Massive Forum Profile Spamming Today

So your not offering a "Massive Forum Profile Spamming" service?

Actually, I must say it's really sad to see those un-moderated forums out there that have been overrun with spam, i't like graffiti on top of graffiti.

Don't some forum operators tolerate insincere profiles just to get a more impressive membership counts?

Then again:

Profile links from non-responsive members increases the member count for a forum.

When a new visitor sees that a forum has a large member list, is he more likely to join than if he sees a "true quality" forum with only 10 members?

I will say yes. He is more likely to join.

Not a bad result for just a bunch of extra zeros and ones stored in a database that cost the forum owner not one penny more.

Oh but the bandwidth-- some forum owners cry. If you can't handle the extra bandwidth, I say, why run a forum at all?

Perhaps it would be wise to understand that the web is a large community in which people help each other out best way they can.

Say, why run an article directory at all? I mean, it's not like any of the articles that get posted are quality literature-- are they? Just a bunch of dribble, right?

But we do run such things as article directories. And when you need links for your website, you write an article, spin it... and use software to submit.

It would be nice if we had the time to write 350 versions of an article by hand. And submit it by hand. But who has the time for that.

Anything that yields links, even commenting on blogs, is an improvement over the old way of link-begging. You know, playing Blanche DuBois and relying on the kindness of strangers by writing to webmasters and "requesting" a link exchange.

Even Google found that vulgar. They devalued reciprocal links, did they not?

Just my thoughts.

And then there are members who actually write something worthwhile such as an argument as you just did. I don't agree with it, but at least you made an effort to participate on the forum.

Those extra profiles often have spam words in the usernames or links, and, at least on my forums, would serve to dissuade new members from joining as well as be bothersome to existing members. I have received complaints in the past.

Maybe the bandwidth is less of an issue than time wasted by moderators and administrators who have better things to do. In our case there is little or no time wasted because we have shut it down.

And more than in previous years most quality sites and forums have shut it down too. The remaining sites that are still allowing spam, whether that be purposeful or accidental, are easily spotted by google. Easily acquired links such as these have little or no value with google (increasingly), and are sure to reflect on the reputation of the sites involved over time, making rankings even more of a challenge when spammy link schemes are utilized.

Did you happen to read recently that Facebook surpassed Google as the most visited site on the Internet? Maybe it was just a fluke, a once-off thing. But oh the dangers of playing God...

As I understand it, they lost China, too. Or did they get it back? Tsk, tsk...

I've often wondered what would happen if Google became the second most popular site on the Internet permanently. It would be kind of like coming in second in the Kentucky Derby, I suspect. An honor, to be sure, yet not quite the stuff headlines are made of.

The point being that Google needs to spend less energy punishing and more energy on surviving. En guarde, Google!

Anyhow, nice talking to you.

I think that people go to crazy with leaving their link in signatures and profiles
when opening a new account on a forum. To a particular point it´s ok, but when somebody starts opening 10 different account in one single forum and start leaving the same links in just a few day, it´s really massive spamming in my opinion.

I just did the same thing another day. In spite of having thousands of IP addresses banned and many hundred of emails banned the spammers just keep coming. I must say that captcha did cut down over 60 - 70 percent of the spam but I still had to eliminate the signature permissions and private messages and even visitor messages for new members with low post count.

With that huge volume of users I am very impressed how warrior forum keeps it so nicely under control.

I don't believe profile spamming does very much at all to help it rankings. I think it is mostly hype. And at least on my forums, it will do absolutely nothing, because it won't be happening.

I run a forum as well, vbulletin. What a PITA it is to deal with spammers.

My moderators get mad at me sometimes, it's like there's really nothing I can do. Well, since I'm using vbulletin I have SOME functionality, but not enough.

For example, people are allowed to have sigs after they have a few posts, I keep it this way because most spammers, MOST, just sign up and spam away, rather than start posting. It does happen, where people start posting like idiots then put a sig link in, but less do that so it's easier to at least limit the sig file permissions.

But, I CANT SEEM TO ELIMINATE the option to remove or disallow the 'home page' field in the profile area. Although they can't do the sig spamming, they still throw a link in the homepage field which pisses my moderators off.

Anyone by any chance, know how to limit the ability to use the home page field in vbulletin profiles?

Ok. There must have been hundreds of WSO:s teaching "forum profile spamming." And now THIS forum gets a taste of it.

What's that Alanis Morissette song again? "Isn't it ironic..."

OMG A thread which both mentions a song which proves that Alanis Morissette has a terrible understanding of the English language and a song which stands as proof (if, after Wings, any was needed) that someone shot the wrong Beatle.

I sign up for your forum and it crashes a lot I am telling you. This is not good because it reflects badly on your program. It crashes when I hit the purchase button even. Please fix this as it will impact your sales in a very negative manner.

I never liked profile link building. The footprints is too obvious and it's a waste of resources.