Are profile links spam? What you think? (POOL)

by dassad
97 replies
We all know about profile links. There were many WSO's based on these links and i think that until now every webmaster used them at lest once.

So my question is, ARE PROFILE LINKS SPAM?

My opinion is that if we use the specific fields only for getting the links we can't talk about spam, but we we stuff out signature, bio boxes, about me, and others with links than that is spam.

I mean that if a site owner asks to complete our profile, and there's a field for our website, we add our URL, owner is happy with the completed profile, we are happy with the link. This isn't spam at all.

Ok this was the simplest part but what is with the registration? Should we register on a forum or any website just to get a public profile with a link it's spam? I mean that we don't need the forum and don't use it we even don't know what's that about but we register a profile just for the backlink.

Ok it's unethical, but theres the option to do it and use it since it's free and open and you're welcomed.

This can't be called spam either but than what it is?
#links #pool #profile #spam
  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by dassad View Post

    Ok it's unethical
    Agreed.

    It's also an inferential trespass.

    Originally Posted by dassad View Post

    theres the option to do it and use it since it's free and open and you're welcomed.
    You and I have a different understanding of what "welcomed" means. Maybe. Perhaps not really, though: if you imagine that you were speaking to the site-owner at the time you theoretically do it, and said "Is this welcome?" You know as well as I do that the answer would be "no", I think?
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    • Profile picture of the author TheKeys
      To some extent I think it's unethical
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  • Profile picture of the author R Hagel
    Originally Posted by dassad View Post


    Ok it's unethical, but theres the option to do it and use it since it's free and open and you're welcomed.

    This can't be called spam either but than what it is?
    I call it spam.

    If the person is just filling out a profile but not participating in a community... then yeah, IMO, it's spam. There's no give, just take.

    Around my neighborhood there are a lot of businesses that set out coffee, cookies and rolls for people who come into the office. My mechanic, car dealer, vet and insurance agent all do this.

    I would never think of going into one of these businesses and just helping myself to the goodies without being in the store for legit reasons -- e.g.,without being a customer. I'd feel like a leech. A parasite. A bottom feeder who sucks up everyone else's resources for my own gain, but gives nothing in return.

    That's kind of what profile spammers do. They take and take, but give nothing in return.

    Just because something is there for the taking doesn't mean everyone is welcome to it. Just because you can take something doesn't mean you should or that it's right to do so.

    Becky
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    • Profile picture of the author dassad
      A great point of view and a great example. Thank you!

      Originally Posted by R Hagel View Post

      I call it spam.

      If the person is just filling out a profile but not participating in a community... then yeah, IMO, it's spam. There's no give, just take.

      Around my neighborhood there are a lot of businesses that set out coffee, cookies and rolls for people who come into the office. My mechanic, car dealer, vet and insurance agent all do this.

      I would never think of going into one of these businesses and just helping myself to the goodies without being in the store for legit reasons -- e.g.,without being a customer. I'd feel like a leech. A parasite. A bottom feeder who sucks up everyone else's resources for my own gain, but gives nothing in return.

      That's kind of what profile spammers do. They take and take, but give nothing in return.

      Just because something is there for the taking doesn't mean everyone is welcome to it. Just because you can take something doesn't mean you should or that it's right to do so.

      Becky
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    • Profile picture of the author hashbury
      Originally Posted by R Hagel View Post

      Around my neighborhood there are a lot of businesses that set out coffee, cookies and rolls for people who come into the office. My mechanic, car dealer, vet and insurance agent all do this.
      I want to live in your neighborhood.
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      • Profile picture of the author dassad
        Originally Posted by hashbury View Post

        I want to live in your neighborhood.
        i would like to do that to everything for the coffee
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      • Profile picture of the author R Hagel
        Originally Posted by hashbury View Post

        I want to live in your neighborhood.
        Teeny tiny town in MN. Gets mighty cold in the winter. Hence the free coffee, I suppose -- thaw people out so they'll spend more money.
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  • Profile picture of the author dassad
    I'm saying this since as i see day by day are appearing new forums in different niches, great. But in most of the cases these websites are made only for revenue, and are not made from passion or to help someone with a community.

    Also if one forum like this, gets daily 500 reg's that means 500 emails to spam for the owner so YES he is happy and he welcome's the new regs since all registrations mean a new people to spam and to make some revenue.

    To understand what i mean, i can show you a bid lesbian community, and the owner is a dude, and he's straight, not even gay. So what this? This is made from passion, from passion to lesbians come-on. It's made only for revenue, and there hundreds of sites like this.

    Also a site like this is a SPAM itself, so spamming a spam is spam?

    P.S. I don't have anything with lesbians or gays, it's just an example!

    Regards,
    daSSad
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    • Profile picture of the author R Hagel
      Originally Posted by dassad View Post

      Also if one forum like this, gets daily 500 reg's that means 500 emails to spam for the owner so YES he is happy and he welcome's the new regs since all registrations mean a new people to spam and to make some revenue.
      First, it's not spam since usually the TOS states that forum members must agree to accept email from the forum owner.

      Secondly, are you saying that the forum owner is happy to have emails from profile spammers? You do realize those emails are fake, right? And even if they weren't, the profile spammers are an untargeted audience.

      Sorry, you can't justify it that way.


      To understand what i mean, i can show you a bid lesbian community, and the owner is a dude, and he's straight, not even gay. So what this? This is made from passion, from passion to lesbians come-on. It's made only for revenue, and there hundreds of sites like this.
      And your point?

      What does the origin of the forum have to do with profile spammers pissing on it?

      Becky
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  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    Not much happening in Romania today I take it?
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  • Profile picture of the author dassad
    @R Hagel
    I added a line after:
    Also a site like this is a SPAM itself, so spamming a spam is spam?

    At least i don't think that a website that is made only for revenue without any passion to his theme than it's just a spam. Since i can set up a CMS to in 5 minutes, great i have a forum, if someone registers on it, and don't takes part of the life of the forum is SPAM? Well yes it is, but he spammed a junk? It's spam but spam as just using Scrapebox to spam comments to blogs?
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  • Profile picture of the author EconomicalDomains
    I definitely think that profile links are spam. Mainly because they are never on related pages or forums, and there is no content built around them and many times the users don't even make any posts on the forum to get the profile links.

    I have heard from many people who purchased mass packages of profile links in the past, and their sites actually got penalized by Google. I think at most profile links should be about 5% of your link building strategy, and only if the profiles are on related forums to the business or product(s) you are link building for.
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  • Profile picture of the author jtrag
    In all honesty, I think it's a bit tacky when someone has links directly to sales landing pages rather than an actual, useful website/resource.

