any article you have."

      Doesn't matter whether it's good, or how many times it's been submitted elsewhere.

      Blog: "Please leave your thoughts and opinions about this post in the comments section."

      If you don't have thoughts and opinions about this post, you aren't invited to leave a blog comment.
      Signature
      "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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    • Profile picture of the author Midas3 Consulting
      Originally Posted by jasonmorgan View Post

      Nope. Don't see it. I see people taking advantage of different web platforms to further their own goals... to make money, and some people want to feel that their spam isn't as bad as the other guys spam.

      I so no arguments that convince me that spinning an article 100 times and auto submitting it to article directories is any better than auto submitting 100 blog comments. The 1st article was legit, the other 99 are spam.
      Jason, lets remove automation, spinning , yada yada from
      the discussion as it's clouding the issue.

      Let's boil it down to basics.

      First of all, however you spin it, it is NOT the wishes
      of blog owners to have generic 1 liners posted to their
      blog , it IS the wishes of ezine or another article
      database to have content in the format they ask
      for submitted to them.

      In regards the article database issue vs
      a blog issue, not that I think it's relevant but
      let me put it this way.

      You write an article and submit it to ezine
      or your favourite article database.

      They enter into a contract with you on
      registration that they actively WANT your
      content, they do this generally to make
      adrevenue and in return will allow you a back link.

      That is two partners entering into a mutually
      beneficial arrangement.

      Now on the flip side.

      You decide you want back links from blogs.

      You do a search for do-follow blogs, the
      first one you come to you simply post
      a generic, non related 1 liner on that
      persons blog to get a back link.

      The person gains nothing from your contribution,
      this is a one way streak.

      You simply decided you would use an individuals
      property to promote your own site.

      The former is part of an agreement and
      is not frowned on by the article database
      and is in fact welcomed , they benefit from it.

      The blog owner does not, and in fact often
      has to spend their time cleaning up the poo
      you left on their doorstep.

      A simple, generic 1 liner with back link on
      somebody's personal blog is not the same
      as submitting an article to ezine.

      It's just not and I fail to see how anybody
      can't make the distinction.

      There are so many paid services for blog
      farms , I use two of them myself, I pay
      somebody for the right to poo on their
      doorstep, that's fair and even then
      with one of the services I have to submit
      at least 200 relevant words and they
      have to be submitted to the correct
      category which matches the content I've sent.

      The second the individual owners of the
      blogs get to approve or disprove my
      post, it has to be vastly superior to a single
      one line piece of junk.

      Both have no similarity to what people
      are complaining about in this thread and I
      actually have to pay to even do that.

      If you're going to poo on somebody's door
      step at least contribute to the cleaner.
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    • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
      Originally Posted by jasonmorgan View Post

      I so no arguments that convince me that spinning an article 100 times and auto submitting it to article directories is any better than auto submitting 100 blog comments.
      Something that just occurred to me.

      From a certain perspective, there is no difference, really. Both the article directory and the blog have standards you are expected to meet.

      If you don't meet them, your content is rejected. The problem we are discussing here isn't that you are submitting lots of content, but that you are submitting lots of content that does not meet the standards.

      If you can submit 100 articles that meet the standards, you're fine.

      If you can write 100 blog comments that meet the standards, you're fine.

      But if you don't meet the standards, both are unacceptable.
      Signature
      "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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  • Profile picture of the author cypherslock
    WP Spam Free is a godsend that is for sure. I do also moderate. But I find that this plug-in in particular cuts down my time on that. And no, promoting spam here is a BIG no-no. Oy vey! some people's children.
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    • Profile picture of the author RashellR
      I've used a combination of Akismet and NoSpamNX on my blogs. The NoSpamNX plugin really saved the day for me. Nipped a ton of that bot garbage in the bud. No more stupid viagra comments.

      About approving "nice post" comments just to have comments on your blog... I suggest taking a few moments to check out the commenter.

      Perhaps shoot 'em an email asking them what they like about the post before approving it. No response, no approve. If they respond you gotta wonder why they couldn't be more descriptive in the 1st place.

      You can always add a "like" button to your post. Doesn't have to be the FB one. But shoot that'll give them no reason to leave an entire comment with just 2 words in it.

