New Procedure

I've decided to change my splog reporting procedures slightly. It appears splogs are getting shut down before Google gets to see them and evaluate AdSense policy violations. Ideally it would work like what happened on Case #3. Spammers should get their AdSense account suspended and then Blogger will clean up the remaining mess. The reason why I'm aiming for AdSense account suspension is to really pull out the weed from the roots sorta speak. Just removing the splogs is not a deterrent since they will just create more splogs to replace the ones that were shut down. The new procedure is to report the splogs to AdSense and give them time to take appropriate action first then I'll report the case to the public after few days. I believe this as a more effective means to deter sploggers.

If you are wondering how you can help fighting splog, there is plenty you can do. Probably the most time consuming process of fighting splog is collecting and identifying splogs. You can help me by submitting your splog lists to my email address fightsplog@gmail.com. If you are a spammer and reading this, I suggest you delete your spam blogs immediately and stop any further spamming or else you risk getting banned by AdSense.

Case #10 - 1forless.info and others

This spammer created 19 sets of 20 splogs each totaling 380 splogs. This just goes to prove that the mentality that drives a blog spammer is no different than an email spammer. It's driven by volume of spam and ultimately greed.

* N is 1 through 20
eepskidkN.blogspot.com
ertgetgeegN.blogspot.com
ewddwweN.blogspot.com
fsdfggtrrefN.blogspot.com
greterwseqN.blogspot.com
gsasdfrereN.blogspot.com
kitsegeN.blogspot.com
ksdjhjsjhdeweN.blogspot.com
mnxzmbxbmN.blogspot.com
ndnfvdfrN.blogspot.com
nsdbadwwN.blogspot.com
nfhgfhghgN.blogspot.com
ooiweiuwqN.blogspot.com
opweiweuhhgvN.blogspot.com
owoiiewwdN.blogspot.com
oyutrtyrtN.blogspot.com
pocjjejsafN.blogspot.com
pwioeiwerrN.blogspot.com
xbxbbbfsdfN.blogspot.com

These splogs as usual have no content whatsoever and point back to webpages with following domain names:

1forless.info
1thebest.info
247sale.info
forless1.info
getcheaper1.info
getforless.info
health7.info
sale3.info
save1.info
totravel.info

Case #3 is a success!

Apparently Google has banned the AdSense account of splogger who owns p50.info. All the ads on the domain have stopped. I'll will be submitting his 218 splogs to Blogger for immediate purging.

Case #9 - 101-online-reference.info and others

Very predictable set of splogs have been identified. This spammer created 136 splogs with a predictable pattern.

* NNNN is 1234 through 1369 = 136 splogs
referenceNNNN.blogspot.com

Every one of these splogs contain links back to his 94 .info domain sites all with a word reference in it. Here are the first five as a sample:

101-online-reference.info
101-reference-online.info
101-reference.info
101-web-reference.info
101onlinereference.info

Status Report

Following actions have been taken so far:

8 policy violation notices submitted to Google
1 policy violation notice submitted to Searchfeed
1 spam complaint filed to a domain registrar
1 spam complaint filed to a web hosting provider Pair Networks
504 splogs are currently being targetted

1072 identified splogs remain for analysis

Case #8 - custombaseballhats9ur.blogspot.com

This splog wins the award for the most lame splog so far. It's just a page with one AdSense ad unit and nothing else. I'll let AdSense folks go at it with this one.

Case #7 - laserhairsremoval.com and others

I've identified a block of 40 splogs which points back to 20 websites. Here they are:

* N is 1 through 40 except 23. It appears 23 has been removed by Blogger
N-baby-boy-nursery-1.blogspot.com
palm-tree-nursery-1.blogspot.com

The splogs above point back to following domains:

laserhairsremoval.com
laptopmonth.com
lancastervisit.com
laptopcomputerdeal.com
laptopbatteryshop.com
laptopfast.com
laketahoeconnection.com
landscapelightinguk.com
labelwear.com
laminateflooringsales.com
laminatefloorspecialists.com
laptopmemorysales.com
labeladd.com
labelbot.com
juicerbuy.com
sofanut.com
cheapticketscenter.info
flashgroupware.com
mytopblogs.com
aap-very-best.info

It appears every domain from laserhairsremoval.com to juicerbuy.com has been registered by same person through godaddy and hosted by Pair Network. It appears AdSense has caught onto the splogs and disabled the AdSense account on splogs but not the targetted webpages. I've contacted AdSense about this and this time I've also contacted Pair Network about this spamming activity.

