What's the definition of Spam?

Jump to Last Post 1-14 of 14 discussions (28 posts)
  1. Marisa Wright profile image88
    Marisa Wrightposted 17 years ago

    Recently I've been browsing and found a number of Hubbers who fit this profile:

    They have anything from 1 to 10 Hubs, all about the same subject, usually text only.  They're fairly well written, and a good length, but they're mainly waffle - not much solid information.  All the Hubs have just one link, back to their website.

    Many of these Hubbers joined months ago and haven't written anything else since. 

    It's obvious they've written these Hubs purely as promotion for their own site - but because they are a good length and somewhat informative, I hesitate to report them as spam. 

    I got a bit p*d off with one of them yesterday and had a merry time, adding a (polite) comment to each of their Hubs with a link to my own article on the subject (I figured, if they're going to take advantage of HP, then I'm going to take advantage of them!). 

    My question is - are these Hubs spam or not?  And if not, are they fair game for the kind of reaction I had?

    1. Maddie Ruud profile image64
      Maddie Ruudposted 17 years agoin reply to this

      If the content is duplicated elsewhere on the web, those hubs would be considered overly promotional.  If not, they're not, though repeatedly linking to their own site (and nothing else) across all of their hubs will affect their HubScore.

  2. darkside profile image60
    darksideposted 17 years ago

    Can you spam a spammer?

    Do two wrongs make a right?

    I don't know. I'd just let them sink to oblivion. My guess is that a posted comment in a guestbook has positive HubScore weight.

  3. Marisa Wright profile image88
    Marisa Wrightposted 17 years ago

    Does that mean you'd classify them as spam, Darkside?  Do you think I should've reported them?

    Yep, the "two wrongs don't make a right" thing was what was on my mind - just couldn't think of the expression at the time!

    1. darkside profile image60
      darksideposted 17 years agoin reply to this

      I'd avoid posting in them on the basis that I wouldn't want to give the impression of doing the wrong thing.

      Given the circumstances you may not have done the wrong thing. Sometimes two wrongs can be a lot of fun! I'd love to give spammers the contempt that they deserve. But someone else may come along and see what you've done, not understand the situation, think you condone it and you're in the habit of doing it and then go run by your hubs and do the same. Thinking it's the done thing to do.

      But that's just my opinion. smile

  4. Misha profile image67
    Mishaposted 17 years ago

    LOL Marisa,

    You got too much free time big_smile

    All what you described, even taken together, does not break any HP rule - to the best of my knowledge. We are allowed to reasonably promote our own sites as long as we contribute unique content.

    What you did however, was an outright spam IMO yikes smile

    1. Marisa Wright profile image88
      Marisa Wrightposted 17 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, you're probably right - that's why I had an attack of the guilts this morning! 

      Thanks to Maddie for clarifying. I might do a bit of Googling and see what comes up.  I didn't think they could be classified as spam or low quality because they do have some content, which is why I didn't flag them.  You've confirmed what I thought - that however much I dislike seeing this kind of stuff around, it's not against any rules.

  5. Misha profile image67
    Mishaposted 17 years ago

    I'm glad you survived that attack smile

  6. Marisa Wright profile image88
    Marisa Wrightposted 17 years ago

    Yes, I think you're right Darkside.  Put it down to the fact that I was off sick with the flu and in a grumpy mood.  However,  I don't think they can complain too much  - I did leave a link to my Hub, but I left a different, relevant comment each time, so I wasn't totally mean! 

    As I'll be back at work tomorrow, I'm not likely to have the time to get up to that kind of mischief again for a while!

  7. topstuff profile image58
    topstuffposted 17 years ago

    You are very careful.

  8. Misha profile image67
    Mishaposted 17 years ago

    Marisa, I don't mind you leaving a link to any of your hubs/sites when you drop a relevant comment to me. smile  This is definitely not a spam on my books.

    You were not doing yourself a justice when you started the thread, cause I read it the way your comments were not relevant and meaningful...

    1. funride profile image66
      funrideposted 17 years agoin reply to this

      Ditto wink.

  9. Stacie Naczelnik profile image64
    Stacie Naczelnikposted 17 years ago

    Marisa, you left links to hubs on the same subject, so I wouldn't consider that spam.  I allow comments like that on my hubs.  The ones I don't allow are ones like a comment left on my knitting hub with a link to a hub on "Hot Girls in Bikinis" - totally promotional and not at all relevant.

    Another thing about leaving comments on these hubs is that they might draw others to read them and comment also.  Sometimes I find new hubs to read by checking who is doing what on hubtivity.  I've found many a fabulous writer that way, but could potentially find crap too.

    1. darkside profile image60
      darksideposted 17 years agoin reply to this

      Now how do you know those bikinis weren't knitted?

      tongue

      big_smile

      1. Susan Ng profile image66
        Susan Ngposted 17 years agoin reply to this

        Haha!  That joke of yours actually reminded me of a very important thing that I often forget to do: See things from another perspective. tongue

        Thanks for the lesson and the laugh. lol

  10. Mark Knowles profile image60
    Mark Knowlesposted 17 years ago

    Any one ever eat real spam?

    1. Shirley Anderson profile image73
      Shirley Andersonposted 17 years agoin reply to this

      Oh yes, my mother used to serve it up fried....good with mustard, or cold in a sandwich.  Okay, maybe good isn't exactly the right word.

      I wrote an article about Spam when I was a Helium member.  Spam actually has a very fun and cool website.

  11. Stacie Naczelnik profile image64
    Stacie Naczelnikposted 17 years ago

    I've never eaten real spam.  But, I don't eat meat - real or fake.

    1. Shirley Anderson profile image73
      Shirley Andersonposted 17 years agoin reply to this

      Vegan or vegetarian?

      1. Stacie Naczelnik profile image64
        Stacie Naczelnikposted 17 years agoin reply to this

        Vegetarian.

        I love cheese.

        1. caspar profile image61
          casparposted 17 years agoin reply to this

          I can live without Spam quite happily and I think I could live without meat (never tried to give it up), but I just know that life wouldn't be worth living without cheese.

        2. Mark Knowles profile image60
          Mark Knowlesposted 17 years agoin reply to this

          Venezuelan beaver cheese?

          1. Stacie Naczelnik profile image64
            Stacie Naczelnikposted 17 years agoin reply to this

            Blek.

            So there.

          2. rmr profile image71
            rmrposted 17 years agoin reply to this

            Do I hear a bouzouki playing?

  12. rmr profile image71
    rmrposted 17 years ago

    Spam is an excellent appetizer. Especially if the entree is hotdogs!

  13. R. Martin Basso profile image75
    R. Martin Bassoposted 17 years ago

    Along with being a part of national and international folklore, SPAM is the preferred dietary supplement of all Monty Python troupe performers, with the exception of John Cleese who converted to veganism in 1999 after learning that Hollywood production studios would not be resurrecting A FISH NAMED WANDA for a second installment sequel.  Mr. Cleese was so distraught over this that he thought it had something to do with Monty Python's now-infamous SPAM SONG of counter-culture folklore from the 1970's.
    At least that's one man's theory, but then again I've never been conventional.
    R. Martin Basso

    1. Shirley Anderson profile image73
      Shirley Andersonposted 17 years agoin reply to this

      I have never considered this connection, but having seen every episode and the movies, it wouldn't surprise me.

  14. Misha profile image67
    Mishaposted 17 years ago

    Poor fish sad

    wink

 
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)