      Add Captcha (not the math one. the annoying hard to read the words one). It's just annoying enough to make it not worth the effort if there's not much to contribute.
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  • moral of the story?

    Best to stick to blog commenting on your own if at all. And if you do, better make darn sure that you actually read the article and provide people with either:

    A) Something they can walk away with and say they learned or

    B) Something controversial and very specific to the topic

    Basically you want the author and readers to either learn something from you post, or to spark some sort of conversation or debate about the topic.

    That, although getting a backlink in the process, would be a valid form of acquiring a backlink.

    Its all good and well letting steam off about these spammers, but.... on the other hand maybe you could write suggestions as to how they could make comments stick. As I'm sure some blog comment backlinkers are reading this.

    That way their business sticks, the buyer gets his/her backlinks and the blogger gets a constructive post.

    Yes/No?
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  • Profile picture of the author nettech
    I also have been getting a lot of these comments which first appear genuine but being in the game you can quickly conclude that its just spam. Im not sure if its just form the WF as I've never advertised ANY of my sites ehre yet I still get a lot of them....its a friggin nightmare but I guess all part of the fun :-(
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    Zaheer

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  • Profile picture of the author jasonmorgan
    Im not sure if its just form the WF as I've never advertised ANY of my sites ehre yet I still get a lot of them
    It has nothing to do with WF.

    Chances are you're all getting hit by scrapbox which allows a user to type in a keyword and it will scrape up an endless number of blogs which it can then auto post comments on.
    Signature

    I'm all about that bass.

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  • Profile picture of the author l23bc
    I have it everyday because i have a u.k premership football(or for our u.s counterparts "Soccar"Site

    Some of them comment are crazy i mean i got my former Va i hired to write some upcoming articles for the site regarding the world cup teams and formations yet you dont half get the idiot who comes along trying to spam on the comments"free Vigara online" or "Im horny for football" with some adult link.

    Yet i have managed to get the spammers now down to the ones that cannot spell a website at all they seem to do is try to backlink some site that dont excist. for example xbh.net which is just a wordpress header.

    The main thing now i also need to do is stop using that deep link engine plug in because i notice it spams the site,i wrote a article about aston villa football club vs fulam a few months ago and it tries to add links for major leauge Nfl or cricket with a few links for vigara also.

    But my suggestion is try the following plug ins on wordpress
    Asknet
    Spam it
    spam fiilter
    spam detect(think its called that not sure)
    word capcha code

    been working for most of my sites.
    andy
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
      Jason,
      I so no arguments that convince me that spinning an article 100 times and auto submitting it to article directories is any better than auto submitting 100 blog comments. The 1st article was legit, the other 99 are spam.
      Of course the arguments aren't convincing, if you want to continue to believe what you've already decided is true.

      Your argument centers around the idea that anything that can be abused should be, and if it is, it's the fault of the resource owner for not having foolproof security.

      This is exactly like saying it's okay if a burglar steals your stuff, since you didn't have tight enough security to stop them. That mentality leads to the kinds of technological arms races we see now between resource owners and resource abusers.

      It's a drag on the system. The people who do it should be put in prison, and made to do hours every day of obviously pointless and unproductive work.

      If you post 100 different versions of an article to 100 different article directories, that's not spam. It may be a reason for Google to ignore the links if they spot it, but that's a separate issue. The fact is, those sites want articles and that's what you're giving them.

      The question they need to ask is simple: Is this instance of this article appropriate for our directory? If so, it adds value.

      Yes, spinning usually results in unintelligible gibberish. Also a separate (and entirely valid) issue.

      Comment spam is a different situation. It goes against the intent of the providers of the resource, and their purpose in providing it.

      For all the word-splitting that's going on in this thread, that's really what it's all about: Intent and purpose.

      Go ahead and tell me that you need to be a mind-reader to know that automated commenting is against the intent and purpose of a blogger. I always welcome a good laugh.


      Paul
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      • Profile picture of the author Midas3 Consulting
        Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

        Yes, spinning usually results in unintelligible gibberish. Also a separate (and entirely valid) issue.

        l
        OT -- slightly...

        This perception is based on either very very lazy
        spinners or people incapable of using the recent
        breed of tools.

        The most recent spinners churn out multiples of
        an article which are all acceptable to ezine articles, fact.