    Just my 2 cents
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  • Profile picture of the author blillard
    How can a profile link be spam when you ENTITLED to have a link in the sig section if the forums allow it. The only thing I can see why some find it unethical is because they are using tools to automate the process which I think is smart.
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    • Profile picture of the author R Hagel
      Originally Posted by blillard View Post

      How can a profile link be spam when you ENTITLED to have a link in the sig section if the forums allow it. The only thing I can see why some find it unethical is because they are using tools to automate the process which I think is smart.
      Entitled, eh? Interesting word choice.
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    • Profile picture of the author Rich Struck
      Originally Posted by blillard View Post

      How can a profile link be spam when you ENTITLED to have a link in the sig section if the forums allow it. The only thing I can see why some find it unethical is because they are using tools to automate the process which I think is smart.
      You aren't ENTITLED to anything. How would you like having to clean up 500 fake ****ing accounts a week?
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      • Profile picture of the author dassad
        Originally Posted by Rich Struck View Post

        You aren't ENTITLED to anything. How would you like having to clean up 500 fake ****ing accounts a week?
        And here comes the nasty part Few years ago i had a PLIGG site, that received about 100 reg day and lots of posts and traffic. I was happy with it, until i found found an automaticc pligg poster What i did is that i stopped the site and i was done with cleaning
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
      How can a profile link be spam when you ENTITLED to have a link in the sig section if the forums allow it. The only thing I can see why some find it unethical is because they are using tools to automate the process which I think is smart.
      Of course you think you're entitled. You spew rather than create or maintain. It's in your sig file.

      We can argue about the word 'spam' all day and never get any sort of agreement. It's a meaningless word in general conversation, as demonstrated by the assertion that a site the members find useful is spam if the creator is just building it to make money.

      Here's a much harder point to dispute: It's abusive of the resources of the owner, and uses them in ways the vast majority of them do not intend or welcome.

      And here comes the cheap rationalization: "They're asking for us to register, so it's helpful to them." Or "It boosts their member numbers which makes them look more popular." Both of those are lies the link spammers tell themselves, or use as ways to avoid looking like virtual parasites.

      The invitation implicit in a discussion forum is to read and discuss. The profile is a way for members to learn more about the people with whom they're talking. It's a courtesy extended by the owner of the site. A privilege, not something to which anyone is "entitled."

      If you're spamming links around, don't kid yourself that what you're doing isn't harmful to your targets. It is. You are a destructive force, and should not be surprised when you're met with the dislike commonly directed toward destructive people.


      Paul
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      • Profile picture of the author Laurie Rogers
        Nobody is entitled to anything where "free promotion" is concerned. I barely post my links on any forums, because if people are that interested, more than likely they'll just ask me about it. I run a few forums and it's a serious pain in the ass deleting just the intentional spammers alone, never mind the rest. If you want your links all over the place, find some people in your niche or something that accents your niche nicely and do some some link exchanges. Set up a link farm or banner farm somewhere on your site and have it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rich Struck
    Well said, Paul.
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    • Profile picture of the author Tina Golden
      Originally Posted by R Hagel View Post

      Around my neighborhood there are a lot of businesses that set out coffee, cookies and rolls for people who come into the office. My mechanic, car dealer, vet and insurance agent all do this.

      I would never think of going into one of these businesses and just helping myself to the goodies without being in the store for legit reasons -- e.g.,without being a customer. I'd feel like a leech. A parasite. A bottom feeder who sucks up everyone else's resources for my own gain, but gives nothing in return.

      That's kind of what profile spammers do. They take and take, but give nothing in return.
      Best analogy I've seen for this behavior.

      I had a couple other posts quoted to reply to but Paul put it very well and the posters won't look in the mirror any faster for me to repeat it.
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  • Profile picture of the author blillard
    Maybe entitled wasn't the right word to use, but I also did say if they allow it in the sig.
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    • Profile picture of the author PatriciaJ
      I wonder what all those who use profile links would say if it was their sites that was being spammed and their time wasted deleting the unwelcome.

      For those who are sticking up for profile links please leave a link to your forum so that we can all have a spamfest.
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  • Profile picture of the author ak1lz
    Not all are spam, but most likely 99% of them are.
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  • Profile picture of the author ricoramiro
    A lot of those profile links are no follow anyway so I don't think it's a big issue. How can you consider something spam when they ask for your link?
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
      Originally Posted by ricoramiro View Post

      A lot of those profile links are no follow anyway so I don't think it's a big issue. How can you consider something spam when they ask for your link?
      If you're a constructive participant in the discussions it's not. That's not really what most of us are talking about, though.


      Paul
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    • Profile picture of the author dassad
      Originally Posted by ricoramiro View Post

      A lot of those profile links are no follow anyway so I don't think it's a big issue. How can you consider something spam when they ask for your link?
      Well in fact, don't really matters if it's nofollow or dofollow, a spam is spam if is considered as spam. I think to that some forums "deserve" to be exploited and also the signature field i don't think that was invented for links. However, it's better than to have those bigass images in the signatures.

      However i think that we can't talk about spam only if we add our URL in the specific field only that was made for that. Also it's unethical to register on a forum and don't participate in the discussions or in the forums life.
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      • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
        Originally Posted by dassad View Post

        I think to that some forums "deserve" to be exploited
        I think THAT is why there is always going to be people disagreeing with you.

        That attitude is offensive.

        I wonder where you draw the line with other areas of your business if using abusive strategies is ok with you "because they deserve it".

        It's a really cheap way to try and justify what you do. Just blame the victims. "yes officer I did hit that old woman and steal her purse, but she was practically begging for it coming out at night alone like that!"
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        nothing to see here.

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        • Profile picture of the author dassad
          Originally Posted by Andyhenry View Post

          I think THAT is why there is always going to be people disagreeing with you.

          That attitude is offensive.

          I wonder where you draw the line with other areas of your business if using abusive strategies is ok with you "because they deserve it".

          It's a really cheap way to try and justify what you do. Just blame the victims. "yes officer I did hit that old woman and steal her purse, but she was practically begging for it coming out at night alone like that!"
          You don't should understand as it is just another point of view and please notice, that I'm not supporting the profile links at all. I'm not selling them so i don't want to promote my service, i'm just curious to see what peoples think about it?

          But i see that there are many points of view and I'm sure that we won't wil get any real results. However in the same time I'm sure that even few of those who are saying that is spam have tried them or even are using them.
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          • Profile picture of the author Frank Donovan
            Originally Posted by dassad View Post

            Thats true, but than it's unethical to spam an unethical forums owner?
            But then is it unethical to spam the spammer of an unethical forum? Where does this chain end?


            Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

            If I neglect to lock my back door some night, that is not an open invitation for you to throw a house party.
            John, I said I'm sorry. Sheesh. And that jar of bait in your fridge really did look like gnocchi.


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            • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
              Originally Posted by dassad View Post

              Thats true, but than it's unethical to spam an unethical forums owner?
              In a word, YES.
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            • Profile picture of the author dassad
              Originally Posted by Frank Donovan View Post

              But then is it unethical to spam the spammer of an unethical forum? Where does this chain end?

              Frank

              Good point
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    Originally Posted by dassad View Post

    I mean that if a site owner asks to complete our profile, and there's a field for our website, we add our URL, owner is happy with the completed profile, we are happy with the link. This isn't spam at all.
    The problem comes when the users/sellers of these links simply assume the owner is happy to have the profile simply because he hasn't taken steps to prevent it.

