Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Spam/2007 Archive Mar

message: Adsense pub-9588274242501467
*
:Spam sock accounts
 http://www.bsnl-broadband.com
http://www.bsnl-internet.info --Hu12 21:52, 24 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: If someone mentions this on the blacklist, I will be glad to add it. —— Eagle101 Need help? 16:57, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: done--BozMo talk 18:16, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  indiabroadband.net 

message: *
:Spam sock accounts
--Found the most of these as a result of Femto leaving the live links. Exelent!Hu12 22:12, 24 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: You think this should go to the meta blacklist? —— Eagle101 Need help? 16:54, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Perhaps not quite yet, but almost there. Femto 14:42, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

text: Spam sock accounts
--Hu12 22:19, 24 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  tutorialspoint.com 

message: *
:Spam sock accounts
--Hu12 22:19, 24 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: related amrood.com

message: Can someone else please help (a) keep an eye on Victoria2007's contributions and (b) figure out how to constructively deal with this problem editor?  It's pretty obvious that he or she works for NewsMax.com as 99+% of his or her edits consist in adding links to NewsMax.com to various articles.  Further, the links often are added with text identifying NewsMax.com as the source of the information when it's usually wire reports from the Associate Press or Rueters.  When used as references, the date is always misformatted, showing me that he or she doesn't even care enough to check his or her edits and learn from mistakes.  Two of us have left messages on his or her Talk page to no avail.  --ElKevbo 01:02, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I have left a final warning now. The account has added negligible other value to wikipedia and I propose to indef block it if it continues to spam without answering questions. --BozMo talk 12:49, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree, as soon as the self-references continue it should be blocked as the promotional-only throwaway account that it is. Femto 13:24, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: It has (2 more edits today) so has been indefinitely blocked. Need to watch out for an IP account appearing doing the same thing. I've picked a few pages Victoria2007 has spammed to watch I suggest a few other people do the same --BozMo talk 19:13, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Victoria2007 and NewsMax.com

message: Ezine articles is a frequently linked-to site with self-published articles:
*http:// ezinearticles.com
**Current [ list] of pages with ezinearticles.com (159 as of today)
Authors submit articles for free and ezinearticles makes its money off web ads. The incentive for authors is either to showcase their writing (starving writer looking for gigs) ... or get a link back to their web site (SEO types):
*[http:// ezinearticles.com/benefits/ Benefits to authors page]
Picking an article at random:
*http:// ezinearticles.com/?Become-A-Video-Game-Tester-In-3-Easy-Steps&id=375873
was added to Game tester by   several days ago.
Looking at the linked-to ezine article itself, click on the author's name to pull up a list of that author's 25+ articles:
*http:// ezinearticles.com/?expert=James_Allen
*Starting with the first article above:
:*http://www.beagametester.com
:::which redirects to:
:::*http: //jobkeg.gamertest.hop.clickbank.net/
::::which redirects to:
::::*http://www.gamertestingground.com/?hop=jobkeg
::*Current list of pages linked to this ezine article
::*Current list of pages with beagametester.com links
::*Current list of gamertest.hop.clickbank.net links
::*Current list of gamertestingground.com links
*"James B. Allen is the iconoclastic webmaster of the mystical life enhancing portal PowerLivingPress.com. Visit to discover self improvement ideas you may choose to apply to your life - starting now!"
:*http://www.PowerLivingPress.com
::*Current list of pages with PowerLivingPress.com links
*"James B. Allen is a niche marketing consultant who provides private research for a small, exclusive client list of internet marketers, website designers and SEO professionals. Download a free sample of his market research at: http://www.NicheGuild.com"
:*http://www.NicheGuild.com
:::redirects to:
:::*http://www.onlinestorms.com
::*Current list of pages with NicheGuild.com links
::*Current list of pages with onlinestorms.com links
*"James B. Allen blogs regularly about disaster recovery planning. To learn more about data recovery and other aspects of disaster recovery, visit James at: http://DisasterRecoveryData.com"
:*http://www.disasterrecoverydata.com/
::*Current list of pages with disasterrecoverydata.com links
*"James B. Allen is looking for a few motivated individuals to join his heavy hitting MLM nutrition supplement marketing team. Come see if you qualify to be part of this full support team and system promoting a new in-demand health product: www.acaifruitmlm.com"
:*http://www.acaifruitmlm.com/
:::redirects to
:::*http://www.acaiplus.com/index.asp?site=19982
::*Current list of pages with acaifruitmlm.com links
::*Current list of pages with acaiplus.com links
*"James Allen is the webmaster of Best Sunless Tans. Come learn everything you need to know to save your skin and still look golden all year long. "
:*http://www.BestSunlessTans.com
::*Current list of pages with BestSunlessTans.com links
*"James Allen is the 1st mate behind YourCheapCruises.com Before you set sail, come learn about planning your next cheap cruises at his website's home port."
:*http://www.YourCheapCruises.com
::*Current list of pages with YourCheapCruises.com links
*"Want to see an even more eye-opening list of free equivalents that are available for internet marketers? James invites you to visit his Tightwad Marketer's site. You may never look at an internet marketing sales page the same way again: http://www.TightwadMarketer.com"
:*http://www.TightwadMarketer.com
:::redirects to:
:::*http://www.onlinestorms.com/
::*Current list of pages with TightwadMarketer.com links
::*Current list of pages with onlinestorms.com links
*"Many home remedies can be safe and effective though. If you want to learn about, request or submit old home remedies that people still use now, come swing by http://www.HomeRemedyGuide.com."
:*http://www.HomeRemedyGuide.com
::*Current list of pages with HomeRemedyGuide.com links
*"James Allen is a niche market researcher who provides his private high-end internet marketing clients with valuable information on untapped niche audiences. He has just released a brand new compilation of his latest niche market research that you can use to profit from right now at: http://www.NichesExposed.com"
:*http://www.NichesExposed.com
:::redirects to:
:::*http://www.onlinestorms.com
::*Current list of pages with NichesExposed.com links
::*Current list of pages with onlinestorms.com links
*"James Allen is the creator of GatesToWealth.com, a website which introduces tools of offshore asset protection and wealth generation. To learn more about going offshore and to subscribe to "Mind the Beach" the newsletter of offshore living and lifestyles, swing on by:"
:*http://GatesToWealth.com
::*Current list of pages with GatesToWealth.com links
Looking at 221.38.194.8 contribution history leads to interesting link additions:
:*http://expertwitnesstestimonyguide.com
:**Current list of pages with expertwitnesstestimonyguide.com links
:*http://myorganicgardeningsupplies.com
:**Current list of pages with myorganicgardeningsupplies.com links
:*http://www.degrees-online-guide.com
:**Current list of pages with degrees-online-guide.com links
:*http://www.laketahoerealestatetips.com
:**Current list of pages with laketahoerealestatetips.com links
:*http://www.panicattackguide.com
:**Current list of pages with panicattackguide.com links
:*http://www.RebellionCoffee.com
:**Current list of pages with RebellionCoffee.com links
:*http://www.sushi-recipes.com
:**Current list of pages with sushi-recipes.com links
:*http://www.yourchiangmai.com
:**Current list of pages with yourchiangmai.com links
:*http://www.gamblejapan.com
:**Current list of pages with gamblejapan.com links
:*http://www.japangambles.com
:**Current list of pages with japangambles.com links
Accounts known to have added these links:
*221.38.194.8 (talk • contribs • links • &site=en.wikipedia.org count • [/wiki/Special:Log?user= user logs] • [/wiki/Special:Log/?page=User: user page logs] || WHOIS • RDNS • traceroute • RBLs • tor • search)
*221.19.108.118 (talk • contribs • links • &site=en.wikipedia.org count • [/wiki/Special:Log?user= user logs] • [/wiki/Special:Log/?page=User: user page logs] || WHOIS • RDNS • traceroute • RBLs • tor • search)
Adsense ID# 6502115418074451
Affected articles:
*Carnival Cruise Lines
*Casino
*Celebrity Cruises
*Chiang Mai
*Cruise ship
*Disaster Recovery Plan
*Disney Cruise Line
*Electronic learning
*Expert witness
*Game tester
*Herbalism
*Home remedy
*Lake Tahoe
*Libertarianism
*Online education
*Organic gardening
*Pachinko
*Panic attack
*Self-help
*Sushi
While I think most of the ezinearticle.com pages don't meet our criteria for external links, I think we gain more by working through them slowly and identifiying spammy domains and spammer accounts than by just deleting ezinearticles.com links wholesale and blacklisting ezinearticles.com. --A. B. (talk) 18:55, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Spamming through ezinearticles.com to Wikipedia: James B. Allen spam 

message: http://www.videomaker.com 
*Search 
Adsense pub-9623655437671280
:Spam sock accounts
 
