Adopt a Spammer

1. 86

   WryLiltposted 13 years ago

   As mentioned in this thread: http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/75200
   
   There are many spammers who still have thousands of hubs up, even if they are on probation. Obviously flagging an account doesn't work so for those of us who are still trying to help Hubpages in any way - adopt a SPAM account and flag a few hubs every time you remember. Flagging 20 hubs a day only takes 5 minutes and you can do your part to get rid of this spam.
   
   No flames and no retorts please. If you want to help, here's a way you can do it.
   
   Here is a list to start:
   
   http://hubpages.com/profile/trading
   http://hubpages.com/profile/InfoFinder
   http://hubpages.com/profile/jojo1000
   http://hubpages.com/profile/www.ibuzzup.com
   http://hubpages.com/profile/tudou
   http://hubpages.com/profile/gooadam
   http://hubpages.com/profile/notouch002
   
   If you know of any more please feel free to add them. Remember that it can take a few days for flagged spam to be moderated with the current backlog.
   
   Let's keep flagging till the spam is gone!
   
   P.S. I'm personally adopting ibuzzup for regular flagging.

   replyreport
   1. 60

      Mrvoodooposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I guess there's no point in trying to point out the obvious then.

      replyreport
   2. 78

      Ms Deeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Great idea! Will let you know when I adopt one.

      replyreport
      1. 78

         Ms Deeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Found one to adopt already, one you suggested: tudou

         replyreport
   3. 76

      Barbara Kayposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I worry that this can become a witch hunt.

      replyreport
      1. 86

         WryLiltposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         It won't as long as people just spend their time flagging. Flagging won't get a hub unpublished, only a moderator can do that.

         replyreport
   4. 64

      Mutiny92posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Looks like the flagging is working. Over 100 have been taken down from one of them. 2,500 more to go.

      replyreport
   5. 78

      Ms Deeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Wrylit, it worked! Been flagging different hubs of one you suggested--a handful each day for three days--and all those hubs, almost 100, are now pulled off.

      replyreport
2. 72

   earnestshubposted 13 years ago

   Great idea!
   
   I just got started on the list, and will adopt someone soon.

   replyreport
   1. 74

      cheaptrickposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      OH!Pick me!Pick me Ernest!I Love spam...a water cracker with a little spam and tomato is my fave!I heard you Aussies make the Best Spam and eggs too...so Pick me! OK?

      replyreport
      1. 72

         earnestshubposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         OK, but you have to admit that you wrote a hub about paranormal activity in your bedroom!

         replyreport
         1. 68

            DIYweddingplannerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            I'm not sure I want to know...

            replyreport
3. 96

   leahleflerposted 13 years ago

   Oh, I always wanted to adopt! Great idea!

   replyreport
4. 88

   Pamela99posted 13 years ago

   This is a great idea and I will do my part.

   replyreport
5. 76

   Wesman Todd Shawposted 13 years ago

   Cool.  I've no idea how you find these people.  Every time I see a bs account they have three hubs, no avatar, and zero followers.  Good job.

   replyreport
6. 75

   Richieb799posted 13 years ago

   That Trading guy looks like the king of all spammers, the grand daddy lol

   replyreport
7. 60

   ajcorposted 13 years ago

   Just adopted one for personal viewing and flagging...if required!
   thanks for the list WryLilt

   replyreport
8. 68

   DIYweddingplannerposted 13 years ago

   I really would rather adopt a cute little kid than a creepy little spammer...but OK...

   replyreport
9. 64

   Mutiny92posted 13 years ago

   http://hubpages.com/profile/Writers
   
   (oops...adding the single word "review" fixed all of the concerns)
   
   I still believe that these are just as bad as they were before the magical word was added.
   
   But, they do generate a lot of views, and with the new ad program, we have winner...

   replyreport
   1. 68

      DIYweddingplannerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Did you happen to read the comments on the Beyonce.com one?

      replyreport
      1. 64

         Mutiny92posted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I did ... hopefully HP reconsiders this further "blurring of the line."

         replyreport
         1. 68

            DIYweddingplannerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Poor misguided souls think they're writing directly to Beyonce!

            replyreport
10. 64

    Mutiny92posted 13 years ago

    http://hubpages.com/profile/gss

    replyreport
    1. 64

       Mutiny92posted 13 years agoin reply to this

       How about the word "Information" instead of "review"?
       
       
       http://hubpages.com/hub/wwwWellsFargoco … king-Login

       replyreport
       1. 64

          Mutiny92posted 13 years agoin reply to this

          any word if "information" is as good a get-out-of-jail-free card as "review"?

          replyreport
11. 86

    WryLiltposted 13 years ago

    Another good one - this person has VERY short hubs.
    
