Shopsmith Forums

I reported three instances of hidden link spam yesterday. For whatever reason they aren't hidden in my browser so I'm able to see them. The three reports were just closed but the spam was not removed. Do we not care about spamming? Should I not bother reporting?

To post on this forum now, the posters initial post must be approved by a moderator...I think.

I say "I think" because I think I see many "newest members" who don't seem to have approved. Example right now is 1966swo. How did this happen without there being an approved post?

The non-removal of those posts was an oversight. It has been corrected.

Realize us moderators do not watch 24/7. Sometimes there is not sufficient time to finish the task(we do get interrupted).

Please continue reporting these sneaky spam shenanigans.

I do not understand the reasoning behind inserting links that most cannot see?

MODERATOR wrote: ↑Sun Mar 26, 2023 5:32 pm The non-removal of those posts was an oversight. It has been corrected.

Realize us moderators do not watch 24/7. Sometimes there is not sufficient time to finish the task(we do get interrupted).

Please continue reporting these sneaky spam shenanigans.

I do not understand the reasoning behind inserting links that most cannot see?

The more the link appears on different web sites (visible or not) the higher up on search engine results the link will appear. The SPAMERs hide them so Moderators don't see them and remove them. Or in some cases we see here the SPAMER posts a quasi relevant reply to a thread and then days/weeks later edits the post and adds a link hoping the old edited reply will not be noticed by anyone. Again to get their link higher up on search engine results.

jsburger wrote: ↑Sun Mar 26, 2023 5:46 pm

MODERATOR wrote: ↑Sun Mar 26, 2023 5:32 pm The non-removal of those posts was an oversight. It has been corrected.

Realize us moderators do not watch 24/7. Sometimes there is not sufficient time to finish the task(we do get interrupted).

Please continue reporting these sneaky spam shenanigans.

I do not understand the reasoning behind inserting links that most cannot see?

The more the link appears on different web sites (visible or not) the higher up on search engine results the link will appear. The SPAMERs hide them so Moderators don't see them and remove them. Or in some cases we see here the SPAMER posts a quasi relevant reply to a thread and then days/weeks later edits the post and adds a link hoping the old edited reply will not be noticed by anyone. Again to get their link higher up on search engine results.

If I understand, you are saying that a poster does no harm (to this forum) and only gains in "ratings". What ratings?? Unless there is a link to a website somewhere there is nothing top gain.

And then the "new poster" whose name is not linked to anything - only seen one time on the "newest poster" entry.

dusty wrote: ↑Sun Mar 26, 2023 6:08 pm

jsburger wrote: ↑Sun Mar 26, 2023 5:46 pm

MODERATOR wrote: ↑Sun Mar 26, 2023 5:32 pm The non-removal of those posts was an oversight. It has been corrected.

Realize us moderators do not watch 24/7. Sometimes there is not sufficient time to finish the task(we do get interrupted).

Please continue reporting these sneaky spam shenanigans.

I do not understand the reasoning behind inserting links that most cannot see?

The more the link appears on different web sites (visible or not) the higher up on search engine results the link will appear. The SPAMERs hide them so Moderators don't see them and remove them. Or in some cases we see here the SPAMER posts a quasi relevant reply to a thread and then days/weeks later edits the post and adds a link hoping the old edited reply will not be noticed by anyone. Again to get their link higher up on search engine results.

If I understand, you are saying that a poster does no harm (to this forum) and only gains in "ratings". What ratings?? Unless there is a link to a website somewhere there is nothing top gain.

And then the "new poster" whose name is not linked to anything - only seen one time on the "newest poster" entry.

To repeat...

The more the link appears on different web sites (visible or not) the higher up on search engine results the link will appear.

The gain is that the SPAMERs web site in the link shows up higher on search engine results. The more times a search engine finds a link to a web site the higher up on the search results it places that web site when someone does a search for a particular topic.

The SPAMER does not particularly care if you or I see his link on this forum. The gain is his web page (link) showing up higher on search engine results. That increases the probability of more people seeing it when a search is done.

The harm to this forum is a bunch of posts that we have to endure that are not contributing to the given topic the post appears in. The SPAMER has no desire to engage in a conversation on the given topic. If these people are allowed to post with impunity the forum will eventually degenerate to nothing but noise with very little useful content. I am sure nobody here wants to have to wade through a bunch of useless posts to get to the real content of the forum.

Great explanation, John!

Yes great explanation. Add to that that these are sketchy if not downright fraudulent websites the spammers are boosting, so to allow the links to remain is tantamount to aiding and abetting