Spammed in by . There are 12 other links in articles. (see here). I'm not sure if they are legit or not, and I'm not sure if they have been added recently or not. Thanks —— Eagle101 Need help? 00:21, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Hmm. AfD for a couple look possible. Does this magazine have notability? It doesn't seem to claim any. --BozMo talk 19:18, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  videomaker.com 

message: A city like Eugene, Oregon ends up with a million embedded links to various organizations. (Like this) I once attempted to encourage the writing of articles by removing the embedded links and making them into redlinks with references, (Like this ]) thinking that if an organization isn't notable enough to have an article, it probably shouldn't have a link either, and that I would eventually remove the redlinks. Others disagree. The article looks like a directory. Am I taking the concept too far? Does anybody have any suggestions? Katr67 03:50, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Difficult. My personal view is that being named in an article does not entitle you to a link to your website but there are lots of editors I have run into who disagree with this, notwithstanding policy. My own approach is to stick to the more blatant cases of which there are plenty. --BozMo talk 09:10, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

text: Thanks for the feedback and the policy links. I think I'll refrain from correcting editors I work with regularly, (in the meantime being secretly smug about the fact that I was right all along) but if I see any blatant cases coming from newbies or anons, I'll take 'em on. Civilly of course. :)  Katr67 17:07, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Question about embedded links 

message: I have been watching this very persistent link spammer for some time. All spamming activity is to the  web site and the current count is: 30 linkspam adds, 10 warnings from multiple editors, and a couple blocks from an administator. Here is the suspected puppet list in chronological order:
* 
* 
*  - see only the first edit on August 2006 since this is a dynamic or shared IP
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
This user has just started to become very nasty (see User_talk:GerdLivJalla). I think it is time to black list the justlearnmorsecode.com domain. (Requestion 00:50, 28 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  justlearnmorsecode.com 

message: http://naxos.com/composerinfo
 (35 links in articles as of now)
::Some of these are old links from legit editors I think; I have taken out most of the blatant ones including all by the below. --BozMo talk 09:22, 28 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  naxos.com/composerinfo 

message: Going through these I found template spame again: see: 
I guess there will be more (one user per template): can everyone watch out for it. --BozMo talk 08:56, 28 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Template spammer back 

message: Second and third opinions are greatly needed here. Especialy since this statement {http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Progress_4GL#Rewrite]. It's been notably a haven for Single purpose account's who's only contributions are to "progress" related articles, and becomming more evident there are substantial WP:COI and Advertising COI taking place. related Progress Software--Hu12 10:22, 28 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I think this horse is out of the stable. You could have speedied it (A7) but now it looks certain to survive --BozMo talk 10:50, 28 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I can always be nominated again, because it clearly hasn't established WP:NOTE. Your right, Should have speedied it instead of looking for concensus @ Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Progress_4GL --Hu12 12:00, 28 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[Progress 4GL]] 

message: I'm currently engaged in a debate over on the Talk:GIF article with someone I view as a spammer. Would be grateful for either support or a slap on the wrist telling me to stop being over-zealous :) GDallimore (Talk) 10:30, 28 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I have added my opinion which is basically in support of yours. --BozMo talk 10:42, 28 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: same here, it is not a resource about the subject, so should no be allowed--Hu12 10:45, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

text: Thanks, guys. Thanks also for being a bit more polite than I was, which will probably be helpful in the long run, as he was getting on my nerves with some name-calling. GDallimore (Talk) 10:49, 28 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[GIF]] 

message: Came upon this..  .....?--Hu12 21:49, 28 February 2007 UTC
:It appears to be part of a campaign by a reputable editor () to leave a better record of spam external links by using a new template: Template:SpamD. I think the idea is to leave the links on the page (hidden outside of the edit view) with a spam tag so that if people try to re-add them there is a more immediate record of their presence on the  page. I can't say I agree with the logic and it will probably confuse a lot of editors who will see it as a sneaky way to hide spam links in articles. Nposs 14:49, 1 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Whats this edit..?

message: Adsense pub-6370375015371772
:Spam sock accounts
--Hu12 19:53, 1 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  http://www.landofcode.com 

message: *hxxp://www.outrate.net
:Spam sock accounts
any chance of a blacklist?--Hu12 15:38, 1 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I did a request @ meta--Hu12 19:41, 1 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: blacklisted--Hu12 16:20, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  outrate.net 

message: Can someone else please look at the links to africanelections.tripod.com? There, last time I checked, 352 of them, and I'm automatically leery of tripod.com links to begin with. --Calton | Talk 05:48, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: These are horrible: the site is a personal site not meeting WP:RS, it has loads of adverts and pop-ups. The only interesting question is where the data is taken from since some of it is quite detailed and useful if accurate. I think it is a hand compliation job (loads of spelling mistakes etc). More recent elections are all here: http://www.electionguide.org which is an official site. The country data seems to be from http://www.state.gov. The older results I cannot find in a DB format anywhere. --BozMo talk 09:19, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

text: I let a note for User:Everyking who is clearly a good faith editor/admin and who left a couple of the links to this site to get his/her view. --BozMo talk 09:26, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I have used lots of links to that site, as it is by far the best source I've come across covering so many African elections. The site talks about where it gets the information from somewhere on there and says it was all found on the internet, on electoral commission sites and a variety of places. If someone wants to replace the links, I say go right ahead (although I see little point in it, and it would be hard work), but please don't remove any links if you can't add a replacement source. Everyking 09:32, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: This is not spam as much as a site that has questionable WP:RS status. So, yeah I would say lets not just remove them all. —— Eagle101 Need help? 16:00, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Second opinion on africanelections.tripod.com 

message: Ounceofprevention.info seems like spam but I am not quite sure, What do you think? -Marcusmax 14:24, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, spam, or worthless links at any rate. The .info link is a tipoff to me. According to my email inbox spam, .info is one of the most popular TLDs for spam hosting. ✤ JonHarder talk 18:54, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, thats what I figured, I am going to delete those links. -Marcusmax 19:00, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  ounceofprevention.info 

message: Some of the External links in the article Detroit seem like spam. What do you think? -Marcusmax 00:08, 1 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I tagged this with . Thanks for the report. —— Eagle101 Need help? 18:19, 3 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Detroit External links 

message: I thought this was cute. (Notice the subdomain of the spammed url). Nposs 18:25, 1 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I particularly liked the special "/?Wikipedia" tracking tag. Nothing screams spammer more than the addition of a custom  embedded mechanism for tracking Wikipedia clicks. (Requestion 19:16, 1 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Caught one last month URL tracking givaways.--Hu12 19:23, 1 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Talking of nofollow (yawn) that's six weeks now. Dramatic decrease in spamming spotted? --BozMo talk 15:09, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Doesn't seem to have slowed down @ all. At least for traffic oriented sites, forums ect..--Hu12 15:21, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

text: Well… spamming isn’t the only thing  did, see: Cultural Experiences Abroad. --Van helsing 16:11, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  I did some minor external link clean up but this article needs a lot more work. The CEA page does seem a bit promotional and I've listed some issues I have with it here Talk:Cultural Experiences Abroad. Feel free to chime in and apply WP:EL as you see fit. Does this company even meet the notability guidelines? (Requestion 19:01, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  I hacked away at Cultural Experiences Abroad some more. It's better but it still looks like an advertisement. (Requestion 16:51, 5 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  No follow? No problem 

message: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/75.61.191.81
Puzzling.  --CliffC 02:19, 3 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: That guy does not seem to be adding in any external links, I think he is just fine. If someone wants to, they can show him how to cite an article, but other then that, no biggie. ;) —— Eagle101 Need help? 18:13, 3 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Spammer or just a big Discovery Channel fan? 

message: Could someone look into the possibility of blacklisting the urls constantly being added to Lingerie and Generic drug?  I've asked for semi-protection on those pages, but I think that just might shift the target of this spammer. Robotman1974 00:50, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I've placed a request at the m:Spam blacklist. It's be worth checking if there are any associated URLs. -- zzuuzz(talk) 01:17, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Blacklisting URLs

message: If a spammer uses multiple accounts/IPs, how should the problem be reported? Conceivably none of the accounts would ever get to a level 4 warning, so it seems like AIV might be the wrong place. --Akhilleus (talk) 04:39, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Just report all the ips and articles spammed here, as the reports in previous sections. If it is too massive, it is better to just blacklist the links. -- ReyBrujo 04:49, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Ok, thanks. There's a spammer using an account & IP reported at WP:SSP page on "Belsey", could someone just look at that link and see what they think? In the future, I'll report similar problems to this page. --Akhilleus (talk) 05:23, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: If a spammer uses multiple accounts/IPs

message: So I changed it, but I think the lead needs to be trimmed anyway. Xiner (talk, email) 21:49, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  TOC box overlaps text in Firefox 2 at 800x600 

message: Would anyone like to confirm that axing the whole "Practitioners of sustainable architecture" section of Sustainable architecture will only improve the article? It looks like a spam magnet to me. ✤ JonHarder talk 22:25, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: That heading is like a big please place your promotional link here sign. 9 out of the 10 practitioners are external links and all of the External links look spammy except for the umich.edu link. My vote is ax them all. Green building looks like a spam magnet too. I gave User_talk:Ecoarchitect a spam2 warning but I didn't revert anything. (Requestion 22:52, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks for the confirmation. I went ahead and removed the whole section. ✤ JonHarder talk 02:07, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Didn't we clean up a bunch of these kinds of articles a month or so back? Oh well, this stuff keeps poping back up no doubt. ---J.S  (T/C/WRE) 11:18, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Practitioners of sustainable architecture 

