Open season for spam in GW forums?

15 years ago

There continues to be a problem with supplement dealers openly posting ad messages in the Herbalism forum (the Eastherb company has several such posts on the current forum page), and when such spam posts are reported to GW no action is taken to delete them (or respond in any way).

Is it now policy that anyone can advertise their products on GW through forum posts, instead of paying GW for ads?

Isn't that counterproductive to the goal of providing revenue for the site, as well as keeping blatant ads out of the forums? Could GW clarify its current policy on spam posts?

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Comments (7)

albert_135 　 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
15 years ago
Are these being reported using the the very small 'contact us' link at the bottom of some pages?

I have never been able to post that link in a message or a follow-up. One has to find it and click on it as it seems to be somehow tied to one's home page email.

I don't know if it has ever worked on weekends and holidays. And if the spam is not removed immediately it gets into Google cache and becomes immortal so there is not much point after that.
Chemocurl zn5b/6a Indiana
15 years ago
I just did a search for the spammers name (searching the entire site)and it yielded 9 threads...6 at Herbalism, and another 3 (it seems) at Herbs. I then sent the URL of the page showing the 9 spams threads to the Contact Us link, found in the green banner at the bottom of any page.

I lurk at Herbalism, and it does seem to get hit a lot harder than some of the other Forums. Reporting it, and providing the URL in the report, I'm sure helps in them getting it taken care of.

Sue
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hi, if this works you can see the crape that I get... they are e-mails from other members...that I would guess they don't know anything about...these ads are using GW members e-mail list to sent out their crape..... this link was sent to me from greengirls e-mail and I bet she doesn't know about....maybe she will see this and respond......linda http://tribeniglobal.com/wp-content/plugins/akicmet/bing.php?bizu715fj
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not spam- chance to own piece of s.florida for 10-15k
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Comments (22)
The property behind mine has gone into foreclosure and is now up for sale by the bank that took the loan through the FDIC after the previous bank (holder of the loan) went bust. To give you an idea of relative property values here since the crash, this 10 acre tract sold for $3.3 million about 4 years ago. That's $330,000 per acre. It had been a private residence and then a paso fino horse breeding farm for the years prior to its purchase by a developer who wanted to put a bunch of high price homes on it. The developer spent much money and effort trying to get the property re-zoned from Agricultural to Residential. After a two year fight, they succeeded in getting approval to put 28 houses on this property and its adjacent 5 acre tract on the corner of my street. .....only to be met with a market crash just prior to ground breaking. Now the property is listed for sale at $1.1 million or $110,000 an acre. I'm hoping the property doesn't sell as a 10 acre unit and the bank wants to carve it up and get it off their books, cheap. The back 2.5 or so acres is directly behind my property and would hopefully cost significantly less per acre than the going current rate since it would have no access to the roads. So, I am saving my pennies... Harry
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SPAM alert
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arley, I agree, and it is against the rules. I remember clear back when Renee was banned jut for mentioning that she owned a coffee shop and sold coffee beans on line. Although several of us bought wonderful coffee her husband roasted, she wasn't linking to a website or advertising, it was just a part of her life. Now we get links and spam and chat bots. Ugh. Using the forums to advertise is against the rules, of course, so I also report any SPAM threads I get sucked into. Annie
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Comments (29)
So many good responses. I agree with so much already said. Vampiressrn comment that "I think there is a lot of gray area here" is very much to the point. If I tell a poster that I also have a bed in the corner, and I link to my blog photo, and the blog has an advertisement for smelling salts, one person might feel that it's a ploy for smelling salts sales, and one might just see it as a helpful link. Given that, I don't think most of us are patrolling for spam, or getting all up in it over posts with links or blog links. When other posters start labeling something as "spam" it usually is. And if I have a website called Redbazel and you click on it, that's on you. Doesn't mean my posting with the same screen name I've used for 10 years is spam. If I post that I HAVE a website, and you email me to ask about it, that is also on you. Doesn't mean I tried to dredge up hits to my website. Now, I'm glad that the votes thing got brought up. While I don't think anyone here had any bad motives when they asked for ugliest kitty votes, or pinkest cheek votes or dancing with penguin votes, I don't really think the decorating forum is the place for this. If you want to call your friends and solicit votes, I guess that's ok. But I really think that votes should also be based on real feelings. So if I click on the "Vote for MY recliner!!" thread and I find that Magnaverde's recliner is in a Glen plaid and I truly love some anonymous recliner in gray velvet, it's annoying to see all the votes go to MV just because he happens to be an outstanding GW poster instead of to the anon. owner of the very pretty gray velvet. It skews the voting process. If it's popularity votes you want, My vote is for MV. If we are Really voting for nice recliners, I'm going to check the box next to the velvet with the feather headrest and the built-in remote. Red **No blogs, so don't hunt for them!!
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rusty_blackhaw
Original Author
15 years ago
I reported this spam post to GW 3 days ago via the recommended contact link, but this and other spam are still up on the forum despite being reported.

In the olden days Spike was very prompt about removing spam. The current situation makes one wonder if the webmaster(s) are too busy to take action, don't care about spam's effect on the forums in general (including loss of ad revenue), or whether advertisers are actually paying GW to be allowed to post this stuff.
brendan_of_bonsai
15 years ago
In the past there was a crappy mallzai web shop spamming the hell out of the bonsai section, the only way they ever took down the spam was when I linked it in a thread in suggestions. They scolded me every time too. I also had the gall to suggest that they out the name of the shop as a swear word and that they would have the spam blocked automatically from then on but they ignored that simple 3 second fix and opted instead for spam. Maybe they should have someone who reads every new post with the word spam in it and they could take care of the problem in no time.

Here is a link that might be useful: More spam
aka_peggy
15 years ago
And them freaking casalmedia ads are driving ME beserk!!!
barbe_wa
15 years ago
The spam in the Herbs Forum is getting really bad. I fear the same thing will happen in it that has happened in one of the Yahoo groups I belonged to. There it got so bad that it was hard to find a legitimate post, so I just dropped the group. I really enjoy GardenWeb and it would be very distressing if I had to drop it, too.
tommyr_gw Zone 6
15 years ago
This site is going downhill FAST. It's almost unusable IMHO.

I've about had it....

Open season for spam in GW forums?

Comments (7)

albert_135 　 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.

Chemocurl zn5b/6a Indiana

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Open season for spam in GW forums?

Comments (7)

albert_135 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.

Chemocurl zn5b/6a Indiana

Related Discussions

rusty_blackhawOriginal Author

brendan_of_bonsai

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COMPANY

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GET HELP

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albert_135 　 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.

rusty_blackhaw
Original Author