    That's seldom the case, but the people schlepping this junk wouldn't know.

    If I neglect to lock my back door some night, that is not an open invitation for you to throw a house party.
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    • Profile picture of the author dassad
      Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

      If I neglect to lock my back door some night, that is not an open invitation for you to throw a house party.
      another good example Well i just ask you one thing? Have you seen scipts and softwares that register fake profiles on any forum? Probably yes! But have you seen the same that is used by the owner itself on his own forum?
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      • Profile picture of the author Itachi
        I think it might be a bit unethical, but i would call it spam only if google slap for it, which i have no idea about.

        Also it might depend if you only make a profile for the backlink or if you're gonna participate on it, i believe some peoples just do that for 1 backlink, or if you're talking about forum signatures in general, in this case i don't see how it is unethical if you provide content, now if you just go arround and post like crazy just to increase your post count and sig exposure i think we can talk about spam here.
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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        Originally Posted by dassad View Post

        another good example Well i just ask you one thing? Have you seen scipts and softwares that register fake profiles on any forum? Probably yes! But have you seen the same that is used by the owner itself on his own forum?
        What's the point? If I want to kick a hole in my wall, that's my right. It's my wall.

        Nothing about that give you the right to come in and trash the place.

        Same thing if some forum owner wants to use a script to fill his site with phantom members. It doesn't mean he wants you (and your customers) doing it for him.
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        • Profile picture of the author dassad
          Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

          What's the point? If I want to kick a hole in my wall, that's my right. It's my wall.

          Nothing about that give you the right to come in and trash the place.

          Same thing if some forum owner wants to use a script to fill his site with phantom members. It doesn't mean he wants you (and your customers) doing it for him.

          Thats true, but than it's unethical to spam an unethical forums owner?
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Funny, the only people who seem to be sticking up for the practice of profile spamming have offers for said 'service' in their sigs. Imagine that! :rolleyes:

      As for comparing profile spamming to automated blog spamming...

      Forgive my French, but one is horse****, one is pig****. Bottom line, both are ****.
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  • Profile picture of the author Shemp Hain
    I think profile links are a waste of time. People make these claims with their high PR profile links but that isn't the page your link will appear. Many times these links won't stick and a majority of the time they won't be approved by the mods.
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  • Profile picture of the author doingwrite
    Okay I'll admit I scrolled through some of this.

    But I am a new member and I have not been spammed.

    I have had a couple of people contact me with opportunities, and I can choose to accept or not.

    I wouldn't have the opportunities without this forum.

    That said, if someone other than the moderator gets my info that I have only shared with them, you'd better darned well have a good reason to do so and some pretty enticing opportunities or you will hear from me and maybe the BBB and others!

    We have power, people. If there is something happening that is not ethical, then crush it. Otherwise, just say "no."
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    • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
      Most profiles linking is spam and this is coming from someone who used to sell profile link packages. In the early days of the practice I know some will knee jerk disagree but you COULD go through and find sites that actually invited you to participate and leave your link. Many in fact still exist particularly in business web 2.0 sites where the whole point is business networking in general. I'll still use such sites no apologies. In fact due to such networks actively encouraging business use they have better navigation to be found by search engines

      But the truth is that was and is the minority by far. When people started hyping the power of 20,000 forum backlinks etc there was no room for small packages where you even attempted to use discretion. Bots took over and soon it wasn't even people signing up for sites anymore just the bots. I took a hard look at it again and kept my WSO closed even after the ban was lifted. I'll still supply press release sites, article directories and book marks because all of them exist on some level with the expectation of a link .

      Thing is overtime profile links have become weaker and weaker and weaker at having much impact in competitive niches but I really don''t see people moving away form them who are used to them.

      For one they don't have the slightest clue on how to get webmasters to give them a contextual high authority link and the other is that telling people that you can either teach them or provide a few high authority links a month isn't sexy enough for the IM crowd. They start salivating because they think they can be pumped to the top of any search result with a 50,000 profile backlink package.

      The thinking and the selling is that surely 50,000 must be more powerful than getting even a hundred of something else. They are encouraged further by some seller claiming it works because he ranked "New Orleans bees wax" number one using the links.

      Later they give up entirely because they can never get past a certain spot on google before their SEO just stalls out.
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      • Profile picture of the author Ben Armstrong
        If you fill it out without any intention of participating in the community then yeah, it's spam.
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        • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
          Dassad,
          However in the same time I'm sure that even few of those who are saying that is spam have tried them or even are using them.
          I can tell you with certainty that I don't use them and never have. You can take that allegation of hypocrisy and file it wherever it will do you the most good.


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

            Dassad,I can tell you with certainty that I don't use them and never have. You can take that allegation of hypocrisy and file it wherever it will do you the most good.


            Paul
            I believe you and i didn't sayd that you are using them and it's only an idea since i don't know the posters of this thread and i don't will make any research after them. However, even if you use them, you can when you want if you think that it's ok, and if not like you say than you don't use them.

            It's all about opinions like this thread to.

            Regards,
            daSSad
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            • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
              Dassad,
              It's all about opinions like this thread to.
              The damage done by these automated backlinking systems is not a matter of opinion. The time and resources spent dealing with them is quantifiable and objective.

              It's a pretty simple thesis: The automated distribution of unsolicited or inappropriate marketing content is innately destructive of the channels through which it's delivered.

              They did it with newsgroups, email, FFA pages, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. They're doing it with forums and blogs and article directories and even the Kindle. They - spammers of all kinds - significantly and negatively impact the cost of delivering services online by shifting the expense of their messaging onto recipient systems and individuals. They pollute every system they touch.

              If we can't develop adequate defensive measures, they would destroy them all.

              That is who we're talking about. They are the enemy. If you use such techniques, you are the enemy.


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

                If we can't develop adequate defensive measures, they would destroy them all.

                That is who we're talking about. They are the enemy. If you use such techniques, you are the enemy.


                Paul
                You are a bit paranoiac don't you think? Ok, was proved many times that peoples like to "destroy" such online platforms with advertisements. But think about it, if someone cares about his site than simply prevents the spam with own custom measures.

                If someone just installs a CMS to get some money, fills with some duplicated content, phantom users, spams the hell with his link and then forgets the page and waits for revenue. Than what happened, THAN I'M FIGHTING MY ENEMY since he spamed me, or we can call it REVENGE TO.


                Best regards,
                daSSad
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                • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
                  Originally Posted by dassad View Post

                  You are a bit paranoiac don't you think? Ok, was proved many times that peoples like to "destroy" such online platforms with advertisements. But think about it, if someone cares about his site than simply prevents the spam with own custom measures.
                  You better duck quick cause that kind of reasoning isn't going to fly and flat out angers people. By that rational if I really cared about my email address I wouldn't get spam because I would take "custom measures". In other words you get to determine how my time and resources should be used to defend against your spam.