message: After polishing up articles on terms for fine art printing (Giclee, Iris printer, ect) I found that searching buzz words such as "Giclee" and "fine art print" take you to sections of articles and even whole articles on artist and galleries that seem to be spam/COI. A common practice seems to be galleries putting up pages for them selves and for the artist they represent and then they linkspam by linking the artists and the galleries to other topics as "See also" instead of "External link". An example is:
*Quent Cordair Fine Art
*Quent Cordair
*Difs of this artists/gallery added to other articles as wiki link/See also - ,  
It seems that all these edits are being made by the same editor using different sockpuppets and IPs. I'm not sure if I should just delete/speedy these things or go the route of a "Notability" tag and discussion (How much good faith should I be assuming when the pattern seems pretty obvious?).
In general a modern less notable artist's “notability” consists of some galleries advertising campaign. People supporting articles about these artists put forward the opinion that advertising as a form of notability. A “massive advertising campaign” is not one of the criteria listed in Wikipedia:Notability (people). Should that notability be discounted and the artists entry on Wikipedia be speedied if no other sources are put forward?   Fountains of Bryn Mawr 02:33, 5 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Some people may find notability resulting from a "massive advertising campaign" to be distasteful, but I think the "massive advertising campaign"'s not the question -- the question is whether such a campaign has been effective in that it has lead to the person's becoming better-known, indirectly generating reliable sources (reflecting something of importance, however that's defined, about the person or his work, status or station) of sufficient depth and/or number to warrant inclusion.  I don't think it's a question of discounting notability but more of looking at, if possible, how the advertising was received and how much attention was paid to it, in addition to the advertising itself.  --Daniel C. Boyer 19:45, 16 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Spam and art promotion

message: At first I couldn't figure out if the contributions by  were spam or not. Then I went through the edit log and looked at all the diffs. Nothing but lots of avalanche and climbing related external link additions: 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
A whois on all of those domains reports an owner of Jim Frankenfield of Internet World (i-world.net) in Salt Lake City, Utah. Some of the edits done by this user even changed existing competitor and US.gov links to his own sites in a sort of spammer vs. spammer warfare. I have added a spam warning but I haven't reverted any edits. Request advice. (Requestion 18:58, 5 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: It looks like a classic linkspam campaign to me. I suggest we revert them all and see if any established editors reinstate or challenge it. --BozMo talk 14:52, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

text: Thank you Hu12 and Karnesky for cleaning up those external links. I've added two more IP's to the list. (Requestion 21:56, 8 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  This user is still spamming. I added a new IP to the list. (Requestion 17:19, 9 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  Add another new IP addr to the list. (Requestion 06:41, 10 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  Add todays new IP to the list. (Requestion 16:53, 10 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  Add yet another IP to the list. I gave a spam4 warning with this one. (Requestion 01:48, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  Add a new IP to the list. I recommend blacklisting the above domains. (Requestion 17:43, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Avalanche and climbing external links 

message: :Spam sock accounts
--Hu12 19:27, 5 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  franteractive.net 

message: "On the Lot is the title of a recently-announced upcoming reality show competition produced by Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett. The show, which will air on FOX, will feature filmmakers competing in weekly elimination competitions..." I have already removed film promotions from the program article (four "examples", ), Director, Rocket and Imagination. Keith mosher might be an autobiographical article to promote another; Five-Minute Funnies and User:Albylicious are dubious. An odd link is floating on Talk:Jersey Devil. I think we will see more examples, and people using one entry to justify their own entry. Perhaps watch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Linksearch?title=Special%3ALinksearch&target=films.thelot.com%2Ffilms%2F&namespace= Notinasnaid 20:19, 5 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Thats defiantly a good idea, and try to inform the editors of that page about WP:EL and WP:SPAM, so that they can help out as well ;) —— Eagle101 Need help? 19:19, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

text: I got rid of another one today, from MacGuffin‎. What do people think of the idea of blocking the URL (for films, not the whole site) at least until the competition is over, and nominating for deletion the two articles above? Notinasnaid 09:57, 9 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  "On the Lot" - heads up 

message: heres a fun project Wikipedia:Dead external links. and --Hu12 15:55, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Just remember, though, that only regular external links should be removed. References, using external links that have gone dead, should definitely not be removed. Notinasnaid 19:29, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Why is that? If the link is dead surely its then useless as a reference?--Spartaz Humbug! 09:34, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

text: No, the reference is everything to the article, more important than any of the words or facts in it, so it is utterly wrong to remove it. Consider: a reference might be a fantastically rare book, out of print for 100 years. It's still a valid reference. There is a common impression that references are bonuses, and really much the same thing as external links; in fact, anything in an article without a reference should be removed. Good faith removals of dead-link references are a major problem, to be reverted on sight! But there are particular useful things to do in this case. See . Notinasnaid 09:38, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

text: It may also be worth noting that an entirely different "spam-o-meter" has to be used for references. That is not to say things listed as references may not be spam, especially if added by an editor who has not otherwise touched the article. But a commercial link supporting a reference may be entirely appropriate unless either another reference can be found or the information is not worth of inclusion, and both text and reference are removed. Not everyone appreciates this, and the dilgent editor preserving references may be accused of spamming: see for example . Notinasnaid 09:48, 8 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: A reference that is unverifiable (i.e., dead) isn't really a reference, is it? So, worthless. --Calton | Talk 17:35, 8 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Did you read the linked guidelines? If the guidelines in Wikipedia:Citing sources are wrong, that needs to be challenged. Notinasnaid 17:39, 8 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: So, no comment on the obvious common-sense interpretation? --Calton | Talk 17:42, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

text: I could agree or disagree, but it really wouldn't matter since we're all just here to try and interpret Wikipedia's guidelines... right? The linked document does not, however, put it's head in the sand on the issue you've raised. Notinasnaid 18:18, 8 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  removing 404's and 301's 

message: Out of interest last year and this year we took a snapshot of 2000 (last year) and 4000 (this year) main WP articles for the Wikipedia:2006 Wikipedia CD Selection. What is really noticable is the number of vandalised pages in an instantaneous snapshot like this: last year it was 3 this year it is about ten times higher (we have hand-checked through N so far). Sad. I wonder if the trend will keep going up? I don't think spam is getting better either. Maybe it is time to semi-prot wikipedia but much of it was from named users. --BozMo talk 16:10, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Oh lovely. Hopefully in time we will get a few more tools out to help with counter spam. —— Eagle101 Need help? 19:18, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I look forward to Stable Versions being implemented some day soon.  Somedays it feels like we ban two  [expletive]s and three more show up. ---J.S  (T/C/WRE) 11:09, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Most of it is petty vandalism. However a lot of it has been relatively longstanding. Often instead of being reverted vandals are partly deleted and the grafiti stays in through the article being editted repeatedly/reverted to the wrong version by admins e.g. Comment about Jimmy Carter's private parts at start of second section  survived 16 reversions including by 2 sysops. Also some topics people seem afraid to revert: put in that some famous historical figure (say Henry VIII) was a noted sodomist and it often lasts weeks. Will Stable Versions fix this? Most of the top 4000 articles get at least 20 edits a day. --BozMo talk 11:24, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Comment: Vandalism getting worse 

message: Adsense pub -5389895745956830
Pages spammed:
*http://www.greylizard.net/cars.php
*http://www.greylizard.net/xr2.php
*http://www.greylizard.net/biggles.php 
*http://www.greylizard.net/anjunabeachgoaindia.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anjuna
*http://www.greylizard.net/cars.php
Sock #1:
*diff
*http://www.greylizard.net/fordfocus.php diff
Sock #2:  
*diff
I'm out of reverts on the Fiesta page. Any help is appreciated. Thanks. Nposs 20:23, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I have indef blocked the user as a spam only account. --BozMo talk 09:01, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  www.greylizard.net 

message: Anyone know why the link count didn't get updated for yesterday? RJASE1  Talk  01:49, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Why not ask User:Veinor? It is in his userspace, so my guess is that he'd know the most 'bout it. ---J.S  (T/C/WRE) 11:06, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[User:Veinor/Link count]] 