        Some of the most recent spinnners are now pulling
        from a central database of thousands of users who
        all submit variations of each word within the context
        of a sentence. It's no longer a bot , but human
        suggestions.

        The output is with a modicum of human intervention
        no different than a human simply re-writing it.

        When you see that kind of gibberish around nowadays
        you know whoever generated it is either an idiot
        or incredibly lazy.

        It might not threaten Shakespeare, but it's a country
        mile from gibberish.

        Not all automation is evil.
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      • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
        Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

        Comment spam is a different situation. It goes against the intent of the providers of the resource, and their purpose in providing it.
        That point goes right to the heart of the matter. Comment spammers can flummox around with all the rationalizations they want to feel better about what they're doing, but at the end of the day, what their doing is still unwanted comment spam and they are still spammers.
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        • Profile picture of the author ExRat
          Hi,

          I so no arguments that convince me that spinning an article 100 times and auto submitting it to article directories is any better than auto submitting 100 blog comments.
          It's not complicated - the keyword is 'conversation'.

          When an article gets published in a directory, it gets it's own page. That's the end of the process.

          When a comment gets posted to a blog it's in the middle of an active conversation.

          Two entirely different situations.

          Think of a busy blog, that has a conversation happening in the comments. Examples -

          a) a fierce debate about the topic of the post between different participants

          or

          b) the writer of the post is adding additional information to a commenter who requests more than what's in the post. They both add multiple posts as the writer guides the person to a solution

          In either of these situations, just like a thread on this forum, if someone wades in with irrelevant, unhelpful off-topic stuff it gets in the way - disrupts the flow. One comment may not matter, but if there are more irrelevant ones than not, the conversation dies. That blog post has been partially ruined in terms of what happens after post publication.

          So the blog owner HAS to remove the unwanted stuff, otherwise the readers/commenters will go elsewhere, figuring that the blog is not maintained properly.

          I'm not suggesting that article directories should tolerate junk, but it doesn't have such a devastating effect. If one slips through it just becomes another page, that perhaps gets low traffic. It doesn't affect the overall operation/function of the site (unless it gets out of control on a large scale).

          It's also generally accepted that an article directory is likely to have a lot of syndicated content. If a blog does, it probably won't have as many readers. Therefore one that does have a lot of readers probably has unique, carefully constructed content. It's also relevant that the two types of site are used entirely differently by the reader. Most articles are found via the SERPS, and the reader often won't even notice what site they are on, or that it's a directory. Whereas blogs - as well as garnering SERPS traffic, also have regular readers who type the url in directly, and have read every post on the site.

          How many people read every article on a directory? Not even the owners! It's an entirely different quality of content - which is relevant to the point. You get in less trouble for tearing up a newspaper than you do for going to the art gallery and tearing up a Picasso.

          Comparing article submission to blog commenting in this context is like saying that it's just as unacceptable to post a poor ad on a classified ads board in the corner shop, as it is to walk into your local church meeting, interrupt the speaker and try to sell sex toys to the congregation.
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  • Profile picture of the author FiverrGuru
    great content bro, I bookmarked this thread and forwarded to my friends. Keep writing!!
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    Here's the ones I love. This is on a photo of a sexy girl in a men's online magazine I have ... no text, just a photo:

    Comment: It is unexpectedness!
    I think, that you are not right. I am assured. Let’s discuss. Write to me in PM, we will talk. What quite good topic. Also that we would do without your very good idea. Please, explain more in detail

    And this on a photo of Adriana Lima:

    Comment: That is some inspirational stuff. Not in a million years knew that opinions could be this varied. Thanks for the sake of all the enthusiasm to offer such reassuring info here.

    And until I installed wp-spamfree, I got tons of those ... nearly identical daily ... from a bunch of idiots with a new shiny toy blog spamming program.
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    • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
      Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

      And this on a photo of Adriana Lima:

      Comment: That is some inspirational stuff.
      I was with them this far. Adriana Lima is some inspirational stuff.
      Signature
      "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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      • Profile picture of the author Trent Brownrigg
        Originally Posted by CDarklock View Post

        I was with them this far. Adriana Lima is some inspirational stuff.
        I agree! She does inspire me to do great things.
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    • Profile picture of the author theverysmartguy
      First off, We are always going to have to deal with spammers in 1 way shape or form. There is no getting rid of them. You might be able to swat a few of them away, but a dozen more will rise up for each one you deter.

