Block IP Ranges of Certain Countries or regions

1. 69

   tritrainposted 12 years ago

   I know this may not be popular, but since HubPages is being hit with so much spam, possibly from certain countries, I suggest that HubPages block the IP ranges where many of these spammers reside.
   
   Other sites have done it and it successfully dropped the amount of submitted garbage quite a bit. 
   
   I would think that, as an English language site, where all of the readership is coming from primarily English-speaking countries, that we should look at doing this.
   
   Google dramatically dropped HubPages international rankings, which directly affected how many views it receives internationally.  That's ok because much of the money probably comes from the bigger English-speaking markets anyway, right?
   
   
   It's time to start blocking IPs for any further submissions.  They could look, but no more submissions (Hubs, Answers, Forums).

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   1. 61

      recommend1posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      What spam is Hubpages being 'hit' with ?
      
      This sounds more like a psychotic isolationism to me - unless I have missed ALL  the spam ???

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   2. 81

      Sufidreamerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I hope it isn't popular - it is a horrible idea. The witch hunt has already spread to ESL speakers - limiting who can post because of their geographical location is something that I can never agree with.
      
      On HP, we have (had?) a great international community, with excellent writers from around the world. By your reasoning, we should apply a blanket ban according to nationality, taking away the spirit of HP as a site where people can share their views and perhaps earn a little money in the process.
      
      With HP already in a state of panic and hysteria, with everyone jumping at shadows and looking for people to burn at the stake, this won't be helpful, IMO. It all smacks of the proverbial closing the stable door long after the horse has bolted.

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2. 72

   relacheposted 12 years ago

   This type of action/response already happens here.
   
   Ever see a post from someone who is trying to make their very first Hub, and they find they're prevented from doing so?  It's due to the IP assigned to them being associated with prior spamming action.

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   1. 69

      tritrainposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Very good point.

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3. 68

   lrohnerposted 12 years ago

   Agreed, Sufi. I'm not a big fan of allowing ESL writers who mangle the language so badly that their hubs are painful to read, but I would never want to see a ban on specific countries or ESL writers in general.
   
   Hubpages is a very unique community, IMHO, due largely to the cross-section of people who write here from all over the globe. I've learned so much about other parts of the world and other cultures, that if they were banned, I would definitely leave.

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   1. 81

      Sufidreamerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Agreed - I don't intend to write any more Hubs on HP, but a country specific ban would see me stop participating completely.
      
      Of course, this is all speculation - I don't really foresee it happening

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4. 69

   tritrainposted 12 years ago

   It does concern me that very good English-speaking writers could be blocked, that happen to live in these areas of the world.
   
   Looking at a lot of the Hubs and Questions that have been coming up, it does appear that they are coming out of a certain wedge-shaped country.
   
   I know there are good writers from there.
   
   However, there are millions of IPs and often an ISP will reallocate IPs eventually anyway.  We will always be chasing our tail.

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   1. 81

      Sufidreamerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      That might be the case, but I bet that there are at least as many spammers with overly promotional hubs coming from the US (judging by my forays into hub hopping).
      
      Perhaps we should block all Americans from registering on HP - it is obviously a nation of spammers

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      1. 69

         tritrainposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         We should block all IPs except for one.
         
         It would be on a lone computer in the middle of the playing field of a stadium.  The stands would be filled with moderators and other Hubbers critiquing it.
         
         

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         1. 81

            Sufidreamerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            
            
            Sadly, I am pretty sure that someone would find a way to spam it

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            1. 69

               tritrainposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Doh!!

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   2. 61

      recommend1posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      The figures that came up for spammers in the recent China versus Google debate - was that, like arms sales, the USA originates more spam and malicious adware and spyware than the rest of the world combined.   Shutting someone elses's stable door after your horse has bolted is more than a little hypocritical doncha think ?

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      1. 69

         tritrainposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Well, this is a US-based business and it is in the interest of our horse to get to the trough.
         
         Maybe the other horses just need to jump a hurdle or two before being through the door?

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5. 72

   thisisoliposted 12 years ago

   I do not think this is a good idea, we have plenty of fantastic international writers from non-english speaking countries.
   
   This would block a lot of spam, but there are way of checking for poor quality english automatically.

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   1. 69

      tritrainposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      It's not working very well.
      
      Just look through the Questions and Hubs.  Look at the Latest ones.
      
      Probably 80% are garbage and nonsensical.
      
      The Good writers could petition to be unblocked or have to jump through some extra hoops that would allow them to keep publishing.  The spammers would find the extra steps annoying.
      
      There are automated tools out there that allow people to spam very quickly and HubPages is among the sites that are targeted.
      
      It is costing all of us the search engine rankings and, thus, the traffic, which equals money.

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   2. 0

      EmpressFelicityposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, surely this is what the HP team should be working on - providing a sort of spam filter that acts before publication, rather than blocking people by country.  And if someone's hub gets caught in the spam filter by mistake, they can always email the team to get their hub published.

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      1. 69

         tritrainposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I think prevention would be best.
         
         It could be a two-pronged approach.
         1. Make it much more challenging/annoying for spammers to be able to Publish.  Slow down the process until they have reached a certain point.
         2. Get all of us involved in finding and reporting garbage.  Make the tools more helpful.  We should have HubHopping in a more obvious position, as I think many people don't know where to find it.  Give us reports and a gauge as to how we are progressing.

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6. 81

   skyfireposted 12 years ago

   Blame games, Foum trolls, Witch Hunt, Racism and now country specific ban ? *claps*
   
   @Staff/Moderators, if you plan to implement this idea, please  give us some time to pull off content.

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   1. 69

      tritrainposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Would you rather HubPages and the rest of the "regulars" do nothing?
      
      Google has brought the hammer down on HubPages, along with many other sites.
      
      http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/110304-095114 
      
      I think we have a LOT of garbage. 
      
      We should have moderation of the Forum, Questions, and Hubs (as we already do, maybe just needing a bit more).
      
      The problem is the sheer volume of it.
      
      As we've been discussing above, perhaps the answer is to make it more of a pain in the *ss to Publish, when you first start out.  Make it friendly, but a slower process.
      
      I think HubPages should still look at the IP addresses of the most prolific spam and take hard measures.  However, I would not want to see good writers from other countries leave.  I want to embrace the good writers from everywhere, if at all possible.

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