                  Meanwhile you forget that most sites have come up with "measures" (like CAPTCHA) and then you use software and services to overcome their measures. Paul is right this kind of action and thought process is the enemy. Spammers don't stop until they get webmasters to a point where they won't give links to ANYONE for any reason.Webmasters just go into lock down mode
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                  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
                    At first I hoought you wanted to know what other marketers think about this - but seems you want to argue your view of it.

                    i think that until now every webmaster used them at lest once.
                    Your thinking is wrong - many of us have never had anything to do with this sort of 'promotion'

                    But think about it, if someone cares about his site than simply prevents the spam with own custom measures.
                    Self serving argument. If my front door is unlocked - it does not mean you are free to enter my home and use it as you want. If the lock is broken I should not need to stand at the door with a gun to keep you out.

                    If you want to be a leech on sites owned by others - your choice. Own it rather than trying to excuse it with 'everyone does it'. Many of us don't.

                    In the early days of the practice I know some will knee jerk disagree but you COULD go through and find sites that actually invited you to participate and leave your link.
                    You're right - there were few marketers adding these profile links and some sites were happy to have the numbers. But - when so many began selling the idea of doing this it changed the balance and the perception. Having 10 people sign up a month for a profile is one thing - 1000 people is quite another.

                    kay
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                    • Profile picture of the author Laurie Rogers
                      I'll just say it how I believe this thread was intended. OP posted the "pool" and poised a question and based on the self serving answers provided, there was just intent to see if we would agree with the initial question. However, when people chose to disagree the OP's responses became manipulated. "Oh I think it's unethical too, BUT insert rest of lame response here."

                      As for Paul being "paranoic", he is not being "paranoic" (PARANOID) when you steal something from a store the cost of items in that store go up and the store's overhead goes up, it's that simple. Because they have to recoup costs for the stolen items and also have to instill more security measures to prevent more theft, this increases pricing. So is Paul being "paranoic"? No he's not, he's telling you the logistics of it all.

                      As for "many of us doing it", your ASSumption would be wrong.
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                    • Profile picture of the author azmanar
                      Originally Posted by Kay King View Post


                      Your thinking is wrong - many of us have never had anything to do with this sort of 'promotion'

                      kay
                      Hi,

                      You're right Kay.
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                      • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
                        You are a bit paranoiac don't you think? Ok, was proved many times that peoples like to "destroy" such online platforms with advertisements. But think about it, if someone cares about his site than simply prevents the spam with own custom measures.
                        So, the fact that you can work out a way to get the links through whatever security may or may not be in place on a site means it's welcome? Or that people who don't have the technical expertise to keep you out don't deserve to be allowed to use their own property without your interference?

                        You suffer the usual logical problems of the spammer mentality. Same old arguments, and you folks think sensible people will fall for them. You're wrong.

                        It should not be necessary to fight a digital arms race with these ... creatures ... in order to be able to carry on conversations. But that's what link spammers force on site owners. I've seen more blogs and forums than I care to think about that were shut down because the owners simply didn't want the frustration and waste of time involved in keeping out the garbage.

                        It would be difficult for most link spammers to understand just how badly they're hated by how many of their targets. You really don't want to start talking to anyone about revenge when you're part of that problem.


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                        • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
                          If done in excess, then yes it would be considered spam. On the other hand, grabbing a few profile links here and there, is nothing to get overly concerned about.
                          Not if you're the one grabbing. How many small bites does it take to matter, though? And how many of these creatures are out there nibbling away?


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

                          I've seen more blogs and forums than I care to think about that were shut down because the owners simply didn't want the frustration and waste of time involved in keeping out the garbage.
                          Yep. Been there, done that. I'm not highly technically inclined nor up on all the latest and greatest digital locks. So I had a forum that had the pretty basic locks in place. It was overrun in no time. At first I tried to keep up with it -- "just delete 'em if you don't like it" -- but eventually I had to surrender.

                          Ever seen The Mummy, when those bugs overtake that guy and devour him in a matter of seconds? That's what it feels like when spammers crawl all over a forum. And it's equally as disgusting.

                          Becky
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                • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
                  Banned
                  Originally Posted by dassad View Post

                  You are a bit paranoiac don't you think? Ok, was proved many times that peoples like to "destroy" such online platforms with advertisements. But think about it, if someone cares about his site than simply prevents the spam with own custom measures.

                  If someone just installs a CMS to get some money, fills with some duplicated content, phantom users, spams the hell with his link and then forgets the page and waits for revenue. Than what happened, THAN I'M FIGHTING MY ENEMY since he spamed me, or we can call it REVENGE TO.


                  Best regards,
                  daSSad
                  You've obviously been hanging around Black Hat forums for a long time. The fact is that if someone does want to create a property as you described above, that's his right to do so. It doesn't give you the right to deliver spam to it also. But this is just smoke and mirrors. You aren't really talking about delivering one link to the webmaster who spams his own forum. Everyone knows that the forum profile spammers deliver thousands upon thousands of those links to any and all web properties that they can invade.

                  They are parasites that cost webmasters huge amounts of time and money to rid themselves of.
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      • Profile picture of the author PatriciaJ
        Originally Posted by Mike Anthony View Post

        I'll still supply press release sites, article directories and book marks because all of them exist on some level with the expectation of a link .
        No, they exist requiring something in return for the link like decent content for instance. If I stopped removing the profiles from my directories within a week there would be more 'authors' than articles on them.

        Setting up profiles on any type of site for the links and with no intention of participating is link spamming in my book, unethical and a waste of resources for those of us who lose time clearing them out.

        To me profile link spamming is just as bad as blog comment spamming. For those of you who think profile link spamming is right do you welcome spam comments on your blogs or do you clear them out?
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        • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
          Originally Posted by PatriciaJ View Post

          No, they exist requiring something in return for the link like decent content for instance.

          Sorry Patrica but thats a rather obvious and meaningless objection. Frankly an objection for objection sake.I know of no press release site that you can put a link on without providing content and it needs to be approved in a great many and bookmark sites exist to take links no matter what you claim. If its a niche specific bookmarking site then yes publishing links that do not fit within that niche would be spam. Article directories choose to publish what they publish. We can't be making up the definition of spam as we go along endlessly widening its scope so that we can pontificate. If you look at a piece of content and decide to publish it then theres no way its spam. period. If you say you (generic you) publish as an article directory everything automatically then thats your editorial decision as well.


          Frankly I don't think you even read what you quoted and objected to. I was NOT referring to profiles. I specifically mentioned bookmarking sites, press releases and article directories not blogs, blog commenting or forums. In NONE of these is the link left exclusively in the profile section but in the specific content that the site requires.
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  • Profile picture of the author DancingHamster
    I think you need to actually contribute to the site in some way to make it more ethical
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  • Profile picture of the author christopher jon
    That is who we're talking about. They are the enemy. If you use such techniques, you are the enemy.
    Aren't we always our own worst enemy? It's easy to pick on the obvious offenders but much of what goes on in the marketing world isn't much better.