      Secondly, I think that unless a commenter is adding to the "conversation" with some useful input or insight into whatever the topic may be, then he/she is a potential spammer. The whole point of the comment section is to engage your visitors in the topic. This is why most bloggers blog.

      So if you see a comment such as "I like you blog, great stuff" etc. This would be like going up to a a group of people already engaged in a conversation and saying " That sounds interesting." etc. And then walking away. You might has well have just walked up to the group and said, " I am here to interrupt your conversation, I hope you don't mind, bye now."

      There are of course times when it might just be wise to turn off comments altogether on some blogs. Such as some mini-sites that are purely just promoting a single type of product, and the whole point of it is to get people to read the info, then click to the merchants site. Most of these mini sites aren't really fully maintained, and work better if the comments section is turned off.

      Of course we don't just see it else where, there are prime examples of it right here in the WF. If I wanted too, I am sure I could go search a few threads and find some comments that are just the same. Are they spam? Well, if they have a sig file that links out, and that is all they put, then most likely yes. And even if they don't, some might just be trying to get their post count up to use some of the other features of the forum, such as messaging.

      Of course, this has to do with some "mentoring programs" out there that say post at least 5 times a day, etc etc. This can add up to a lot of spam here, and on other forums/blogs as well.

      I think I made my point on this subject.

      -- Jeff
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      "Doing nothing is worse than doing it wrong."

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  • Profile picture of the author Trent Brownrigg
    Just logged into one of my blogs and found several new comments to approve... All of them except one were exactly the spam being discussed here and it was obvious. It's ridiculous!
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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    Okay -- I got super busy and saw some backlink WSO's - promised to be relevant, etc -so I dropped a few bucks for a small package.........and
    Wish I could go back in time and ask why I didn't get some sleep instead of doing something that stupid.

    The result - I got put on several blacklists --
    I was handed a list of where the links were placed and didn't see one relevant link in the bunch -- then I saw what the comments consisted of and spent all that time I was going to save sending a form letter to URL's telling them that a paid assistant had put the link up and asking them to delete the comment please (when they were up at all) so I don't look like an idiot.

    The grabber was that the creep (and you know who you are) grabbed one of the URLs that I had given them for future link spamming for their own service.
    I started deleting them at first in empathy of the people who paid for the service but they started coming in so damned fast I just started sending them to spam. That was the only way I could think of to get the idea through to other people that just because it was a WSO didn't mean that it was done well - or safely.

    I now sleep a full night before paying for anything SEO related. I don't move as fast as a service does, but I don't willfully step in quicksand either and when I post my own link, I know I've helped the site owner as well as myself when I post and make sure that they get some value from the link they allow on their site.

    MORAL - you might get tired doing it yourself, but you're really going to get ragged undoing what some other jerk will do to you for a dime.
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    Sal
    When the Roads and Paths end, learn to guide yourself through the wilderness
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
      Sal,
      The grabber was that the creep (and you know who you are) grabbed one of the URLs that I had given them for future link spamming for their own service.
      I'm sorry, but there's something poetic about this...


      Paul
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      • Profile picture of the author luckystepho
        If I get a comment along the lines of 'nice post' or 'nice blog' and it contains a link to a related site I may approve it as it's more likely to be someone manually submitting to related 'do follow' blogs for a link (as I have done in the past, only I do at least try to make a valuable comment on somebody else's blog), but if it's obviously automated spam to a completely unrelated site then it goes into the Trash!