message: Today I came across a November 2006 BBC article, Virus creators target Wikipedia, about links added to the German Wikipedia which were intended to induce users to install malware on their computers. I don't recall that this topic has come up here. Recently I was following "removal instruction" spam and was receiving unexpectedly stiff resistance which I just attributed to WP:OWN. However, maybe we need to be more vigorous about cleaning up "removal" site links.
Many of the virus, spyware and other malware articles include one or more links to removal sites. These typically are not recognizable (not Sophos, Norton, etc.). Since readers place a great deal of trust in Wikipedia, it is important that these sites are trustworthy. I'm not sure how one does that, other than sticking with the big-name anti-malware firms. I am beginning to think all of these links need to be removed. Wikipedia is not a tutorial, so is there any need to suggest how to remove malware?
Can we arrive at a consensus on removal instruction links?. Is Wikipedia in the business of recommending cures? If so, how does one determine the reliability of the cure? After kicking this around a bit here, it should probably go to the discussion side of the WP:EL article. To see example articles, look at articles in :Category:Computer viruses and :Category:Spyware or others in the :Category:Malware tree. ✤ JonHarder talk 01:52, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: A lot of malware is ironically to sell "removal programs". I strongly suggest that we only push the microsoft page suggesting cures http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/community/columns/protection.mspx and leave it to them (much though my left hand is trying to strangle me for ever suggesting microsoft. Some very good free products are available (Lavasoft is probably the best) but microsoft reviews them and lists them. --BozMo talk 08:57, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Well, just apply the "reputable websites only" !rule when in doubt. Trendmicro, mcafee, pandasoft, safternetworking.com, lavasoft.com, microsoft.com and other high profile, well known computer security websites. I try to keep up on this stuff so if you want me to look at a particular link, let me know. ---J.S  (T/C/WRE) 11:05, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Virus-related spam 

message: :Spam sock accounts
 Only noted one legit reference added to Transportation in New York City. Others all come are by Abendigoreebs. Doesn't seem to be a spammy site, however when this many are added and only one seem's to be legit, I question weather this is a WP:RS. Mabey others can have a look.--Hu12 18:04, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  One to watch http://www.sustainlane.us 

message: was indef blocked for spamming links to this site - after I cleaned up all the spam,  reverted all my cleanup and added the links back. A site to keep an eye on. RJASE1  Talk  01:30, 8 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I cleaned up all the spam links added by this user.  However, it looks like some folks have gotten over-excited here and have been removing legitimate links to the Golden Skate web site as well.  Golden Skate is considered a reliable source for figure skating information and there shouldn't be a problem with linking to the site as a reference.  FWIW, I have also had some e-mail communication with the Golden Skate webmaster regarding the distinction between "external links" and "references", and she also now understands that she shouldn't go plastering "external links" to her site all over related Wikipedia articles.  Dr.frog 02:29, 8 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  <nowiki>http://www.goldenskate.com</nowiki> 

message: Got a lot of these. Most, if not all, appear to have been placed by 207.114.33.3 late last year. The reviews seem to be about one paragraph long followed by links to amazon.com to purchase. I don't personally think these are anything more than commercial spam. Anyone other views? IrishGuy talk 03:19, 8 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: At least all the ones that are not interview should be deleted. Also, I suggest removing all the "extra" links that appear as "Fantasybookspot.com" The others should be reviewed one at a time. -- ReyBrujo 03:29, 8 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: The links were spammed (13-12-2005, by 87.1.82.232, later modified (and more added) by 82.61.18.201 (06-06-2006).  I guess that makes them suitable for cleaning.  --Dirk Beetstra T C 08:39, 8 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: OK. I'll start pulling them out. I will leave the interview links, but remove the double linking refered to above. If anyone wants to help, that would be great. IrishGuy talk 22:20, 8 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Fantasybookspot.com

message: Several articles having the link to Fantasybookspot.com also have  by 75.18.188.213 (added 24/10/2006).  --Dirk Beetstra T C 08:39, 8 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: goldengryphon.com

message: The Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/List_of_screen_capture_software has been festering for 9 days and it needs to be closed by an impartial administrator. The spammers and socks seem to be popping out of the woodwork on this one. (Requestion 06:10, 8 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Well, the outcome looks like "inconclusive" to me if closed now, so I voted instead. If you take the socks and new users out there are still enough vaguely established users to make it hard to reach another outcome. I will add the article to my watch list put a note here if the spam gets out of control. --BozMo talk 08:33, 8 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  The AfD recently closed and the result was Delete. On the delete side it was a fairly basic violation of WP:EL, WP:NOT, and WP:SPAM. I was surprised however at the number of people who seem to really enjoy lists of external links and wanted to keep it solely on that basis. This AfD really dragged on and it was never clear which way it would go. I'm curious if the process can be improved the next time this happens? Any suggestions? It is unfortunate that being a link farm is not a valid criteria for speedy deletion. (Requestion 00:39, 9 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  link farm AfD needs closing 

message: There has been a limited amount of discussion about the appropriateness of linking every game to this website, but the results in my mind don't justify it. Take for example  whose last 500+ edits have been to link mobygames through alphabetical lists of games. Many of the links lead to virtually contentless pages: diff leads to a cover shot and paragraph of advertising that was already on the article. The most extensive discussion so far has been Talk:MobyGames#Why_link_to_MobyGames.3F where other examples of weak links are given. Clearly no consensus has been reached, and yet the linking goes on. There even appears to be a specialized template for the addition of the links. Maybe I have just missed the boat on this one. Nposs 20:08, 8 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I suggest a few of us take the issue to Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Computer_and_video_games. Would you like to raise the issue there? I'll have a look in the morning --BozMo talk 21:14, 8 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I have recently started a discussion about this here. --Mathsgeek 00:56, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  http://www.mobygames.com/ 

message: Special:Linksearch now includes namespace.  Hurrah! Guy (Help!) 01:13, 9 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Very cool. Hopefully at some point we will be able to use wildcards anywhere in the search--Hu12 02:05, 9 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  What linksearch needs now is a rollback time-machine feature which would be incredibly useful when digging for the deleted source of the spam. No more of that divide-and-conquer. (Requestion 02:11, 9 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  I don't think I made much sense so let me re-word it. What I would really like is a linksearch tool that can query the history log edits of a single article, no more manual divide-and-conquer technique. What would be even more powerful, but I'm not sure the WP SQL database is structured for this, would be the ability to query Wikipedia's entire history log for all namespace. I'm a programmer, maybe I should look into the WP API again? (Requestion 16:59, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

text: Please, that would be very helpful!! with Jimbo launching his own search engine, I'd bet he'd be receptive to any improvements.--Hu12 17:19, 9 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Linksearch 

message: I was page patrolling and ran across Michael Charles Smith. If we run across pages like this (and I've seen worse) that seem to be blatant political campaigning, do we treat them as spam? Or do we flag them as POV and move on? I wasn't around Wikipedia during the run-up to the last election so I'm not sure. I'm leaving the page alone for now. RJASE1  Talk  03:31, 9 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: My strategy was to first check the candidate's campaign webpage or any official bios that may exist for him or her.  Often these are pure copvio and that's easy to deal with.  If not, then I would just start trimming the page to factual info only.  I went through this with one page for Rebecca Otto.  First her people came out and then her opponent's people.  Eventually some help came along and we just constantly patrolled.  Montco 03:37, 9 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: We do have to realize that not every local politician is notable. —— Eagle101 Need help? 02:27, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Political campaigning - spam? 

message: Spam Event Horizon  Also the ref section  in Fathers' rights is full. --Hu12 02:24, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: [[Microcredit]]

message: Posting a notice here per Eagle 101. Seeing and more pages added from nifty.com, a Japanese hosting service. Some links seem legitimate, but, since nearly all of the web pages are in kanji, not English, I can't tell which are good and which are spam. Someone with some knowledge of Japanese should probably take a look at the links to sort out the spam. RJASE1  Talk  04:52, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Why not just taken them down? If they are not in Englishj they are not useful. --Spartaz Humbug! 10:00, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: A few are in English, and some appeared genuinely useful - particularly some articles on the WWII Japanese Navy. A lot appear to be either fansites (or possibly official sites, I can't tell) of various anime and other Japanese pop culture phenomena. RJASE1  Talk  17:32, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Nifty.com

message: Adsense pub-3937876919487297
Would like a third opinion on the discussion Talk:List_of_vegetable_oils#Citations. Obvious Links normally to be avoided, however these are being used in citations. Problem is The small write ups on those pages seem to all be coppied/scrapped  content from, 3rd parties including wikipedia. Site also contains extensive ad lists "for sale" which are classifieds. Guess back in july, it was self nominated as a feature article, and there was a heavy push to cite extensively, this site might have been easy, but a poor choice. A strong WP:OWN issue here.--Hu12 09:17, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Third editorial opinion

message: I don't know where to report this, so I guess I would ask here.
I appear to have found an advertising company that has been commissioned for writing articles related to Tim LaHaye's Left Behind Games. The user is "Modern branding solutions" (contributions here), and what appears to be their website indicated they are writing Wikipedia articles for their clients (see the "services" section.) An earlier, very unprofessional verison of Left Behind Games they wrote has already been deleted, after I tagged it, but the user is still here. --Lenin and McCarthy  |  (Complain here) 19:26, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Do you know of any other wiki-articles that Modern Branding Solutions created? Or the User: accounts that they used? The page looks like a stub, so are you saying that Left Behind Games was deleted and then they re-created it? I can't find the AfD, or the speedy delete records, can an admin please check this out? (Requestion 20:14, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: There were two articles about executives in the company, but this fellow had PROD-tagged them for deletion and they expired. I can say that one of them was "Jeffrey Frichner" as I went to suggest to the tagger that the articles might qualify for Speedy Deletion. Here's the deletion log for Left Behind Games if you need to have a look. --Lenin and McCarthy  |  (Complain here) 20:37, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  So it has now been deleted three times. That's persistence. Bet we see it again. Thanks. (Requestion 22:02, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Possible spammer 

