Conversation with a comment spammer

Over at Adsense Chat a budding comment spammer posted a link to one of my blog entries about comment spam. He [expressed shock and amazement]( that bloggers don’t appreciate his activity. He seemed truly confused as to why people don’t like it.

Apparently this technique that is hated by alot of “Bloggers” out there. … I was taught by some people that this is a “New way” to gain page rankings on google without having to pay for it. … Believe it or not, it’s not welcomed. Apparently, you’re pond scum if you choose less costly methods to get PR.

I created an account and spent some time talking with this guy in the forum. Read the thread — it’s a fascinating look into the tiny little mind of a spammer.

I tried a gentle tack at first. I thought perhaps he was new to this whole internet thing and might not really get why people were unhappy with his behavior. It turns out I was right. Someone posted a quote from another thread in which he mentions he’s being building AdSense sites since November and is frustrated by the lack of traffic.

No wonder this poor guy is resorting to spamming. Someone has led him to believe there’s this magical land of free dollars flowing out of Adsense and all you have to do is get some traffic in any way you can. (Perhaps it was a Web 2.0 VC who gave him this idea, but I digress).

Dave Kaufman - Techlife
January 23, 2007 12:08 PM

Comment Spam meet Akismet.

Akismet eat my Comment Spam.

Matt’s work on Akismet (comment spam eradicator) for Wordpress is so good that I have begged him to make email spam tools like this. He hasn’t caved…yet.

Basically he has the benefit of millions of users and has used that to create a system where we (all blogs) have keys that allow Akismet to parse our comments. And amazingly it learns from all the other junk. I get 1 comment spam a month at most. And the reverse is also true, it has not caught a false one yet.

If it was not for this, I would not blog.

Philip Tellis
January 24, 2007 5:04 AM

He could have been trolling.


Your comments:

Text only, no HTML. URLs will automatically be converted to links. Your email address is required, but it will not be displayed on the site.

Name:

Not your company or your SEO link. Comments without a real name will be deleted as spam.

Email: (not displayed)

If you don't feel comfortable giving me your real email address, don't expect me to feel comfortable publishing your comment.

Website (optional):

Follow me on Twitter

Lijit Search

Best Of

  • Google on the desktop Google picks up Picasa, giving them an important foothold on people's PCs.
  • Best of Newly Digital There have been dozens of Newly Digital entries from all over the world. Here are some of the best.
  • The mouse and me Not only is the mouse very destructive, but it's evaded all attempts to capture or kill it so far.
  • Let it go Netscape 4 is six years old.
  • Embrace the medium The Web is different than print, television, or any other medium. To be successful, designers must embrace those differences.
  • More of the best »

Recently Read

Get More

Subscribe | Archives

Recently

Ideas, Risk, and Investors (Jan 1)
Over at SacStarts, I have piece up discussing a common question I get from entrepreneurs....
VoiceXML for web developers (Dec 17)
Building voice applications isn't hard at all. Any web developer can do it.
De-skunking a dog (Oct 27)
How to clean up your pet after a skunk attack.
Pressure sales via Twitter (Oct 16)
Sticking an ad in my face when we first meet is a good way to lose my interest.
Loma Prieta, 20 years later (Oct 13)
Looking at the earthquake from October 17, 1989
Red light cameras don't work (Oct 13)
Cameras installed to catch people running red lights aren't about traffic safety at all.
Jack-o-lantern pumpkin carving patterns (Oct 12)
It's a tradition, what can I say?
SEO realities (Oct 12)
The real search engine optimization. Works every time.

Subscribe to this site's feed.

Elsewhere

IMified
Build instant messaging applications. (My company)
SacStarts
The Sacramento technology startup community.
Pinewood Freak
Pinewood Derby tips and tricks

Contact

Adam Kalsey

Mobile: 916.600.2497

Email: adam AT kalsey.com

AIM or Skype: akalsey

Resume

PGP Key

©1999-2010 Adam Kalsey.
Content management by Movable Type.