        I guess as in every walk of life there are always peolple looking for an easy way of doing things which doesn't involve any effort, which is why we will always have spam unfortunately.
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  • Profile picture of the author revenue27
    Yup I often got this spam comment at my blogs too, why they just do it humanly, I'm sure they realize that the blog owner will never publish their spam comment. I even make post about Tips For Better Blogs Comments but they just ignore this.
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  • Profile picture of the author davidkimball
    Great post. I am bookmarking this for future use.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike Adams
    Great post... I agree with everything you have said.
    HaHa
    I have had to remove my website box and disable all links because of SPAM.
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    P.S. If you found my post useful, please click the "Thanks" button below...
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  • Profile picture of the author agc
    Just because someone didn't lock their bicycle, doesn't mean you shouldn't execute the thief.
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  • Profile picture of the author dvduval
    Yea, I have shut down nearly every possible method to get a link on any of my forums or blogs because of junk like this.
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    It is okay to contact me! I have been developing software since 1999, creating many popular products like phpLD.
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  • Profile picture of the author E-supreme
    I completely agree, one of my blogs literally gets 50-70 comments on all different pages on a daily basis. I am considering turning off comments on the entire blog.
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  • Profile picture of the author agc
    I especially love the premise that if don't put up a 6' perimeter of barbed wire, security lighting and 24 hour surveillance then it's my own fault when my house gets graffiti painted on it.

    Brilliant. Just brilliant.
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  • Profile picture of the author kimwriter
    I use Disqus on my blog and require everyone to register before they can post comments. It does reduce the incidence of spam.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tony Fox
    I read the whole first page, started on the second but didn't finish and only read two or three post on the third. But what I'm seeing is the OP is stating a spammer (or person) is posting false praises in the comment section of his blog for only his own purposes of providing him/herself a back link.

    The only person that is disagreeing and fighting against that theory is a person that business (appears but I haven't researched it so I could be wrong) is based on solely putting up a huge amount of back links. So his or her views are very biased as they are in the business of commenting false praises in hopes to keep the links there.

    I believe if the commenter has left those comments with no link to their own site then those praises would be true and correct and hold value otherwise they're just out there for themselves trying to "trick" the blog owner in keeping his comment.

    Spam is unsolicited advertising, no matter how it comes across or in what form.
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  • Profile picture of the author brieat
    Oh yeah, I got those comments on my blogs too. The secret is, I don't allow comments on my blogs so I just ignore all the comments queue list on wordpress

    Saves me alot of time and energy where I could be doing something else.
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  • Profile picture of the author tommygadget
    You know, the comments you describe would be a welcome addition to my blogs when compared to the ones I get filled with viagra, illegal porn, diet pill and loan spam. A few days ago I had to go straight to the database to delete over 33,000 spam comments.

    TomG.
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  • Profile picture of the author RalphealJackson2
    Yeah thats very annoying, I have about 400 Plus spam comments on one of my blogs, it just way to many to delete. I think their using automated comment softwares, to auto post to blogs.

    These softwares find tweets from twitter, and some how visit our blogs and leave a spinned version comment.

    Will this effect anything on our blogs?
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  • Profile picture of the author licketysplit
    I think comparing spammers to car theives is a fairly ridiculous analogy. Comment spammers aren't physically taking your site away from you, they're just posting messages to it - They're more like the people who stick a bunch of fliers on your car's windsheild while you're shopping. It's annoying, sure, but if you feel victimized by something like that you're probably being a bit too dramatic.

    I'm not condoning or excusing the behavior, but I'll never understand why people get upset over simply receiving spam comments. I get that no one wants to have a bunch of spam published on their blogs, but you have the option to not approve them. Akismet takes care of 99% of the less-skilled spammers - Anything that makes it through that can easily be deleted. I just don't see any reason to get worked up over it.
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
      I think comparing spammers to car theives is a fairly ridiculous analogy. Comment spammers aren't physically taking your site away from you, they're just posting messages to it - They're more like the people who stick a bunch of fliers on your car's windsheild while you're shopping.
      That might be accurate if there were only one or two people doing this. With the number of them that are running around doing this, it's more like finding crateloads of them, individually taped to the windshield, and then also tossed in your way while you're driving.

      The comparison to car thieves was about attitude. Specifically, the idea that not having enough security to stop whatever the thieves try to do makes it the target's fault, rather than something for which the spammer should be excoriated.

      It's a valid ideological argument.


      Paul
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    • Profile picture of the author agc
      Originally Posted by licketysplit View Post

      They're more like the people who stick a bunch of fliers on your car's windsheild while you're shopping.
      Did you ever notice that those flyers are illegal almost everywhere?

      Ever wonder why?
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    • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
      Originally Posted by licketysplit View Post

      I think comparing spammers to car theives is a fairly ridiculous analogy.
      The funny thing about analogies is that they are not exact. They are merely analogous to the situation within a fairly narrow range of meaning.