message: The spam whitelist is being reviewed.  Many old entries on the whitelist are bring removed.  As the whitelist is an important part of spam fighting, I invite everyone here to help in the review: MediaWiki_talk:Spam-whitelist/review. ---J.S  (T/C/WRE) 22:54, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  spam whitelist review 

message: Any one know the reason for the change in the spam logo? old one seemed crisper.--Hu12 08:26, 13 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Template:User WikiProject Spam 

message: *
*
*
*
*
Spammed by:
*
All owned by Deal Group Media, consist of exceedingly low content "reviews" with an emphasis on SEO and ad revenue. A.B. gives a nice overview of these issues on the talk page of the primary spammer (from last November). Is this a good blacklist candidate? Nposs 15:25, 13 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Does this overlap with  with links /?  --Dirk Beetstra T C 15:35, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

text: All added to Shadowbot's blacklist. Shadow1 (talk) 19:32, 13 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Deal Group Media Spam 

message: Adsense pub-1564638458129247
:Spam sock accounts
Single spammer and Webmaster of the site writinghelp-central.com, also spams talk pages., --Hu12 07:55, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  writinghelp-central.com 

message: Here's a twist: User:James McStub is making many many edits removing links from articles and leaving edit summaries that say "rm spam per WP:EL and WP:SPAM", but I checked a few and s/he seem to have removed several legitimate links and is leaving broken references in his/her wake. Thanks for looking into it. Katr67 03:42, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Also discussed at Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/Incidents#I.27m_trying_to_leave_wikipedia. The user is currently indefinitely blocked for resembling a malfunctioning bot. -- zzuuzz(talk) 03:49, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  It looks like the bot was removing photobucket.com external links. There are still some 200+ photobucket.com links remaining in MainSpace. Should they be deleted? What is Wikipedia's policy on external links to multimedia (pictures, audio, video)? I've noticed that there is even a special wiki  tag. From a spam fighters point of view these multimedia external links are a major verification and tracking problem. So what is Wikipedia's policy on external multimedia links? (Requestion 17:30, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Jump on in: Wikipedia_talk:External_links#Links_to_copyvios. JoeSmack Talk 17:43, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

text: Are you volunteering to manually go through the 200+ deletes made by Special:Contributions/James_McStub and the 200+ photobucket.com links that the bot didn't get to? That's 400 external image links. The hours, if not days, that would take will be mind numbing. I don't know about you but I'm up to my eyeballs in spam. I think a more fruitful path is to push the policy folk to outlaw this sort of external link. An alternative angle on this is if those links are actually valuable then the individual stewards of each article will revert them. (Requestion 19:31, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I had thought there was an admin tool that could do the job. Not all articles have stewards, and I've seen vandalism that has existed for months, so yeah, I'll go through the links manually. Sorry for taking up your time. Katr67 20:14, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  No, it's great that you brought this up. I think this is a very important topic that needs to be discussed. Should photobucket.com external links be allowed? Should photobucket.com, and sites like it, be blacklisted? Those are huge questions. Yet another way of looking at this insane bot gone wrong incident is if those externally linked images are not copyright violations then why weren't they uploaded to Wikipedia with a GFDL or similar license? My personal belief is that Wikipedia needs some serious WP:EL reform. (Requestion 20:59, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Please check this user's edits (reverse spamming vandalism?) 

message: What are the WikiProject Spam people's thoughts on User:Dscannon's contribution history?  Is there any reason we should keep any of his edits, considering this pattern of obvious abuse? --SpamWatcher 03:49, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Umm, thanks for the tip.  What account do you usualy edit under? ---J.S  (T/C/WRE) 06:02, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  I just gave User_talk:Dscannon a spam2 warning and removed all the marcresearch.com external links that Dscannon added. I am also in the process of removing the links to M/A/R/C_Research since it was speedily deleted. (Requestion 19:50, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Dscannon has one purpose -- spam Wikipedia 

message: :  Image:Qxz-ad19.gif
rect 1 1 468 60 Wikipedia:WikiProject Spam
desc none 
I went ahead and had User:Qxz and User:AzaToth make us a little add to go in the User:Qxz/Ads template. I'm hoping that this will help spread some awareness about spam, and what we can do to stop it (this project and related guidelines). Hope everyone enjoys the irony. —— Eagle101 Need help? 06:22, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: hehe... very nice.  Yes, I was going to comment on the irony. ---J.S  (T/C/WRE) 15:31, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  I suggest making the colors a little brighter and increasing the animation rate. That will get their attention! (Requestion 16:11, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Now on my userpage with the traditional "support this page" mention. :) ---J.S  (T/C/WRE) 17:50, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

text: went with j.smith's "support..." on my talk, and added "Recieve a "free" userbox". Ads are just not ads without incentive..haha--Hu12 22:22, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: You guys are great, Hu12, I love your idea of a "free" userbox. Thats just hilarious. :D —— Eagle101 Need help? 02:30, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Recruiting.... enjoy the irony ;) 

message: There have recently been edits to WP:COI changing the spam wording from always avoid linking to your own site to avoid or exercise great caution when linking to your own site.  Additional opinions would be appreciated.  --Milo H Minderbinder 12:56, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: This is a travesty, I gave my 2 cents, however more on the project should have a look , as it effects WikiProject Spam in a big way.--Hu12 07:10, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: It is but it needs to be sharper edged. You cannot prohibit any COI edits absolutely so lets prohibit links absolutely and changes the COI edits bit to "always back down" or 1RR or something. --BozMo talk 09:05, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Changes to [[WP:COI]] 

message: Here's another one for the team.  Who is Michael Weidokal?  This should give you a solid clue.  How does Michael edit Wikipedia?  With multiple accounts, of course.  Time to delete ISA (International Strategic Analysis)?  I think so.  This spam alert has been brought to you by... The SpamWatcher 03:36, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Resolved & tagged!  1 inappropriate link and one spammy article do not a crisis make. --Spartaz Humbug! 06:23, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Another corporate spammer 

message: Here's another firm that seems to think highly of itself.  The article is Opinion Research Corporation.  The major anonymous contributors to the article have a very suspicious edit history.  I am especially concerned about this particular effort to erase a section that outlined a controversy.  I think we should salt this article and let some independent Wikipedians take a new stab at it, if they feel so inclined.  Then, someone might also want to take a look at how the Vinod Gupta article is being similarly embattled.  I don't want to take sides on that one, because I am merely The SpamWatcher 03:48, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: removed some advertising speak from the article but  otherwise there was no spam elsewhere on the site and a nasdaq listed company founded by George Gallopp is clearly notable.  --Spartaz Humbug! 06:28, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

text: Nothing wrong with Vinod Gupta. What's your point spamwatcher? --Spartaz Humbug! 06:29, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  These are too easy to pick off 

message: I trust that the article on Anderson Analytics should be deleted, based on its creator's edit history and the topics of interest of its most recent anonymous editor?  Link spam, too!  Another obvious violation brought to you by The SpamWatcher 16:21, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: That one is an obvious speedy delete for no claim to notability, and I've deleted it. --BozMo talk 16:47, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Tom Anderson is a busy boy 

message: Wondering who Jon Marchant is, one might turn to Google.  Looks like he works for a firm called BRMB.  I wonder if that company has a Wikipedia article about itself?  I wonder who is writing that article today?  Take action, spam fighters.  I am off to find more perpetrators.  This is The SpamWatcher 16:29, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Hmm. The L J Marchant you refer to was publishing papers from the BMRB in 1971. Seems a fair bet he has retired by now. --BozMo talk 16:38, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Probably his son, then.  Certainly not a "neutral" contributor to the article.  Don't you agree?  --SpamWatcher 16:44, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

text: It looks a pretty neutral article to me. A little untidy. I wonder if you are really looking for conflicts of interest (which has its own noticeboard) rather than spam. And why not ask the author if he has a conflict of interest? Notinasnaid 16:48, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Who is this man Jon Marchant? 

message: It's always interesting to see an anonymous user take such an active interest in 57% of the edits on an article.  Even more interesting when they point out that their company is a competitor of larger, more reputable firms.  Time to delete Compete, Inc, WikiProject Spam, and don't forget all those spammy "competitor" references, too.  This has been another noble service of The SpamWatcher 16:52, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  They can't "Compete" with The SpamWatcher 

message: Wow.  This one takes the cake.  Check out the edit history of the article for Global Market Insite.  It's dominated by single-purpose anon IP edits, plus a ton of edits from User:Irishlaw.  About half of all of Irishlaw's edits relate to the GMI article that he created.  His own User page states: "I work at GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.) in the Internet marketing and web development department. I perform in-house SEO - SEM."  Looks like he's expanding that "in-house" search engine marketing to "our house".  Please take care of this, WikiProject Spam.  Until next time, I am The SpamWatcher 17:08, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Is GMI even notable ? -- Nick t 17:17, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  I have added prod to it. --BozMo talk 17:20, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Is it okay for SEO experts to build Wikipedia ads for their employers? 