    http://hubpages.com/profile/bestfreeware

    replyreport
    1. 63

       CASE1WORKERposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       I have adopted this one.
       another trick I have developed, is that  when you meet someone on the forums who is very active- but no hubs- i click to follow them- so when they do write i am ready-- just in case they are spammers rather than simply people learning the ropes

       replyreport
    2. 64

       Mutiny92posted 13 years agoin reply to this

       wow---at first I thought you were off on this one because I found some hubs that were longer...Using my first-rate-Sherlock-Holmes skills, I entered a snippet of a longer hub into the google and found that the longer ones are copied!
       
       https://encrypted.google.com/search?hl= … l=&oq=
       
       Good grief!

       replyreport
12. 71

    Ultimate Hubberposted 13 years ago

    WL, I'm glad that you are trying to help hubpages here and in turn helping us hubbers, but I wonder when will HP change some of its policies following one of ryankett's or someone else's suggestions.
    
    They can keep newly submitted articles pending till they are approved by a moderator like EZA or at least first ten articles should be manually moderated like the infobarrel.

    replyreport
13. 73

    sofsposted 13 years ago

    It would be really worth while to have the first ten articles approved by admin than go through all this Info Barrel seems to do it effectively enough and so does Triond... so why not Hp .. the problem of spamming may be reduced to a very large extent.

    replyreport
    1. 71

       Ultimate Hubberposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Maybe HP just want to make money without investing much into it.

       replyreport
       1. 73

          sofsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          I am not sure..they have off late, as they say recruited many moderators, so they might as well get them to work on it.

          replyreport
          1. 71

             Ultimate Hubberposted 13 years agoin reply to this

             I wish they get the mods to work in the right direction. I often see complains against moderation in these forums.

             replyreport
             1. 73

                sofsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                Complaints will always be there.. training the moderators well make be the trick.. but complaints can never be eliminated.
                I B has been very fair with moderation and yet there are tons of complaints.

                replyreport
    2. 64

       Mutiny92posted 13 years agoin reply to this

       i like that idea.  Between that and the SMS verification, the workload may actually drop in the long run as these spammers move on to other venues.  Maybe that is wishful thinking.

       replyreport
14. 67

    Rosie2010posted 13 years ago

    Great idea!  I try to hub hop at least once a day.  I've been finding spammers who have been here for years!  What da?  Unbelievable!  Report the profile as well.  I'm sure they will come back with a new profile, but at least they would know we are onto them.

    replyreport
15. 67

    Rosie2010posted 13 years ago

    I had flag this profile and ALL of his hub twice already, but it's still up and producing more spam hubs.  Another one today...
    
    http://hubpages.com/profile/BBQBarbecues

    replyreport
    1. 60

       Mrvoodooposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Why is it spam?

       replyreport
       1. 77

          Uninvited Writerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Possibly because every single hub links to the same site?

          replyreport
          1. 60

             Mrvoodooposted 13 years agoin reply to this

             Possibly.

             replyreport
             1. 62

                Lisa HWposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                ..but since all the Hubs (from what I've seen) are about the same subject, and since the link is about that same thing, too..    Isn't that considered a "relevant" link?  Or, is there a difference if the "relevant link" is a sales thing? 
                
                What if, for example, I wrote 40 or 50 Hubs about, maybe, premature babies; and then put the same link to one of my own sites/blogs about that subject (with no products being sold on the site).  Would that make a difference?

                replyreport
                1. 77

                   Uninvited Writerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                   I believe that admin would classify it as spam. Not that I agree but people have had hubs unpublished for that reason.

                   replyreport
                2. 60

                   Mrvoodooposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                   I guess it's down to HP's decision.  I have plenty of hubs on similar topics that all link out to my own site(s).  I personally consider them relevant, and to be honest, they've always been my primary reason for writing here.  I get the benefits of the link, and through traffic.  And HP earn far more from them than it would ever cost me to host them privately.
                   
                   But apparently there is a clause in the TOS, above and beyond the two links per hub rule, that says linking to the same site from too many hubs can get them unpublished.  How many is too many?  Who knows.  Some have suggested that linking out to your own site from one in five hubs is a safe number.  But I suspect that there is no hard and fast rule.  Some will get away with more than others.

                   replyreport
       2. 62

          Lisa HWposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Here's where things can get iffy when "everyone and his brother" is judging what's spam and what isn't (and I'm not saying, with this example, that I know either).   I wouldn't see that as spam, because, provided the Hubs are original and not copied, they're decent as far as I can see.  I see that the individual has "an agenda" (a sales site) -but - I don't know - a lot of us have a link to some other endeavor away from HP.
          