      In this case, for example, stealing someone's car is something that pretty much everyone agrees is damaging to the person whose car is stolen. Which means we don't have to get bound up in THIS crap:

      I'll never understand why people get upset over simply receiving spam comments.
      Every spam comment I receive is a spam comment that I have to moderate. That means I have to go to my blog and sign into the control panel and click a button for every single spam comment, because some butt monkey thought he should try posting fifty comments on my blog.

      Some people, especially in the IM world, have several hundred blogs.

      Now, let's take just a dozen people out there spamming blogs who happen across one of these blog farms. And each of them sends fifty messages to each blog. And there are two hundred blogs.

      Now somebody has to go and deal with a hundred and twenty thousand spam comments. What took a dozen spammers a few minutes with some retarded "Spam Lots Of Blogs" software (S.L.O.B.) is now going to take a human being several days of labour.

      And while he is moderating all these damned spam comments, do you know what he's not doing?

      Anything else.

      Now, I personally find it highly offensive that a dozen stupid butt monkeys have just robbed the world of several days that the owner of those blogs might have spent doing something worthwhile.

      And if you don't, well, something is wrong with you.
      Signature
      "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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      • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
        Caliban,

        There was an idiot here a while back who was offering these types of services. He was selling 1,000,000 blog posts, I believe, as a single order. That's just one guy, with probably a half hour or so of human time into each order.

        At 2 seconds each, that's 555 hours of human time spent reading and deleting them. If you assume that only 10% get past Akismet and make it into a moderation queue, it's still 55 hours. Not counting the bandwidth costs, the impact of legit posts that get mistakenly deleted, etc.

        One spammer, one order. Gotta wonder how many people are out there offering the same sort of thing.


        Paul
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        • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
          The only one to blame for all this mess is Google.
          That, sir, is crap.

          It's also the favorite argument of link spammers, and other BH SEO types.


          Paul
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          • Profile picture of the author bravo75
            I think spamming is a load of bull as well. But isn't any kind of backlink creation spam? forum posting, blog posting, Angela's backlinking packages, social bookmarking, RSS feeds, automatic article submitters, article spinners etc.? Google is to blame for this with their bright backlink/vote policy.

            Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

            That, sir, is crap.

            It's also the favorite argument of link spammers, and other BH SEO types.


            Paul
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      • Profile picture of the author agc
        Originally Posted by CDarklock View Post

        Some people, especially in the IM world, have several hundred blogs.
        200 blogs? _IF_ you worked an 8 hour day, you have 2.4 minutes per day per blog.

        To be fair, one person with several hundred blogs is usually just a google spammer rather than a comment spammer.
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        • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
          Originally Posted by agc View Post

          200 blogs? _IF_ you worked an 8 hour day, you have 2.4 minutes per day per blog.
          And IF it was any of my damn business what other people did with their blogs, I might give a crap.
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          "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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  • Profile picture of the author bravo75
    The only one to blame for all this mess is Google.
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  • Profile picture of the author bravo75
    Here is a good example of what can happen when webmaster is not constantly moderating his/her blog or forum: Given2Me - I got it free, 'cos it was given2me.com
    That is supposed to be a freebie forum?!&
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  • Profile picture of the author PCKen
    Banned
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    • Profile picture of the author agc
      Originally Posted by PCKen View Post

      Paid forum posts are really not harmful to your site unless they're useless 1-5 word replies. They actually help build your community and its a mutual benefit. I see the service as white hat if it's niche relevant
      It's usually a question of quality. If those "beneficial" posts are mostly being deleted by moderators, then how beneficial are they, really?

      If your paid forum posters are NOT having run ins with the mods, then they are in fact, consummate professionals, and they are not part of they problem.

      But somehow, I suspect that's not the case.
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
      I think spamming is a load of bull as well. But isn't any kind of backlink creation spam?
      Nope. Many are, many others are not. It's a matter of context. Claiming that it's Google fault for trying to keep their SERPs relevant and useful is illogical.

      It's basically saying, "We had to do it because we don't like your rules." Which is crap.


      Paul
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      • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
        Ken,
        Paid forum posts are really not harmful to your site unless they're useless 1-5 word replies. They actually help build your community and its a mutual benefit.
        Bushwah. Doubly so for communities that are established.