    But more importantly, where is the pool?
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    • Profile picture of the author sannu123
      Hi guys.........
      Also if one forum like this, gets daily 500 reg's that means 500 emails to spam for the owner so YES he is happy and he welcome's the new regs since all registrations mean a new people to spam and to make some revenue..........

      thanks for nice sharing........

      regards...

      sannu
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      • Profile picture of the author PatriciaJ
        Originally Posted by sannu123 View Post

        Hi guys.........
        Also if one forum like this, gets daily 500 reg's that means 500 emails to spam for the owner so YES he is happy and he welcome's the new regs since all registrations mean a new people to spam and to make some revenue..........

        thanks for nice sharing........

        regards...

        sannu
        I've never had emails from this forum owner, nor have I had emails from any of the other forums that I belong to unless I ask for updates to the threads that I'm interested in. I never emailed the members of the forum that I owned but I did close it down because I was fed up with the leeches.

        Just in case there are forum owners who are happy to give you profile links in exchange for emailing you, how do you determine which sites want you to sign up and not participate and which don't want you leeching off them?
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    • Profile picture of the author PatriciaJ
      Originally Posted by Mike Anthony View Post

      Sorry Patrica but thats a rather obvious and meaningless objection. Frankly an objection for objection sake.I know of no press release site that you can put a link on without providing content and it needs to be approved in a great many and bookmark sites exist to take links no matter what you claim. If its a niche specific bookmarking site then yes publishing links that do not fit within that niche would be spam. Article directories choose to publish what they publish. We can't be making up the definition of spam as we go along endlessly widening its scope so that we can pontificate. If you look at a piece of content and decide to publish it then theres no way its spam. period. If you say you (generic you) publish as an article directory everything automatically then thats your editorial decision as well.


      Frankly I don't think you even read what you quoted and objected to. I was NOT referring to profiles. I specifically mentioned bookmarking sites, press releases and article directories not blogs, blog commenting or forums. In NONE of these is the link left exclusively in the profile section but in the specific content that the site requires.
      I read everything that I reply to and got the rest of your post but I don't object to anything for objections sake - as you said

      Originally Posted by Mike Anthony View Post

      I'll still supply press release sites, article directories and book marks because all of them exist on some level with the expectation of a link .
      Everybody who signs up to an article directory gets a profile, some sign up dozens of times just to get the profile links and never submit any content in exchange for the links. It takes time that could be used for something more useful to clear those non authors out so of course I object.

      Bookmarking sites - pardon me I thought they were intended to share content.

      I mentioned mass blog commenting because to me it's all part of the same problem. It's all link spamming and wastes time and resources.

      Originally Posted by dassad View Post

      Are you serious? For real?
      Yeah i could do that but now i don't will do it since you challenged me to do. Few of peoples came with the "my house" example, now i could say that only why if you challenge me to remove the roof of my house i wouldn't do it only if you say so.

      However, if my sig disturbs someone or it's again Forum TOS than just tell me and I remove it, without any problems, I don't want to change or break the rules I just like to be unique and "new".

      Best regards,
      daSSad
      I think that this thread was started to show your signature too and that you won't remove it because that would defeat the purpose of it.
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      • Profile picture of the author dassad
        Originally Posted by PatriciaJ View Post

        I think that this thread was started to show your signature too and that you won't remove it because that would defeat the purpose of it.
        Well in fact was started to clear this and to know more about this issue and to decide if it's spam or not. But now thanks to you and others who have problems with it, i think that I get a lot of clicks on my signature.

        Also i don't understand why you think that the thread is only for signature promotion, you are saying this as i start daily 30 threads on every forum and i have a signature that attracts your attention. You really think that if I'm going for signature promotion, I'm doing it this way?

        Regards,
        daSSad
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        • Profile picture of the author ajithrocksca
          Well,

          Anything that is not natural is not worth on the long run.

          The reason for google and other search engines giving importance to backlinks is because they feel if there is worthy page then many people will give links to that page. Over the years, we started to manipulate it. The search engines were ok with it as long as we provided good content in our page.

          Now Google with the Panda Update is coming hard on content farms, and especially link spam. Today link spamming is easy, you get scrapebox, load a list of 1 million auto approve sites and spam your links, even with 50% success rate, you will have half a million backlinks. Or you can use profile link building tools and create 1000s of profile links in a matter of minutes. This will not work anymore, if the SEO experts innovate with different ways of link building, then Google with such expertise and resource will out do what these experts are doing.

          Occasionally someone can get good rank for a brief period of time, as long as there are no content/value to visitors, the site will fall. If you are someone who is looking at long term business through your website, then profile links is a strict no.

          There are great ways of building natural and high authority links, go for it, instead of profile links
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    • Profile picture of the author harrietfredge
      In my opinion, I say that they are spams. If you want to do it, do it the right way.
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  • Profile picture of the author rickfrazier1
    Originally Posted by dassad View Post

    We all know about profile links. There were many WSO's based on these links and i think that until now every webmaster used them at lest once.

    So my question is, ARE PROFILE LINKS SPAM?

    My opinion is that if we use the specific fields only for getting the links we can't talk about spam, but we we stuff out signature, bio boxes, about me, and others with links than that is spam.

    I mean that if a site owner asks to complete our profile, and there's a field for our website, we add our URL, owner is happy with the completed profile, we are happy with the link. This isn't spam at all.

    Ok this was the simplest part but what is with the registration? Should we register on a forum or any website just to get a public profile with a link it's spam? I mean that we don't need the forum and don't use it we even don't know what's that about but we register a profile just for the backlink.

    [snip...]
    Perhaps I'm over-tired, but I'm not sure where you are going with this, or what profile you are speaking of... Am I being too dense?

    If we put a link to our web site in a profile, either here or on another forum, is it spam? If this is the question, I'd say no.

    If we sign up for a forum just to place a link in the profile (ostensibly to get backlinks or exposure) is this spam? If this is the question I still say no.

    If we put a link in our bio box (Or horrors, actually put one in the content) of an article posting, is this spam? If this is the question, I'd say no, unless inclusion of the link is way out of context.

    If I did call these spam, I'd probably be accusing a fair portion of the warrior membership that has membership in other forums as spammers, something I certainly would NOT want to do.

    Taking into consideration that most links are to create traffic to our sites, at what length would you suggest that any place we leave a link is spam?
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  • Profile picture of the author michaeldoring
    Originally Posted by dassad View Post


    So my question is, ARE PROFILE LINKS SPAM?
    Signature Linkbuilding without providing quality content is Spammy. I wrote an article on this subject back in May, My nonsensical rant about Forum Profile Backlinks*|*Michael Dorings Blog: SEO, Internet Marketing, and Life.