          I didn't read those Hubs - only skimmed - but they look fine to me.    I wouldn't mind seeing the thoughts of someone who knows better than I do about this particular kind of thing...   
          
          To be honest, I flag stuff if I see it; and I hop when I can make myself do that.  I'm not a big fan of the vigilante approach to hunting down spam, though.   I know the moderators are busy, and I kind of feel bad for them these days; but they know what's spam and what isn't (and, besides, they get paid for dealing with it).
          
          For ages now, I've been trying to figure out what approach I want to take as far as cleaning up my own stuff  on here that could stand some improvement goes.
          
          Again, I don't pretend to know anything about this (at all); but isn't it true (especially, now, since Panda) that if someone has an author score of - what - 8; and if his Hubs have scores in the 20's, Google isn't going to pick up that stuff anyway?  And since Hubbers won't be voting that stuff up, won't it sink into oblivion anyway?

          replyreport
          1. 60

             Mrvoodooposted 13 years agoin reply to this

             Ultimately, it shouldn't matter if somebody flags undeserving hubs/accounts as spam, as HP mods get the final say.  But like you, I had a quick skim through several of them, and as far as I could see, they weren't duplicate, and if you're interested in barbecues, they seemed like they'd be relatively informative.
             
             I generally don't flag either, as it doesn't feel like my place to do so.  Even more so now, considering the outcome of the other thread mentioned at the beginning of this one.
             
             I'm sure Rosie meant no harm though, one man's trash is another man's treasure.  And vice versa.  I just wondered if I was missing something.

             replyreport
             1. 62

                Lisa HWposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                I know nobody means harm when they're putting in the effort to try to clean up the site.  It's admirable.  I'm not too proud to admit that there's only so much I'm willing to involve myself in flagging and looking for.        One of the reasons I'm so reluctant to dive in and start flagging stuff more, though, is that the only spam I'm all that certain about is the really extreme stuff.  With a lot of the borderline stuff, I find myself thinking, "Should I?  Shouldn't I?"  In fact, that's kind of what makes hopping a "mental strain" for me.  People say, "When in doubt flag, and let the moderators figure it out."   I don't know...  When I'm in doubt I don't flag and, instead, let some other hopper figure out whether to flag.     I don't want to be the one who's sending tons of stuff to be reviewed to moderators.  The way I figure it, if it doesn't look all that horrible to me, chances are it won't look all that horrible to readers who run into it.  What goes on with algorithms "between" HP and Google is between those two companies, as far as I'm concerned.
                
                Anyway, I wouldn't mind seeing more actual discussion about some of the not-so-horrible Hubs, if for no reason other than that it would make hopping less of a challenge for me.  I don't know...    I'm just not comfortable with the "when in doubt, flag it" thinking, personally.   

                replyreport
                1. 92

                   Rochelle Frankposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                   I think there is nothing wrong with that. I tend to skip articles that are very technical or are on subjects that don't interest me at all. I only flag, for review, those that I am pretty sure are violating rules or are "low quality" according to the terms. Sometmes it helps to think " Would I publish this in my magazine?" (If I had one. )

                   replyreport
16. 75

    Richieb799posted 13 years ago

    Actually that 'ibuzzup' guy looks worse lol

    replyreport
17. 79

    LuisEGonzalezposted 13 years ago

    Hey I just went to one of them "goad..m" and this appears to be a legitimate hubber. Use caution please.

    replyreport
18. 74

    Mighty Momposted 13 years ago

    WryLit gets the award for best forum thread title.
    I never realized how strongly my spammerlogical clock was ticking till I read your brilliant suggestion!
    Who knew you could adopt spammers?
    FAB IDEA!!!

    replyreport
19. 64

    Mutiny92posted 13 years ago

    How is it that these are not being flagged for duplicate content?
    
    http://hubpages.com/search/include:hubs … protection
    
    There are quite a few pages of virtually identical hubs with only a few items changed on each.

    replyreport
    1. 92

       Rochelle Frankposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Wow! Good question. That is amazing. And the author has over 2200 hubs.

       replyreport
    2. 64

       Mutiny92posted 13 years agoin reply to this

       300 of these have been removed.  The moderators are busy!

       replyreport
20. 64

    Mutiny92posted 13 years ago

    If it helps, I have changed tactics on these.  As the smarter spammers are using the get-out-of-jail-free card of adding the word "review" or "information" to their titles, I started flagging these as "Low Quality" instead of "deceptive".
    