message: The article about Infosurv was created last year by a user named Infosurv.  The article's references are nothing but press releases.  I thought WP:CORP says a company needs to have multiple, independent sources to qualify for inclusion in Wikipedia?  Don't forget the helpful edits of this anon IP and this one.  You have been "surved" by The SpamWatcher 17:30, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Is anyone concerned that the creator of this article has the same name as the topic of the article? Your SpamWatcher 01:35, 16 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Well, since it was created a year ago, I don't think this is the kind of urgent situation we normally would deal with here.  However, it does look like a good candidate for AfD for failing the notability criteria of WP:CORP (but I don't think its Speediable). I slapped a PROD on it and we'll see what happens. -- Satori Son 01:54, 16 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Serving notice on Infosurv 

message: You've got to be kidding me on this one.  Reads like an advertising brochure.  Created by a single-purpose account who likes uploading pictures of Jack Myers.  Then, the article is nurtured by a user called MediaVillage who has been busily adding spam links to mediavillage.com all over popular Wikipedia articles.  Oh, guess who owns MediaVillage?  I'll give you a hint.  His initials are J.M. and the surname rhymes with Spamyers.  Chalk up another one for The SpamWatcher 17:42, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I nominated it for deletion. -Marcusmax 21:14, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  I went ahead and deleted it. Just very blatant (but CSD is better than here for these) --BozMo talk 21:16, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Jack Myers, say it ain't so! 

message: I have some real problems with the way Maritz Inc. was created (by a single-purpose account), and has for the most part remained completely unsourced, unverified, and unchanged since that original creation.  All kinds of fantastic, spammy claims are made ("known as one of the largest providers in the world of market research to the automotive industry", "an industry leader by taking advantage of the huge growth of rewards programs", and "well-known within the industry as a leader").  The article also claims that the company once boasted "nearly 7,000 employees", but says nothing of the current number.  All of these claims need to be cited, and this doesn't count as an independent source.  Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a business brochure, and I am The SpamWatcher 01:52, 16 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Maritz -- created by whom, verified by none? 

message: Seems that we have a single-purpose account junking up Wikipedia.  This offends The SpamWatcher 16:56, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Please could you post speedy delete tags on these articles and not bring them here? Thanks. See WP:CSD if you want help on doing this --BozMo talk 17:00, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I think that brings a sort of conflict of interest into play.  Since I am feeling personally fulfilled at the expense of these violators, it would be inappropriate for me to actually bring action against them myself.  I would much prefer if independent analysts would look at the evidence I present, then take the action they themselves feel is appropriate.  Plus, I don't want to be drawn into the inevitable ensuing "discussions and debates" with the said violators of Wikipedia's spam policies.  You know, Batman doesn't actually prosecute the Penguin in the courtroom.  So, you either take The SpamWatcher as he is, or I abandon my effort altogether.  As always, I am your SpamWatcher 17:15, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Oh, then ignore my question latter on. I didn't read your reply here. ---J.S  (T/C/WRE) 00:41, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Wow, is this a notable company? 

message: The article about Quantcast was set up by a user who spent 27 of his 30 edits on the Quantcast topic.  When Calton came and put a speedy on the article, it was amazing to see how new single-purpose accounts appeared out of the proverbial woodwork to save the article from deletion.  Not to mention, the most recent edits to the article come from our old friend, the Compete, Inc anon IP guy.  
While we're at it, our busy contributor Reznor34 (the creator of the Quantcast travesty) has recently made edits to the article about Helmi Technologies.  When we look into the history of that little article, we see a lot of activity by Jrisku and his anon IP friend.  Could they possibly be serving any other purpose than to promote their company Helmi, thanks to Wikipedia's free server space and traffic pipeline?
We've been hoodwinked by these professional spammers.  But now they've met The SpamWatcher 02:36, 16 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Ummm good catch.  You know... you could actually do the marking on these if you wanted to. Anyway, it looks like it's been marked with a PROD.  If it gets removed, it will get deleted in AFD no doubt. ---J.S  (T/C/WRE) 00:24, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: (Struck-out recomendation) ---J.S  (T/C/WRE) 05:34, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  The great Quantcast mystery 

message: I have noticed the pervasiveness of links to this site from airport articles.  In many cases, I believe that the addition is a good faith edit as the page as a list of destinations served.  However, I do not know how reliable this is.  I remove the links from sites that I patrol but hesitate to knock this off on other pages.  Its clearly commercial.  Some of the editors could be spamming, but I have no evidence.  There are likely reliable non-commercial sources, although they may be time-consuming or even impossible to located in the cases of some foreign airports.  Any thoughts?Montco 00:44, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I would remove those links that you can find a better alternative for, but otherwise leave them if there is some useful information to be gained from them, and it is not too much of an advertisement to buy a ticket. —— Eagle101 Need help? 05:31, 17 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Seeking guidance on farecompare.com

message: pub-8182832343810773
http://www.randomdirectory.com
*
http://www.kitty-paws.com
*
http://www.antique-information.info
*
http://www.architecture-information.info
*
:Spam sock accounts
--Hu12 16:14, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Spamming  pub-8182832343810773 

message: The small town of Spilsby has a bicycle shop.
#This set of edits (11 May 2006) told us: Visit Spilsby Cycles [http;//www.spilsbycycles.co.uk/ Spilsby Cycles Website]. For A Great Range Of Bicycles At Great Prices. Serivicing & Repairs Also Available. 44 High Street, Spilsby, Lincolnshire. PE23 5JH. Tel:07789 308553 Email: info@spilsbycycles.co.uk New Bikes With 12 Months Warranty, Adult & Kids Models Too. (I deliberately screwed up the URL here.) Quickly zapped, of course.
#A simpler version of the spam was reinserted in this set of edits (12 June 2006)
#And again on 15 June.
#And again on 18 August.
#And again on 16 September.
#And again on 21 October.
#And again later on the same day.
#And again on 1 March 2007.
#And again on 14 March.
I started by AGF and being polite with this spammer, but it's clear that he (I always think of spammers as male) is uninterested in WP and is merely keen to spam his shop, making crude attempts to hide this by altering existing, legitimate links. I no longer bother to be polite with him. I know that there's a mechanism for automangling particular URLs, and ask that it is invoked for spilsbycycles.co.uk. If this isn't the place for such a request, please tell me where I should go. Thanks. -- Hoary 02:46, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Basically it needs to be blacklisted although repeating for just a single page makes it a bit of an overkill. Someone here might propose it for the blacklist --BozMo talk 09:41, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

text: Thanks to the tip in a section below: this request is now listed where it matters. -- Hoary 06:04, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

text: I'm glad to hear that Thompson. ---J.S  (T/C/WRE) 02:38, 19 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: spilsbycycles.co.uk

message: As this person has sadly discovered, WP has ways of automatically preventing the creation by anyone of any link to a domain.
This measure isn't one that is or should be taken lightly. But it's taken, all right. Who takes it? Where does one apply for it to be taken? I want to apply, I don't know how to apply, I've looked for but not found this information, and I'm surprised not to see it mentioned in the project page. -- Hoary 05:24, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: You go to meta:Spam blacklist, explain why you think the link should be banned, and if accepted, an administrator from Meta (note that not an administrator from the English Wikipedia, although some are administrators in both) will include it in the blacklist. As you can imagine, this is used only in extreme circumstances when previous efforts to stop the spammer failed. -- ReyBrujo 05:30, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

text: As an addendum, note that domains included there are blacklisted from all Wikipedias (in any language, not only the English one), so it is possible to find links that have been blacklisted because of their spamming in other Wikipedias and not this one. -- ReyBrujo 05:32, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Splendid, just what I wanted to know. Many thanks. -- Hoary 05:48, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

text: My addendum:  You can also report the site here, if you show how the site is abused (e.g. several IP's), we will probably check cross-wiki.  A third possibility is to contact us at IRC here.  Hope this helps.  --Dirk Beetstra T C 11:09, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: One more bit of advice: I have found that the meta admins are usually reluctant to blacklist a site unless it has been link spammed in more than one Wiki (for example, both the English and Spanish language Wikipedias). So, if you have the resources and/or language skills to search for the site link in other Wiki domains before you put in a blacklist request, that would help. -- Satori Son 21:05, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

text: I have such a tool that does crosswiki linksearchs on IRC. Betacommand (talk • contribs • Bot) 18:51, 19 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Preventing ''any'' link to a domain

message: International Cystinuria Foundation
associated with http://www.randominc.net/
:Spam sock accounts
--Hu12 07:42, 19 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  cystinuria.org 

message: Another SEO contest to watch for. found its first article appearance on wikipedia, Shopautodotca seocontest,  of course has been salted. The criteria is to place 1st in Google / MSN / Yahoo for the term "shopautodotca seocontest" and have a link back to shopauto.ca with keywords used cars, used car classifieds targeted. So be prepared for auto spam.--Hu12 05:46, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  shopautodotca seocontest 