    Don't believe it is Spammy, read this '...Google has been working on some new algorithms and tools to tackle linkspam and we'd like to ask for linkspam reports from you... If you'd like to tell us about web sites that appear to be using spammy links (e.g. paid links that pass PageRank, blog spammers, guestbook spammers, etc.), here's how to send us more info...' 1

    1. Calling for link spam reports (2010, March 3rd). Retrieved 5th May, 2011, from Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO Blog: Calling for link spam reports
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  • Profile picture of the author ghostrecon
    If done in excess, then yes it would be considered spam. On the other hand, grabbing a few profile links here and there, is nothing to get overly concerned about.
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  • Profile picture of the author mattlaclear
    I have a better polling question to present to Warriors. Are threads that ask if profile links are spam also spam themselves? I have seen several of these very same threads asking the very same question. So what's the deal? How many times will we debate this issue???

    Profile links are spam. Period. They unrelentingly and uninhibitedly post on to others web property in the hopes the repeated intrusions will benefits themselves not the hosts in which they are posting on.
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    • Profile picture of the author Laurie Rogers
      Originally Posted by mattlaclear View Post

      I have a better polling question to present to Warriors. Are threads that ask if profile links are spam also spam themselves? I have seen several of these very same threads asking the very same question. So what's the deal? How many times will we debate this issue???

      Profile links are spam. Period. They unrelentingly and uninhibitedly post on to others web property in the hopes the repeated intrusions will benefits themselves not the hosts in which they are posting on.
      Yeah I'd say that's about right, they could care less about the actual discussion, just more opportunity to get their links out there.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kurt
    In my mind there's no doubt a forum owner offers profile pages in return for participation in their forum.

    So to me, the question becomes "how much" participation is required? The answer is a tough one, as it probably hasn't been thought about much by many forum owners and it will probably vary widely from owner to owner.

    Since there isn't a predefined contribution requirement, I think some of the burden rests on the forum owners to restrict profile pages until members have reached their required level of participation.
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    • Profile picture of the author mattlaclear
      Originally Posted by Kurt View Post

      In my mind there's no doubt a forum owner offers profile pages in return for participation in their forum.

      So to me, the question becomes "how much" participation is required? The answer is a tough one, as it probably hasn't been thought about much by many forum owners and it will probably vary widely from owner to owner.

      Since there isn't a predefined contribution requirement, I think some of the burden rests on the forum owners to restrict profile pages until members have reached their required level of participation.
      Forum owners allow a single profile page to each participant of their forum. One guy crushing 10k profiles is not what they had in mind.

      I have a perfect solution though. Why not eliminate profile pages from forums? Or not allow url on the profile page? Or to create them all as no follows?

      Why don't forum owners insist on this taking place? Mainly because it is easier to complain about a problem rather than looking for solutions to one.

      It's clear technology is not the answer to stopping forum spam. The better our software gets the better the spammers make theirs.

      But if you were to eliminate the section they were posting to...that would solve a lot of problems.
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      • Profile picture of the author Kurt
        Originally Posted by mattlaclear View Post

        Forum owners allow a single profile page to each participant of their forum. One guy crushing 10k profiles is not what they had in mind.

        I have a perfect solution though. Why not eliminate profile pages from forums? Or not allow url on the profile page? Or to create them all as no follows?

        Why don't forum owners insist on this taking place? Mainly because it is easier to complain about a problem rather than looking for solutions to one.

        It's clear technology is not the answer to stopping forum spam. The better our software gets the better the spammers make theirs.

        But if you were to eliminate the section they were posting to...that would solve a lot of problems.
        To be fair, I wasn't talking about someone that creates 10,000 accounts on the same forum. My point was about someone creating 1 account on each of 10,000 different forums.

        But I do agree that eliminating profile pages would be a solution. Another (paritial) solution is to only activate a user's profile page after they've met a certain criteria, such as 50 posts.
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      • Profile picture of the author Laurie Rogers
        Originally Posted by mattlaclear View Post


        But if you were to eliminate the section they were posting to...that would solve a lot of problems.
        That doesn't work either unfortunately and I'll give you some other examples outside of forum's ... craiglist for example shut down their adult section for escorts, what happened when they did that? A bunch of the adult service providers started posting in the therapeutic section, dating sections and casual encounters sections.

        Some were obvious and ended up getting their ads flagged and some just changed their method of marketing and grabbed another phone number to use, so their ads wouldn't get flagged. So although some people in the world think the problem is eliminated just because the adult section is now gone, the reality is, it's still there and prevalent.

        When I started up my ad network, I debated on whether or not to have an adult section, because I knew some people would have issue with it. And then someone said to me, just be realistic about it, give them a section so that way they're not posting in the other sections and irritating people. I tried that for a while and finally said to heck with it, I'll just give them their own darn site so that way the people that don't want to see it don't have to and they still get to promote themselves.

        Then the super spamming kicked in, but I had an option, to charge them for ads to cut down on the spamming, it cut it down yes, but a lot are still spamming even though I've upped the prices. So case in point, eliminating it altogether etc. doesn't resolve the problem.
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
      Kurt,
      Since there isn't a predefined contribution requirement, I think some of the burden rests on the forum owners to restrict profile pages until members have reached their required level of participation.
      Ah. So, they should spend time and money in order to take things away from legit users so they can reduce the amount of abuse their sites and members take?

      Yeah. Love it. Problem solved, folks. We can all go home.

      Oh... wait. We set the forum software up here so you have to have a certain amount of posts in order to include a link. That was supposed to keep the spammers from posting. Guess what... It got them posting a lot more, so they hit the point at which they could insert those links.

      How many things do we take away from honest users of these sites in order to discourage the abusers?

      It's easy for you or I to suggest these things, since we're pretty much past any sane level of restrictions that might be imposed. But what about those new folks who come in for the right reasons? Those small advantages can make a big difference at times.


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      • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
        Matt,
        I have a perfect solution though. Why not eliminate profile pages from forums? Or not allow url on the profile page? Or to create them all as no follows?
        Same response as I gave to Kurt: Why should any site owner have to do any of this stuff to keep out the virtual termites and digital cockroaches?
        But if you were to eliminate the section they were posting to...that would solve a lot of problems.
        No, it wouldn't. It would just shift it somewhere else in the system.


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        • Profile picture of the author mattlaclear
          Originally Posted by Kurt View Post

          To be fair, I wasn't talking about someone that creates 10,000 accounts on the same forum. My point was about someone creating 1 account on each of 10,000 different forums.

          But I do agree that eliminating profile pages would be a solution. Another (paritial) solution is to only activate a user's profile page after they've met a certain criteria, such as 50 posts.
          For sure that would be acceptable in my book. But xrumer would only take 5 minutes to set up those 10k links. How many folks can resist double dipping after the initial 10k goes out?

          Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

          Matt,Same response as I gave to Kurt: Why should any site owner have to do any of this stuff to keep out the virtual termites and digital cockroaches?No, it wouldn't. It would just shift it somewhere else in the system.

          Paul
          I get you Paul. But this is the real world. There are nasty people in it too and they need to be dealt with.

          It's not fair that I have to carry a pistol in my pocket wherever I go these days either. Yes, I have a permit to do so. But I just as soon not have to carry it because it's heavy and I am constantly concerned I am going to blow my jewels off at any given moment. The latter mostly stems from all the inadvertent pocket dials I make with my phone while it is supposedly locked!