        That said... I should warn you that, with the service you have in your sig file, you're only one mistake away from being booted. That screams "SPAMMER!" to any sensible moderator.

        Tread carefully.


        Paul
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        • Profile picture of the author agc
          Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

          Ken,Bushwah. Doubly so for communities that are established.

          That said... I should warn you that, with the service you have in your sig file, you're only one mistake away from being booted. That screams "SPAMMER!" to any sensible moderator.

          Tread carefully.


          Paul
          To be fair, I clicked on his link, and his site CLAIMS to be a content producer, and not a back link producer.

          If you use Forum Posting Service to build links, you're paying for a black hat method of building links. This is not advisable, building links in this way is not moral, and you will eventually find that all of the links that you've paid for become devalued.
          For whatever that's worth.
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      • Profile picture of the author bravo75
        No, not "We had to do it because we don't like your rules," "We had to do it because it's the only way to get our site found by Google."



        Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

        Nope. Many are, many others are not. It's a matter of context. Claiming that it's Google fault for trying to keep their SERPs relevant and useful is illogical.

        It's basically saying, "We had to do it because we don't like your rules." Which is crap.


        Paul
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        • Profile picture of the author PCKen
          Banned
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          • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
            No, not "We had to do it because we don't like your rules," "We had to do it because it's the only way to get our site found by Google."
            For one thing, that's not true. At all.

            If it were true, that's exactly the same as saying, "We did it because we don't like your rules." You've simply stated the reason you don't like their rules: They don't give the result you want.


            Paul
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        • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
          Originally Posted by bravo75 View Post

          "We had to do it because it's the only way to get our site found by Google."
          I suggest that it is not because it's the only way, but because you did not like the other ways.
          Signature
          "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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          • Profile picture of the author bravo75
            I personally don't do it. The only forum I am actively involved in is this one and I never comment on blogs for the sake of backlinks. Articles and paid advertising are my preferred methods. Just saying that it is no surprise that spamming is such a problem today.

            Originally Posted by CDarklock View Post

            I suggest that it is not because it's the only way, but because you did not like the other ways.
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  • Profile picture of the author bravo75
    What did Google expect? They say backlinks are seen as votes, thus pushing sites up the ranks. Of course every Tom, Dick and Harry is going to be running around trying to get backlinks (essentially spamming the net). There is no such thing as organic traffic, the only way to get your site found by people is by giving it a push.
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
      What did Google expect? They say backlinks are seen as votes, thus pushing sites up the ranks. Of course every Tom, Dick and Harry is going to be running around trying to get backlinks (essentially spamming the net). There is no such thing as organic traffic, the only way to get your site found by people is by giving it a push.
      And that required people to damage or destroy other folks' property... how? And why?

      The willingness to harm others for your own benefit is not derived from some absolute necessity to rank in Google. For one thing, it's entirely possible to do very well online without that ranking. For another, it's not necessary to be destructive to get it.

      The link spammers and other scum that do this sort of damage are simply too lazy, stupid and/or ethically challenged to do the work of thinking that any of those alternatives require.

      That's not Google's fault.


      Paul
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      • Profile picture of the author bravo75
        Couldn't agree more. The morons that do this will never mount to nothing anyway in this business. But unfortunately every little t.at that read somewhere that you can make millions on the net, will inevitably come across some WSO or e-book telling them that they need tons of backlinks to turn their computer into an ATM machine. Just go to the WSO page and you will find that every other WSO is about linkbuilding. Linkbuilding is spamming and fact is that building links to your site helps and Google has no one else but their self to blame for this.


        Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

        And that required people to damage or destroy other folks' property... how? And why?

        The willingness to harm others for your own benefit is not derived from some absolute necessity to rank in Google. For one thing, it's entirely possible to do very well online without that ranking. For another, it's not necessary to be destructive to get it.

        The link spammers and other scum that do this sort of damage are simply too lazy, stupid and/or ethically challenged to do the work of thinking that any of those alternatives require.

        That's not Google's fault.


        Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author Love2KnowU
    Stupid is a person whose car gets stolen and crashed because they didn't lock their doors. They have shows around such topics. Even Maury has shown them.