message: Adsense pub-4071863667757591
*
:Spam sock accounts
Note this is tricky, Spam added by 163.244.62.123 @ 10:18, 21 March 2007 then within a minute 163.244.62.121 posted @ 10:19, 21 March 2007, either its meatpuppetry of  or a very clever spammer.--Hu12 10:43, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  http://spam.bikesthatfold.com 

message: http://www.enn.com
*
Adsense pub-8877273450423438 These are all aggregated results pages, which are Links normally to be avoided--Hu12 15:24, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: News aggregate spam

message: I've reverted the edits made by Jph4239 as they were all adding links to content at thepalestra.com.  Can someone please double-check that I've done the right thing and have properly judged those links to be link spam?  Thanks!  --ElKevbo 21:32, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Linkaddition only, I would regard that spam, no need to consider the contents of the page.  --Dirk Beetstra T C 22:00, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: thepalestra.com

message: ya'll might want to give User:The_Transhumanist/Virtual_classroom#Yuser.2C_on_fighting_linkspam a once over before it goes live later today. please give it a few minutes. UPDATE: ITS NOW LIVE, go forth and edit! JoeSmack Talk 22:48, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  fighting link spam virtual classroom lesson 

message: Adsense pub-4719146971986307
Interesting scheme:  is apparently some kind of "library" of articles, except that every pressarchive link on WP is a link-through to an article on http://www.moviehole.net/. The pressarchive frame remains active and a pop-up ad is loaded in the background. The interviews are rather low quality and perhaps not even worth linking in most instances. Here is the tricky part: over 240 links have been slowly inserted by single-purpose contributors who add around 10 links to the site - and nothing else. "Link added to interview" is all that is found in the edit summary. List of spammers so far:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* - actually bothers to note in the edit summary that the link "conforms with external link policies"
*
*
*
Frankly, there is no need to link to this site - ever. It just links through to other sources (well, only moviehole, as far as I can tell) and adds some advertising. This seems like a good candidate for the blacklist. At the same time, there is the problem of the linked article - which in all cases I checked was an interview. All the ones I checked were really low quality, but I'm not sure how to go about replacing all 240+ links at the moment. Nposs 03:33, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I strongly suspect all of these accounts are sockpuppets. Most use the same edit summary or else mark the edit as minor. Most telling, they all use the same strange capitalization of the url - even though it doesn't show: "PressArchive.net". Nposs 04:12, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

text: added Adsense account.--Hu12 06:11, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

text: I'd agree that these users all appear to be sockpuppets - is it possible to black list a website such as this? -- Rehnn83 Talk 10:13, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

text: I'd suggest adding it to the blacklist referencing the WPSPAM Case here. Its clearly becomming unmanagable, then I'll block all the Spam SPA's. ;)--Hu12 03:25, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks for the offer of help. The only thing that keeps me from going straight to the blacklist is that the site is used to link through to moviehole.com - where the articles are published. It doesn't seem like blacklisting moviehole.com is appropriate at the moment, but neither does it seem appropriate to go back and make all the pressarchive links direct to moviehole since so much of the content is of low quality. This would suggest that simply removing all links to pressarchive would solve both problems, but its a big change to make and wanted to make sure it was the best option. Nposs 05:39, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

text: Sorry to be so tentative about moving on this, but that is why I'm not sure how to procede. I'm in no position to fix all 250+ (and counting) links to lead to moviehole (which is a pretty crummy source to begin with). I'm not sure where to ask for help with bot work, but maybe that is the proper route before proposing it for blacklisting. Or is it just too bad for moviehole and we eliminate all of the links. (Again sorry for dragging this rather straightforward case out.)Nposs 02:52, 22 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Proposed forblacklisting. I think you are right that this is the best solution - using the power of future editors to remove the links. Nposs 14:50, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Ok, I will blacklist, My suggestion is that we convert these links to moviehole, as right now it seems to be serving as near redirect site for that. —— Eagle101 Need help? 21:19, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  www.pressarchive.net 

message: Because of a possible conflict of interest, I would welcome someone else taking a look at Special:Contributions/207.96.193.174. For those (most) who do not know, "imposition" is a generic term for something professional printers do, and also the name of a specific software product which does it from Ulti mate Technologies. Notinasnaid 20:20, 22 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Clearly not appropriate, reverted and warned. Femto 20:47, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

text: I agree with Femto.  It's a link to a forum, plus it requires registration to view any content whatsoever.  Here's the linksearch for the website, impositionforum.com, and I'll help keep an eye on it. -- Satori Son 20:55, 22 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Removed another 2 links. He has a username now. --PTSE 01:57, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  would like second opinion 

message: It appears to no longer allow searching by namespace and I can no longer specify a search as *website.com Note the explicit lack of a dot/period between the * and the letter.  It rejects these as "Wildcards may appear only at the start of the hostname." which appears to be counter-intuitive to *blah.com not having the wildcard at the start.  I used this long ago to find websites that were *-some-words.tld, but I can no longer do that now.  Anyone else notice this behavior or have an explanation for it? Kevin_b_er 03:28, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Maybe this is related. I noticed that https: searches stopped working the day before LinkSearch switched back to the old version. My guess is that some techs are working on fixing it. (Requestion 16:32, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Linksearch crippled? 

message: * SeoQuake
Looks like it might be usefull to y'all. Sorry for the antispam spam. ---J.S  (T/C/WRE) 14:57, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Firefox Addon: usefull tool? 

message: I'm very tied up off-Wikipedia and I am unable to follow up on this. Someone with good sleuthing skills and a suspicious nature yet also possessing a strong sense of AGF (a self-contradiction?) may want to look into this meta request. See my very brief response there at:
*http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Spam_blacklist&oldid=547639#irishabroad.com
I had started to look into this several days ago but had to drop it. I got just far enough along for my instincts to tell me there was something odd going on -- possibly a Joe job. --A. B. (talk) 15:34, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  irishabroad.com -- Irish [[Joe job]]? 

message: There are 88 of these links spammed all over articles. IrishGuy talk 00:31, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Fan-sites.org 

message: I've noticed that  have added their links to over 60 articles. I'd remove them myself but I don't know if people here use an automated system to do that? Crazysuit 02:35, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Looks like it was added to Template:AC/DC, which was on all of those pages.  It has been removed, and will stop showing up in the index eventually, I suppose. Kuru talk 02:44, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  AC/DC forum spamming 

message: I wanted to ask about the links for London's Transport Museum that appear in a lot of articles relating to the London Underground, nearly every article on that topic has several external links to the site. The worst is probably Leslie Green which has nearly 40 external links. 
I have to say - LTM is an excellent site and contains thousands of photos of great encyclopedic value which aren't available anywhere else, but I think the practice of including several links in each article is a but much. Crazysuit 02:51, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  London's Transport Museum photo collection 

message: With the serious problems identified above, these quotes, taken together, give an overall bellicose tone to the project page and encourage bellicosity in the "spam fighting brigade". Taken one by one, there is no problem, but the article is meant to be read as a whole, and when editors read the article as a whole, it has the effect of encouraging closed minds and abrupt editing, even rudeness. Again, I myself would agree with much of what is said in these quotes, but I object to the overall tone when you take them together (boldface has been added to particular parts of quotes for the sake of clarity; occasionally in parentheses I've added other points):
#voluntary link spam fighting brigade.
#recognizing, hunting down, and eliminating link spam
#the best way to fight link spam.
#You are welcome to relate any of your own current ongoing efforts to fight link spam on the talk page so that in the immediate future we can be aware of users that are acting with an agenda to promote an external site.
#a crafty spammer hides spamming 
#By using this divide and conquer method (perfectly innocent expression by itself, and not used here to mean anything aggressive, but in a minor way it also helps set the tone)
#I propose the number one rule for link spam fighters be this code of honor
#Tag 'em to stop 'em (name of a section)
#Suspicious edits automatically deserve a { subst:uw-spam1 } tag on the user's talk page, with spam or {uw-spam1} in the edit summary. This is important! First, to drive the message that spam is not welcome here, and second, to warn us of repeat offenders.
#voluntary link spam fighting brigade. 
#Common spammer strawmen (title of a section)
#Spammers will offer arguments like the following. These are strawman arguments, for the reasons listed. (Nothing wrong with the points made here, but it seems that nearly every reference to discussions here is negative, such as "strawman arguments")
#We should develop responses to those who engage in this behavior which encourage them to reform into productive Wikipedians, but we should waste no time in protecting Wikipedia from the damaging behavior through reverts and blocks where necessary. (Nothing wrong with this if you're talking about the obviously guilty, but if you're encouraged to be closed-minded and overly aggressive, you're less likely to understand when you've made a mistake.)
I've assumed here that the writers of the project page don't really want to ignore argument, be closed-minded and act in a bellicose manner. But the way the page is written clearly encourages that behavior. I suggest toning down the language of all or nearly all of the phrases quoted in the second part and making the change I suggest in the first part. Noroton 01:52, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Second problem

message: Ok, we are are arguing about if there is or if there isn't a problem... Lets just move on a bit. I've noticed people (myself included) treat spammers with a little less then the utmost respect.  I think it's important that we reinforce the public-relations side of this equation.  I think it's important to keep the image of the project spic-and-span. 
On a personal note, I also think it's important to treat everyone, including the lowest vandal, with respect.  It's even more important when they don't deserve it.  Then again, I'm guilty of not living up to my own ideals on occasion. 
So what do we do moving forward? I think we are extremely good at the investigation, but while the community relations side is good in most regards there is some room for improvement.   Lets build a new section on the project page about how to interact with "The Spammer" with some positive recommendations. ---J.S  (T/C/WRE) 22:21, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Great idea. Doesn't meet my objections with that sentence I mention at the beginning of this, and I think something more should be done with the list of 13 items, but it's an idea that I think would help.Noroton 03:24, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

text: I strongly agree. Anchoress 20:16, 24 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Resolution? 