          But it would be a simple fix to stop profile links. Just shut down profile pages on forums. They provide very little juice anyways when used properly.

          Since profile pages do not really help the innocent who uses them properly I do not see the downside of this.
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          • Profile picture of the author Jill Carpenter
            This thread is misleading. I put on my swim suit, now where is the pool?

            Originally Posted by ak1lz View Post

            Not all are spam, but most likely 99% of them are.
            I have a forum installed. There is NOTHING on the forum. And really nothing on the site. Yet, I have hundreds and hundreds of members.

            What would be the reason for people signing up to a forum which provides no valuable information on the web for any topic what so ever?

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

          Matt,Same response as I gave to Kurt: Why should any site owner have to do any of this stuff to keep out the virtual termites and digital cockroaches?No, it wouldn't. It would just shift it somewhere else in the system.


          Paul
          They shouldn't. And we shouldn't need police or locks on our doors.
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          • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
            Kurt,
            First, it isn't your decision what other forum owners want to do with THEIR forums.
            That is sort of my point. I am not saying anything about what a forum owner should or should not do. I am saying they should not be required to do this in order to operate in peace.

            You have NEVER heard me say that people shouldn't have the tools to defend their property against trespassers. Not once, in all the years we've both been members.

            Here's the problem with questions like "How do you define 'legit'?" They look for quantitative answers to a conceptual problem. Those answers always involve settings lines out that the creepie-crawlies will try to work around.

            The real answer is simple, but non-measurable: Intent. Reading that is a subjective thing, so I prefer to leave a lot of room for error.
            Third, despite your sarcasm about "problem solved", I haven't seen you offer a solution to the problem that will work better.
            That's because you've limited your definition of "solution" in ways that blind you to what I'm doing.

            Any solution that takes away from people with honest intent tends toward removal of the utility of the resource. In an arms race like that, the ultimate logical end result is removal of the resource, as even a read-only site can be hacked and then used for purposes other than those of the owner.

            I'm not looking for a perfect solution. I'm looking for a working balance that delivers the optimum usability for the real participants. Balance is always the thing.

            Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing every link in this forum turned to nofollow. That would take nothing away from anyone who's here for the purposes for which this forum exists. But I don't think that should be required just to keep out the link spammers.
            Fourth, while you claim that a minimum post requirement has only caused spammers to post more, I wonder what the alternative would be...I have a feeling things would be much worse. Not to mention, anyone making 50 posts so they can get a link from a profile page is dumber than a box of rocks.
            The alternative was to allow automated systems (human or machine-powered) to spam the forum. The motivation to post the same ad 15 or 50 times wouldn't exist for the majority of the spammers.
            Fifth, you also assume that spam control is all bad for new users.
            That is an overly broad statement, and inaccurate as written. I believe that some forms of spam prevention are bad for new members, yes. But not all.

            Example... Captchas: Good. Quotas for a profile: Bad. (Not horrible, just bad.)
            They shouldn't. And we shouldn't need police or locks on our doors.
            Right. And police and locks are not the only ways to discourage theft or mayhem.

            Matt,
            But this is the real world. There are nasty people in it too and they need to be dealt with.
            [ahem]Reeeaallly?[/ahem]

            Hmmm. I thought all this moderating I do was because of technical stuff. You mean... I've been dealing with Bad People??? Wow. Whodathunk?
            But it would be a simple fix to stop profile links. Just shut down profile pages on forums. They provide very little juice anyways when used properly.
            Unbelievable. You don't see any value to a forum profile other than SEO fuel?

            Dude, you need to get out more.


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

        Kurt,Ah. So, they should spend time and money in order to take things away from legit users so they can reduce the amount of abuse their sites and members take?

        Yeah. Love it. Problem solved, folks. We can all go home.

        Oh... wait. We set the forum software up here so you have to have a certain amount of posts in order to include a link. That was supposed to keep the spammers from posting. Guess what... It got them posting a lot more, so they hit the point at which they could insert those links.

        How many things do we take away from honest users of these sites in order to discourage the abusers?

        It's easy for you or I to suggest these things, since we're pretty much past any sane level of restrictions that might be imposed. But what about those new folks who come in for the right reasons? Those small advantages can make a big difference at times.


        Paul
        Paul,

        First, it isn't your decision what other forum owners want to do with THEIR forums.

        Second, you said "legit users"...How do you know someone is "legit"? Don't they have to make some posts first before they can be called "legit"? And if they make some posts, then they get a profile page. This is an option that should be made available to forum owners, not you make the decision for all of them.

        Third, despite your sarcasm about "problem solved", I haven't seen you offer a solution to the problem that will work better.

        Fourth, while you claim that a minimum post requirement has only caused spammers to post more, I wonder what the alternative would be...I have a feeling things would be much worse. Not to mention, anyone making 50 posts so they can get a link from a profile page is dumber than a box of rocks.

        Fifth, you also assume that spam control is all bad for new users. IMO, having a clean forum is also a good thing for new users, even at the expense of a few privileges.

        Plus, I've never joined ANY forum to get a profile page, and if someone is only joining any forum to get one and not make any real contributions, maybe they're "illegitimate".
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  • Profile picture of the author jackpot9
    I own a forum myself as and I know just how irritating it gets so yes I think they're spam. Don't blame them though because I used to create profile links too so oh well.
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  • Profile picture of the author aymen99
    well if it is a spam well why it is still effective even after Panda !
    It is not a spam if you do it right !
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    • Profile picture of the author mattlaclear
      Originally Posted by aymen99 View Post

      well if it is a spam well why it is still effective even after Panda !
      It is not a spam if you do it right !
      Explain your process of doing it right then. Maybe you have some insight into this discussion that we don't.
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  • Profile picture of the author bethsuzi
    I'd like to hear what Angela (off of Angela's backlinks) has to say about profile backlinks. I remember a few years ago, a similar thread was on the go regarding profile links and Angela had a pretty convincing arguement (she would though - no offence Angela).

    When I started out in IM, I used those link packages for a while and I have to say, when setting up my profle, there was always a niggly feeling of "this just isn't right" so I had to stop it. I usually use my gut instinct on these things and as I got to know more about online marketing, I realised my instinct was right.

    I think most reasonable, decent people just know when what they are doing is questionable.

    That being said, I think many forms of marketing online and offline can be somewhat questionable, so I can understand how (especially newbies) can unwittingly find themselves in grey hat, spam marketing territory.

    Beth
    Signature

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  • Profile picture of the author dassad
    Please note that I'm not saying that SPAMMING is right or spamming is cool. AT ALL! I HATE IT TO! I'm just curious what is spam and what not!

    Best regards,
    daSSad
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    • Profile picture of the author mattlaclear
      Originally Posted by dassad View Post

      Please note that I'm not saying that SPAMMING is right or spamming is cool. AT ALL! I HATE IT TO! I'm just curious what is spam and what not!