    An idiot is one who not only doesn't lock their door but leaves the engine running with the key still in the ignition, with their baby strapped in their car seat while their parent just ran into 7 Eleven ("I was only in there for a MINUTE!!!") and some blooming fool saw an opportunity to jump in and take off.

    I'm sorry. I'm a HUUUUUGE Judge Judy fan! She tells it EXACTLY like it is and shame on the one she's telling the truth to! LOL...

    :::Okay, back to our regularly scheduled topic::::
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    • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
      Originally Posted by Love2KnowU View Post

      Stupid is a person whose car gets stolen and crashed because they didn't lock their doors.
      And a criminal is a person who steals a car.

      There is no additional clause in the law for stealing an unlocked car, or driving away in one whose driver left the motor running. One does not steal cars. End of story.
      Signature
      "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Worner
    Guys,

    I realise what I am about to write might strike you as a revelation of biblical proportions, but...you do not NEED Google. Thats right:

    YOU DO NOT NEED GOOGLE!

    If you dont know how to promote your enterprises without spamming(which isn't promoting) people then you are not a buisness man.

    People have been making money online LONG before google ever gained any prominence, and still do.


    Chris
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  • Profile picture of the author Russ Emrick
    I'm not sure why people are refuting Paul or CDark on some pretty self evident ideas - like integrity and ethics. Plus you make yourself look foolish with ideas like blaming the victim or BH are good if they "work." Using the especially specious reasoning that you have to use them for success has certainly used by every criminal and corrupt politician since time began. Eve probably screamed "but I had to eat the apple or Adam wouldn't rank me anymore."

    The thing I find the most interesting in life (and I'm kind of like CDark in that I can't even understand much of the underlying thinking) is that these things are harder.
    Why not just build a value based business that people search out, refer to their friends and comment on because of value, not gimmicks? I've seen criminal scams and have thought "if those people had applied themselves honestly they would still have the money instead of a new rack mate called Big George."

    However I'm grateful that this thread reminded me that while the Pauls and CDarks are in the majority, the jerks still lurk out there and I need to be careful. Here is a free tip: if you are a shizen you should obey the rule that it is better to keep you mouth shut and thought a fool than open your mouth and prove it.
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    • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
      Originally Posted by Russ Emrick View Post

      I've seen criminal scams and have thought "if those people had applied themselves honestly they would still have the money instead of a new rack mate called Big George."
      I always remember the time I told my son to clean his room. He was four.

      After about half an hour, I sat down on the bed with him and explained that he was spending far too much time and effort trying to find a way NOT to clean his room. If he would just clean the room, he would have been done by now.

      But instead, he just tried three or four cheats and scams that weren't going to work anyway, and in the end he was just going to get in trouble for them. Then he would have to clean his room AND get a spanking.

      Two years later, I frequently hear him explain to his three-year-old brother that they should just get things done, because if they try to cheat they'll only get in trouble.

      Now, if my son can learn that when he's FOUR... honestly, WTF is wrong with these supposed adults who can't figure it out?
      Signature
      "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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      • Profile picture of the author John Abello
        Banned
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        • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
          Just go to the WSO page and you will find that every other WSO is about linkbuilding.
          Haven't looked lately, have you?


          Paul
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          Stop by Paul's Pub - my little hangout on Facebook.

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  • Profile picture of the author sloanjim
    oh come on.....if you read the blog post and really liked it and had something meaningful to rely to you wouldn't just say "nice post..Good read" would you? you know , we know it's spam.

    If you had something meaningful to post you would reply in a few sentences adding to the conversation. Agreeign with certain points, disagreeing with certain pioints etc..Unless you know nothing about the origianl post all and merely wanted to get your link added.
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  • Profile picture of the author tyroneshum
    I will second on the advice of getting an anti-spam or spam filter plugin in Wordpress since it's been tested and it's effective. It will also save you time from deleting them. Otherwise, have your virtual staff manage your spam folder.
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    outsourcinglive.com
    Follow me on my 90 Day Challenge to rank no. 1 on Google
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  • Profile picture of the author JackPowers
    It bothers me, that these automated comments make it way harder to do a few manual comments for SEO. Akismet seems to ban everyone making more than a few comments a day.

    The problem is of course selling a powerful spamming tool for $47. No teenager out for pocket money is going to resist that.
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