Case #6 - newgolftechniques.blogspot.com

I thought having 221 ad units on a page was bad. This one has 679 AdSense ad units on one page and 336 links to various pages on www.sewingmachine4u.info. Also I'm not sure what "New Golf Techniques" has to do with sewing machines. AdSense has been notified of this splog.

Case #5 - locator.w500.info

This spammer has created 170 splogs to draw traffic to pages on locator.w500.info. He created at least 17 sets of 10 splogs starting with some jibberish and a number 1 through 10.

* N is 1 through 10
ccbuttuygtN.blogspot.com
cnryiueyoiuysN.blogspot.com
drritypitubytN.blogspot.com
erntruyobN.blogspot.com
etryetueytryN.blogspot.com
eybrtyuyrbN.blogspot.com
kcnbtttertvrN.blogspot.com
msiuytoiurytrN.blogspot.com
mswieuyrerytN.blogspot.com
mxryeuyetrN.blogspot.com
ncueryurytirN.blogspot.com
ncuyrtryturN.blogspot.com
sedytertvbtrrN.blogspot.com
siryiruytrbN.blogspot.com
smuytrtybirybN.blogspot.com
snurtuvrbyN.blogspot.com
swerutyurytbN.blogspot.com

AdSense has been notified of this policy violation.

Case #4 - structured-settlements-4u.blogspot.com

structured-settlements-4u.blogspot.com is rather a "special" splog. This splog contains 221 units of AdSense ads. Google AdSense apparently does have some sense since only three ad units are being rendered. This splog like any other splogs it links to his website attempting to draw traffic to his site. Anyway, Google has been notified of this splog.

Case #3 - p50.info

This one so far wins the record for the most number of splogs created for a website. 218 splogs have been created by one person and they all point to some website under the p50.info domain.

* N is 1 through 57 = 57 splogs
229ik0N.blogspot.com

* N is 1 through 7 = 7 splogs
3334red3N.blogspot.com

* N is 1 though 50 = 50 splogs
3334rfe3N.blogspot.com

* N is 1 through 57 = 57 splogs
33rf56gtN.blogspot.com

* N is 10 through 56 = 47 splogs
er36dg4N.blogspot.com

57 + 7 + 50 + 57 + 47 = 218 splogs!

Needless to say, AdSense has been contacted about this blatent policy violation.

I believe that this spammer has many more sites with this type of splog in other places. In attempt to figure out the registrar of p50.info domain, I ran across 30host.com which is a WordPress based splog. Also that splog links to pages on b60.info domain. More digging is definitely needed.

Case #2 - betteringtones.com

betteringtones.blogspot.com is a splog which contains nothing but links as well as AdSense ad. Every link on that page points to betteringtones.com website. This is a clear violation of AdSense policy. I have submitted this policy violation to AdSense for review and possible action.

Case #1 - in1hit.com

I have identified a blog spammer who created 72 splogs in attempt to draw traffic to his website.

* NN is 01 through 72 = 72 splogs
asd0NN.blogspot.com

All these splogs contain absolutely no content and they are just pages of links pointing to http://www.in1hit.com

I've noticed that just about every link on in1hit.com's website is a clickthrough for an advertiser searchfeed.com. The page also contains AdSense ads. I've submitted complaints for violation of their spam policy. I have also contacted the registrar of in1hit.com, enom.com and submitted complaints as well.

Fighting Splog!

I got so fed up with spamming in blogs that I've decided to do something about it. By the way, splog is short for spam blog in case you didn't know. I've began collecting information about this new type of spamming and I've already identified over 1000 blogs which are nothing more than a spammed links to a spammer's website. I was bit surprised at what I found so far. It seems that majority of splogs are created to draw traffic to a website for the purpose of generating ad revenue. Obviously this is an archiles heel of their plan and I will be exploiting this weakness.

I don't believe that blogger's "Flag" feature and keyword commenting will be enough to curb the growth splog. If a splog has been flagged and no longer shows up in searches and indexed, they will simply create more splogs in it's place. Also keyword commenting is turned off by default. Many blog writers are not even aware of this new feature. I believe fighting splog has to be much more proactive effort to be effective.

It appears vast majority of splogs are created in violation of Google's AdSense terms of service. I will be submitting multiple TOS violation findings to AdSense support starting with the most egregious violators. This is just a first step in many fights to come.