    This seems to be working as there aren't many people who think that these are GOOD quality.

    replyreport
21. 61

    BobbiRantposted 13 years ago

    Oh Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeee!  There always have been many, many hubs, especially the old 'how to make money' ones that say the same darn thing over and over and over, just change a few words here and there and you have a 'new' hub?  I've Always noticed them from over a year ago.

    replyreport
22. 64

    Mutiny92posted 13 years ago

    I owe HP a BIG apology!
    
    ibuzzup has been banned from HP.

    replyreport
23. 64

    Mutiny92posted 13 years ago

    and all of tudou's hubs are unpublished

    replyreport
    1. 92

       Rochelle Frankposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       We need a new list of candidates.

       replyreport
24. 61

    Jule Romansposted 13 years ago

    I'm ready to help with this! I have more time now. All I need is a litte push in the right direction to find a spammer....

    replyreport
25. 86

    WryLiltposted 13 years ago

    Woohoo! Ibuzzup has been officially banned from Hubpages. One down one thousand to go....
    
    Edit: Sorry just saw your post Mutiny. Haven't checked on this thread in awhile.

    replyreport
    1. 64

       Mutiny92posted 13 years agoin reply to this

       lol - it sounds much better coming from you! 

       replyreport
26. 60

    Randy Godwinposted 13 years ago

    This is great news!  I am regaining a little more respect for HP now.  I think I'll dig in too!  Good work guys!

    replyreport
27. 64

    Mutiny92posted 13 years ago

    gooadam is also down to 0 published hubs

    replyreport
    1. 86

       WryLiltposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Trading is under 2,000 but I'm still working on him.

       replyreport
       1. 72

          earnestshubposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Me too. You had a very good idea with this adopt a spammer idea WryLilt.

          replyreport
       2. 64

          Mutiny92posted 13 years agoin reply to this

          he has all of them unpublished.  Virtually all of them have left the building.

          replyreport
28. 64

    Mutiny92posted 13 years ago

    Another one for the list:
    
    http://hubpages.com/profile/Best+Websites
    
    (go figure...another 1M+ view winner!)

    replyreport
    1. 89

       wildernessposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Every hub is a www dot com title - just a little deceptive here.  Flagged a dozen or so.

       replyreport
29. 64

    Mutiny92posted 13 years ago

    http://hubpages.com/profile/cour23c

    replyreport
30. 81

    WriteAngledposted 13 years ago

    I'm following a different strategy, but hope it will also contribute. I target spammers with a sufficiently small number of hubs so that I can flag all of them in one session. My rationale is that this will serve as sufficient deterrent to the spammers that they will never come back.
    
    I find them by going into the hubber pages and putting in a random large page number, then checking through the accounts that come up.

    replyreport
31. 64

    Mutiny92posted 13 years ago

    http://hubpages.com/profile/youku
    
    I am definitely putting too much work into my hubs...This one has a few hubs with 16 total words (although there are pictures of hot women).
    
    And, of course, 1M+ views...

    replyreport
    1. 89

       wildernessposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       How very odd - that profile shows no hubs at all!   I would say you were effective.

       replyreport
       1. 64

          Mutiny92posted 13 years agoin reply to this

          HP has dealt with almost all of the ones in this thread.

          replyreport
          1. 86

             WryLiltposted 13 years agoin reply to this

             I'm working on JoJo next.

             replyreport
             1. 64

                Mutiny92posted 13 years agoin reply to this

                I flagged his profile a while ago. Hopefully he is addressed shortly.
                
                Now on to the copied webspam email and copied catfood/dogfood hubs. Those are classic compositely copied hubs. She was smart and did not copy the whole hub. Just paragraphs copied in full.

                replyreport
                1. 86

                   WryLiltposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                   I don't think flagging profiles works from what I've seen. LoL there are some spammers living on the edge!

                   replyreport
                   1. 64

                      Mutiny92posted 13 years agoin reply to this

                      It is sad.  I miss the pre-Panda HubPages a lot...

                      replyreport
32. 94

    melbelposted 13 years ago

    Are these spammers just posting more hubs? Some of the ones in your initial list still have hubs up... I don't know if they are new or just ones that have not yet been removed.

    replyreport
33. 94

    melbelposted 13 years ago

    Another:
    http://hubpages.com/profile/weiye

    replyreport
34. 92

    Rochelle Frankposted 13 years ago

    This is easier than adopting a puppy-- at least you don't have to clean the carpet.

    replyreport
35. 37

    Kiwiwiposted 13 years ago

    How do you guys determine a spam hub or hubber?
    What is the person is trying hard or not a spammer, but is flagged.Wouldn't that be just wrong?
    
    Some are obvious spammers, that can not be argued but some may not be.So choose the spammer carefully

    replyreport
    1. 92

       Rochelle Frankposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Flagging an item is ONLY a suggestion to the staff that they take a look at it to see if it meets their standard. 
       THEY  make the decision, not the hubbers who flag, no matter how many flags are given.

       replyreport