A New Kind of Spam? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Jon Chandler
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2011, 02:44:32 pm
content: After the discussion about data sheet piracy, I'm almost afraid to post but I think it's safe nowI'm starting to see some pages that seem to be little more than placeholders for Google Ads. I was wondering what "I.T.E" meant on a wall wart power supply, so I did a Google search and came up with the following link:ITE Power SupplyYes, the page confirmed my suspicion:QuoteThe nice looking page has a total of 4 paragraphs that don't really say much of anything and the rest is all Goggle ads.I've noticed a few other similar pages recently, for exampleLM317 Circuitswhich has a couple simple circuits straight from the data sheet but mostly Google Ads and the555 Timer Circuitspage which has a little more content...well, more circuits copied from other places without any explanation.These pages look like glorified spam with the intent to sell Google ads. What do you think?

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2011, 03:00:44 pm
content: what do you mean? we got it on the main eevblog page and forum

author: ModemHead
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2011, 04:23:11 pm
content: Looks likeContent Farmstuff.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 15, 2011, 05:30:29 pm
content: yes I've seen a lot of this, websites allowing download are also getting more and more persistent, the download link is often put in an almost hidden place with big download me links on adds causing a newcommer confusion. Again this is something I have learnt to deal with and get around but it's still a nuisance and in the end they don't get nothing out of me.As dave said adds can pay a lot. I put google adds on a website and got anything from 10 pence to £2 (dating websites - what a surprise,). The web is full of sites that are a poor excuse for information and really just a showcase of adds.I took over my rotaract clubs website and hosted it myself because they had it on tripod who not only provided a poor (but free) service filled the whole thing with adds to the point it was covering our content up.

author: Jon Chandler
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2011, 05:36:07 pm
content: Quote from: Mechatrommer on March 15, 2011, 03:00:44 pmYes, there are ads here too, but there's also content. There must be some reason I keep coming back hereQuote from: ModemHead on March 15, 2011, 04:23:11 pmBut there no real content, especially on the first and second links I posted. It looks more like it's designed to get search engine hits. Kind of odd in fact that the first link showed up on the first page of a Google Search.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 15, 2011, 05:48:35 pm
content: most forums and genuine websites have adds but there is a fine line between acceptable and overbearing we only want to make money web layouts.The other thing is breaking articles down in pathetically small pages so that more different adds are displayed in the hope that one will get clicked.

author: ModemHead
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2011, 06:28:40 pm
content: Quote from: Jon Chandler on March 15, 2011, 05:36:07 pmDid you read the Wiki article? That's the whole point, it's just junk designed to attract traffic from Google searches. Apparently it can be lucrative.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 15, 2011, 06:30:28 pm
content: What about those sites which are just rip-offs of Wikipedia? Of course they're totally legal as long as they abide by the license but they're often littered with adverts.

author: the_raptor
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 16, 2011, 04:22:22 am
content: Quote from: Hero999 on March 15, 2011, 06:30:28 pmWhat is worse is the print-on-demand books on Amazon that are just re-packaged Wikipedia article collections. They particularly target academic disciplines where there isn't much published.

author: saturation
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 16, 2011, 11:29:05 am
content: You have to go the URL to get the 'spam.' Unless you cannot recognize bad from good websites from the URL alone and/or preview pages, getting to it is partly a user's fault.I doesn't matter if you use Firefox, I can block the URL of the provider of all ads and spams, and my browser is clean.

author: Polossatik
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 16, 2011, 01:14:57 pm
content: Firefox+adblock rules.It's always a shock to see how many ads there are if i need to use IE or so on a pc

author: Jon Chandler
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 16, 2011, 01:53:13 pm
content: Quote from: saturation on March 16, 2011, 11:29:05 amWell, sure, I clicked the link in a Google search, so it is my fault that I ended up on that page. But it's kind of hard to tell from the URL in a Google search that it's going to be nothing but a site for ads.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 16, 2011, 06:34:31 pm
content: Quote from: Polossatik on March 16, 2011, 01:14:57 pmYes, I used to use that but I moved to Opera because I was having stability problems with Firefox. I discovered Opera's content blocker which can be configured to remove the annoying adverts on most sites.I've tried Chrome but I found the adblock isn't very good: some of the annoying banners briefly load before being hidden.

author: saturation
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 16, 2011, 07:41:25 pm
content: My only concern with chrome is that its google, and google makes its income through ad revenue. So how well can it block ads? If not now the future?OTAH Firefox adblock is a 3rd party app, and there are several. If not adblock there is another. It has no conflict of interest so its likely to succeed and perform as intended.Opera is fine, but it doesn't have near the market share of Firefox, and thus support.Together, Firefox + 3rd party apps allow you to roam the net with less fear of adware, malware, and annoyware.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 16, 2011, 10:20:34 pm
content: Quote from: saturation on March 16, 2011, 07:41:25 pmAdblock is third party addon for Chrome too. It's just that Chrome doesn't provide element hiding functionality.QuoteI've not had too many problems with sites not working with Opera and it works with some sites which fail with Firefox.Opera doesn't have so many extensions as Firefox and it's not open source so doesn't get any support from the Linux community. Opera's main market share is on mobile phones. The extensions issue doesn't bother me as Opera has all I need.QuoteIt depends on what you mean by 3rd party software? Even Internet Explorer with 3rd party applications is pretty secure because antivirus and firewall software tend to support it better than Firefox.Opera's security track record is better than Firefox's, I don't know about Chrome.