Adopt a Spammer

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  1. WryLilt profile image85
    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.

    1. Mrvoodoo profile image58
      Mrvoodooposted 13 years agoin reply to this

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

    2. Ms Dee profile image77
      Ms Deeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

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

      1. Ms Dee profile image77
        Ms Deeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

        Found one to adopt already, one you suggested: tudou

    3. Barbara Kay profile image76
      Barbara Kayposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I worry that this can become a witch hunt.

      1. WryLilt profile image85
        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 Flagging won't get a hub unpublished, only a moderator can do that.

    4. Mutiny92 profile image65
      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.

    5. Ms Dee profile image77
      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.

  2. earnestshub profile image72
    earnestshubposted 13 years ago

    Great idea!

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

    1. cheaptrick profile image76
      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?

      1. earnestshub profile image72
        earnestshubposted 13 years agoin reply to this

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

        1. DIYweddingplanner profile image69
          DIYweddingplannerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

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

  3. leahlefler profile image96
    leahleflerposted 13 years ago

    Oh, I always wanted to adopt! Great idea!

  4. Pamela99 profile image87
    Pamela99posted 13 years ago

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

  5. Wesman Todd Shaw profile image75
    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.

  6. Richieb799 profile image74
    Richieb799posted 13 years ago

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

  7. ajcor profile image60
    ajcorposted 13 years ago

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

  8. DIYweddingplanner profile image69
    DIYweddingplannerposted 13 years ago

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

  9. Mutiny92 profile image65
    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...

    1. DIYweddingplanner profile image69
      DIYweddingplannerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

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

      1. Mutiny92 profile image65
        Mutiny92posted 13 years agoin reply to this

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

        1. DIYweddingplanner profile image69
          DIYweddingplannerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

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

  10. Mutiny92 profile image65
    Mutiny92posted 13 years ago
    1. Mutiny92 profile image65
      Mutiny92posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      How about the word "Information" instead of "review"?


      http://hubpages.com/hub/wwwWellsFargoco … king-Login

      1. Mutiny92 profile image65
        Mutiny92posted 13 years agoin reply to this

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

  11. WryLilt profile image85
    WryLiltposted 13 years ago

    Another good one - this person has VERY short hubs.

    http://hubpages.com/profile/bestfreeware

    1. CASE1WORKER profile image62
      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

    2. Mutiny92 profile image65
      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!

  12. Ultimate Hubber profile image73
    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.

  13. sofs profile image76
    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.

    1. Ultimate Hubber profile image73
      Ultimate Hubberposted 13 years agoin reply to this

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

      1. sofs profile image76
        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.

        1. Ultimate Hubber profile image73
          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.

          1. sofs profile image76
            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.

    2. Mutiny92 profile image65
      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.

  14. Rosie2010 profile image67
    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.

  15. Rosie2010 profile image67
    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

    1. Mrvoodoo profile image58
      Mrvoodooposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Why is it spam?

      1. Uninvited Writer profile image77
        Uninvited Writerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

        Possibly because every single hub links to the same site?

        1. Mrvoodoo profile image58
          Mrvoodooposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Possibly.

          1. Lisa HW profile image62
            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?

            1. Uninvited Writer profile image77
              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.

            2. Mrvoodoo profile image58
              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.

        2. Lisa HW profile image62
          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...    hmm

          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?

          1. Mrvoodoo profile image58
            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. smile

            1. Lisa HW profile image62
              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.   hmm   smile  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.   hmm  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.    hmm

              1. Rochelle Frank profile image92
                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. smile )

    2. Richieb799 profile image74
      Richieb799posted 13 years ago

      Actually that 'ibuzzup' guy looks worse lol

    3. LuisEGonzalez profile image78
      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.

    4. Mighty Mom profile image75
      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!!!

    5. Mutiny92 profile image65
      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.

      1. Rochelle Frank profile image92
        Rochelle Frankposted 13 years agoin reply to this

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

      2. Mutiny92 profile image65
        Mutiny92posted 13 years agoin reply to this

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

    6. Mutiny92 profile image65
      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.

    7. BobbiRant profile image60
      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.

    8. Mutiny92 profile image65
      Mutiny92posted 13 years ago

      I owe HP a BIG apology!

      ibuzzup has been banned from HP.

    9. Mutiny92 profile image65
      Mutiny92posted 13 years ago

      and all of tudou's hubs are unpublished

      1. Rochelle Frank profile image92
        Rochelle Frankposted 13 years agoin reply to this

        We need a new list of candidates. smile

    10. Jule Romans profile image96
      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....

    11. WryLilt profile image85
      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. big_smile

      1. Mutiny92 profile image65
        Mutiny92posted 13 years agoin reply to this

        lol - it sounds much better coming from you!  smile

    12. Randy Godwin profile image62
      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! smile

    13. Mutiny92 profile image65
      Mutiny92posted 13 years ago

      gooadam is also down to 0 published hubs

      1. WryLilt profile image85
        WryLiltposted 13 years agoin reply to this

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

        1. earnestshub profile image72
          earnestshubposted 13 years agoin reply to this

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

        2. Mutiny92 profile image65
          Mutiny92posted 13 years agoin reply to this

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

    14. Mutiny92 profile image65
      Mutiny92posted 13 years ago

      Another one for the list:

      http://hubpages.com/profile/Best+Websites

      (go figure...another 1M+ view winner!)

      1. wilderness profile image95
        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.

    15. Mutiny92 profile image65
      Mutiny92posted 13 years ago
    16. WriteAngled profile image71
      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.

    17. Mutiny92 profile image65
      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...

      1. wilderness profile image95
        wildernessposted 13 years agoin reply to this

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

        1. Mutiny92 profile image65
          Mutiny92posted 13 years agoin reply to this

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

          1. WryLilt profile image85
            WryLiltposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            I'm working on JoJo next.

            1. Mutiny92 profile image65
              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.

              1. WryLilt profile image85
                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!

                1. Mutiny92 profile image65
                  Mutiny92posted 13 years agoin reply to this

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

    18. melbel profile image93
      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.

    19. melbel profile image93
      melbelposted 13 years ago
    20. Rochelle Frank profile image92
      Rochelle Frankposted 13 years ago

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

    21. Kiwiwi profile image39
      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 smile

      1. Rochelle Frank profile image92
        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.

     
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