      Best regards,
      daSSad
      You mean you just wanted to regurgitate a discussion that has already been beat to death in order to expose us to your sig file selling links. Those .edu links you're peddling aren't spam are they? I sure would hate to see you peddle something that you hated.
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      • Profile picture of the author dassad
        Originally Posted by mattlaclear View Post

        You mean you just wanted to regurgitate a discussion that has already been beat to death in order to expose us to your sig file selling links. Those .edu links you're peddling aren't spam are they? I sure would hate to see you peddle something that you hated.
        Sorry but i don't think that my signature has anything to do with the purpose of this thread. Also since this is not what asked means that you are spamming to?
        Come'on I'm just asking since i want to know and I already see that i have to rethink this since there are really good points that these links are spam to.
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        • Profile picture of the author Laurie Rogers
          Sure your sig has something to do with this thread and you argued everyone's points throughout this thread and it's so blatantly obvious what it is that you're trying to do, get sig views. There is "no thinking" about it, you either do it or you don't, you either use ethical marketing techniques or not. And if you're going to be unethical then this isn't the place for you, pretty cut and dry.

          Originally Posted by dassad View Post

          Sorry but i don't think that my signature has anything to do with the purpose of this thread. Also since this is not what asked means that you are spamming to?
          Come'on I'm just asking since i want to know and I already see that i have to rethink this since there are really good points that these links are spam to.
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          • Profile picture of the author dassad
            Originally Posted by Laurie Rogers View Post

            Sure your sig has something to do with this thread and you argued everyone's points throughout this thread and it's so blatantly obvious what it is that you're trying to do, get sig views. There is "no thinking" about it, you either do it or you don't, you either use ethical marketing techniques or not. And if you're going to be unethical then this isn't the place for you, pretty cut and dry.
            Sorry but if I'm going for sig views than first I buy a "image in signature" and after that start a thread that has nothing to do with marketing, or seo, or backlinks, or spam. Also I'm not arguing everyone, I'm just trying to get peoples to look on both sides of the things and that's why I'm asking "stupid questions" to get peoples to think!

            Also I don't think that you should attack me only why I'm trying to get clear and not only myself, also a lot of others. In the mean time to i don't wana start a thread for promotional issues if I'm selling something that is about that what I'm asking!

            Thank you!

            Regards,
            daSSad
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            • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
              Originally Posted by michaeldoring View Post

              Don't believe it is Spammy, read this '...Google has been working on some new algorithms and tools to tackle linkspam and we'd like to ask for linkspam reports from you... If you'd like to tell us about web sites that appear to be using spammy links (e.g. paid links that pass PageRank, blog spammers, guestbook spammers, etc.), here's how to send us more info...'
              Thanks, Michael, I forgot about website guest books. Another resource for humans sharing their thoughts and experience spammed pretty much out of existence.

              Dassad, if you really have no commercial intent in this thread, I challenge you to go back and turn your signature off for the posts in this thread. Not even all of your posts, just the ones in this thread.

              I'm guessing I get back another one of your bass-ackward circular questions.
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              • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
                Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

                Dassad, if you really have no commercial intent in this thread, I challenge you to go back and turn your signature off for the posts in this thread. Not even all of your posts, just the ones in this thread.
                HA.... Learn something everyday. Didn't even know this was possible. In all my time here I haven't even looked at miscellaneous options
                Signature

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              • Profile picture of the author dassad
                Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

                Dassad, if you really have no commercial intent in this thread, I challenge you to go back and turn your signature off for the posts in this thread. Not even all of your posts, just the ones in this thread.
                Are you serious? For real?
                Yeah i could do that but now i don't will do it since you challenged me to do. Few of peoples came with the "my house" example, now i could say that only why if you challenge me to remove the roof of my house i wouldn't do it only if you say so.

                However, if my sig disturbs someone or it's again Forum TOS than just tell me and I remove it, without any problems, I don't want to change or break the rules I just like to be unique and "new".

                Best regards,
                daSSad
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            • Profile picture of the author Laurie Rogers
              Most certainly you are definitely arguing with anyone whom is objecting to your "discussion" and it's blatantly obvious. If you think that some of us are not aware of this "technique" again sorry, but you're in the wrong forum, attempting to do business with wrong people. Go back and read your posts, anybody whom has given you a valid answer to your questions, you've argued their statements.

              I'm not attacking you, I'm expressing my opinion and if I was attacking you, as you so put it, you'd know the difference. I'm not a person that candy coats anything or tells you what you think you want to hear, I get to the point, plain and simple. Buying an image sig is again not a valid argument on your part, so please quit trying to make excuses for your ill attempts at spamvertising your sig, I call a spade when I see one and sorry, but you are a spade and a poor one at that.

              And by the looks of the replies after mine, I'm not the only one who feels this way. If you can't handle the criticism and the objections to your thread and fake advertising, again this is not the place for you to be.


              Originally Posted by dassad View Post

              Sorry but if I'm going for sig views than first I buy a "image in signature" and after that start a thread that has nothing to do with marketing, or seo, or backlinks, or spam. Also I'm not arguing everyone, I'm just trying to get peoples to look on both sides of the things and that's why I'm asking "stupid questions" to get peoples to think!

              Also I don't think that you should attack me only why I'm trying to get clear and not only myself, also a lot of others. In the mean time to i don't wana start a thread for promotional issues if I'm selling something that is about that what I'm asking!

              Thank you!

              Regards,
              daSSad
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  • Profile picture of the author NoBSGuy
    Originally Posted by dassad View Post


    Ok this was the simplest part but what is with the registration? Should we register on a forum or any website just to get a public profile with a link it's spam? I mean that we don't need the forum and don't use it we even don't know what's that about but we register a profile just for the backlink.

    Ok it's unethical, but theres the option to do it and use it since it's free and open and you're welcomed.

    This can't be called spam either but than what it is?
    Can`t agree on this one. If someone registers on a forum just for the purpose of a backlink then yes, it is intentional spam.
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  • Profile picture of the author dassad
    NO I not argued them, and you can check it? I just asked a question relevant to his opinion but from the another side, to make him think and to see the things from both sides.

    But however, you can say what you think and i can do so to. About mi signature i really don't have to say any more, since don't was observed at all until now, until it was mentioned here in thread. Now hopefully get's a lot of exposure, thanks to you
    However if you think that you deserve it than a say a big I'M SORRY. Also if you think that i'm only excusing me then simple i don't reply on your posts so i'm not excusing and I'm not "fake advertising"


    There are couple of votes but still looking for more. Until now the answer is obvious . Thank you for everyone who voted until now.

    Best regards,
    daSSad
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  • Profile picture of the author dassad
    Another question:

    Let's assume that a website is for members only or a part of it can be accessed by registered members only. We need informations from that locked section, so we register a profile, we add our website URL to our profile, access the locked section and read what interests us.

    In this situation we are not contributing to the community, since we are there only to read an article or a post or a thread or anything.

    So in this case, are we spamming?

    Regards,
    daSSad
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