message: Anyone care to comment in this discussion? I was attempting to reduce the large number of links at the page, including an entire section of blogs (most of which had Google ads). OhNoitsJamie Talk 01:54, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Seems the proponent of these links has right-to-vanished him/herself. Femto 14:17, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  I noticed that. Despite paying lip-service to WP:OWN, the editor's comments suggested that only heavy contributors to the article should have been able to decide what links were appropriate. OhNoitsJamie Talk 15:58, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I know they were upset and frustrated, but I agree with OhNoitsJamie's assessment of the links and I don't think we did anything wrong. I left a note at Talk:Bedbug explaining how we operate, but it appears they "retired" before seeing it. -- Satori Son 16:09, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: [[Bedbug]]

message: An anonymous editor using multiple IP addresses has been busily adding links to American-universities.info and US News & World Report to American college and university articles.  For example, he or she edited the University of Florida article from 69.105.111.141, Louisiana State University from 69.105.30.29, and the University of Tennessee from 69.105.96.88.  The USN&WR link isn't bad but I don't see any value in the other link, particularly when added at the same time as the USN&WR link.  Can anyone else help me figure out what's going on?  --ElKevbo 13:19, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: The American-universities site is pretty low on content and high on ads. I'm guessing they threw in the usnews links to give the additions a veneer of credibility. I've rolled most of them back. OhNoitsJamie Talk 16:03, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  Oops, I spoke to soon. There are many more to delete.  I need to get back to work, but if I get some time later I'll take care of them. OhNoitsJamie Talk 16:04, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  Have cleaned up 11 more of them. -- Alucard (Dr.) | Talk 16:52, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  Thanks! I just finished sweeping up the rest of them. OhNoitsJamie Talk 18:36, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks so much folks!  I appreciate the prompt service and I leave a large tip accordingly (how does 50% of the bill sound?).  --ElKevbo 18:59, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

text: I agree.  It doesn't seem to have any more info than the USW&WR link or a link to IPEDS would give readers.  There are also several major links on the webpage that "under construction".  All in all, I don't think it's a good external link or even a reference.  Thanks for the second (and third) opinions!  --ElKevbo 17:15, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  American-universities.info 

message: ...I can't figure this out.  Please see the contributions of these two editors (probably the same person):
* 
* 
Elaborate way to advertise skapsis.blogspot.com?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Deli nk (talk • contribs) 13:49, March 26, 2007
:Good catch!  I've requested it be speedied as a blatant advertisement for that blog.  --ElKevbo 18:58, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Followup: The request to speedily delete the article was denied and instead the obvious advertisement(s) was removed.  Personally, I don't think that there is enough material there to warrant an article but I'm not bothered enough to do an AfD.  The biggest problem has been fixed so I'm gonna move on.  --ElKevbo 22:02, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: The spam was re-added by the anon account again, so we may need to watchlist this for a bit. -- Satori Son 23:23, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

text: See Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Skapsis‎. --A. B. (talk) 03:50, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Help me... 

message: Links added:
*moviemirth.com
**[ List] of pages with these links (English Wikipedia)
***French Wikipedia links
***German Wikipedia links
***Swedish Wikipedia links
***Portuguese Wikipedia links
*geocities.com/anxietydetective
**[ List] of pages with these links
*anxietydetective.org
**[ List] of pages with these links
*producerdb.com
**[ List] of pages with these links
Accounts known to have added either or both of these links:
*Anxietydetective (talk • contribs • links • &site=en.wikipedia.org count • [/wiki/Special:Log?user= user logs] • [/wiki/Special:Log/?page=User: user page logs] •  status)
*72.134.41.88 (talk • contribs • links • &site=en.wikipedia.org count • [/wiki/Special:Log?user= user logs] • [/wiki/Special:Log/?page=User: user page logs] || WHOIS • RDNS • traceroute • RBLs • tor • search)
**72.134.41.88 on French Wikipedia 
**72.134.41.88 on German Wikipedia
**72.134.41.88 on Swedish Wikipedia
**72.134.41.88 on Portuguese Wikipedia
*72.134.40.40 (talk • contribs • links • &site=en.wikipedia.org count • [/wiki/Special:Log?user= user logs] • [/wiki/Special:Log/?page=User: user page logs] || WHOIS • RDNS • traceroute • RBLs • tor • search)
Affected articles (English Wikipedia only):
*Antidepressant
*Anxiety
*Anxiety disorder
*B movie
*Batman & Robin (film)
*Benzodiazepine
*BloodRayne
*Cognitive behavioral therapy
*DJ Premier
*Film criticism
*General anxiety disorder
*Hip hop production
*Just Blaze
*Mortal Kombat: Annihilation
*Panic attack
*Panic disorder
*RZA
*Social anxiety
*Surf Nazis Must Die
*Swizz Beatz
*The Core
*The Gingerdead Man
*Uwe Boll
--A. B. (talk) 03:08, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Now blacklisted. --A. B. (talk) 04:17, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: anxietydetective.org + 3 others

message: Extensive spamming last year of a wide range of telecom and other articles not stopped by blocks and warnings:
*Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Spam/2006 Archive Dec#steelecommerce.com and related sites
Domains:
*ld.net
**[ List] of pages with these links
*cheap-online.net
**[ List] of pages with these links
*myinternetaccess.net
**[ List] of pages with these links
*myphoneservice.net
**[ List] of pages with these links
*steelecommerce.com
**[ List] of pages with these links
*dsl-internet-service.blogspot.com
**[ List] of pages with these links
Accounts adding these links:
*61.183.11.195 (talk • contribs • links • &site=en.wikipedia.org count • [/wiki/Special:Log?user= user logs] • [/wiki/Special:Log/?page=User: user page logs] || WHOIS • RDNS • traceroute • RBLs • tor • search)
*68.106.68.114 (talk • contribs • links • &site=en.wikipedia.org count • [/wiki/Special:Log?user= user logs] • [/wiki/Special:Log/?page=User: user page logs] || WHOIS • RDNS • traceroute • RBLs • tor • search)
*69.148.184.91 (talk • contribs • links • &site=en.wikipedia.org count • [/wiki/Special:Log?user= user logs] • [/wiki/Special:Log/?page=User: user page logs] || WHOIS • RDNS • traceroute • RBLs • tor • search)
Back again this month with a new IP after laying low for 3 months.
*70.133.147.230 (talk • contribs • links • &site=en.wikipedia.org count • [/wiki/Special:Log?user= user logs] • [/wiki/Special:Log/?page=User: user page logs] || WHOIS • RDNS • traceroute • RBLs • tor • search)
--A. B. (talk) 20:04, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: steelecommerce.com spammer returns

message: These links were spammed across many U.K. articles in 2006. In January, we got heartfelt pledges not to add these links anymore without first getting permission on article talk pages:
*Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Spam/2007 Archive Jan#thebestof.co.uk spam
**This lists the many articles and accounts involved through 24 January 2007
I guess our friend forgot; see:
*82.26.16.89 (talk • contribs • links • &site=en.wikipedia.org count • [/wiki/Special:Log?user= user logs] • [/wiki/Special:Log/?page=User: user page logs] || WHOIS • RDNS • traceroute • RBLs • tor • search)
*86.31.115.203 (talk • contribs • links • &site=en.wikipedia.org count • [/wiki/Special:Log?user= user logs] • [/wiki/Special:Log/?page=User: user page logs] || WHOIS • RDNS • traceroute • RBLs • tor • search)
*82.2.90.220 (talk • contribs • links • &site=en.wikipedia.org count • [/wiki/Special:Log?user= user logs] • [/wiki/Special:Log/?page=User: user page logs] || WHOIS • RDNS • traceroute • RBLs • tor • search)
--A. B. (talk) 20:41, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: These sites are run on a local franchise so it might just be a new owner in those locations. I guess we try to contact them again .--BozMo talk 08:50, 28 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: thebestof.co.uk spam continues

message: Using a search from Bishonen's user page, I happened across a link to bookrags.com. This site is linked over 500 times. I don't have much time to look further into this, but the pages I've seen so far are primarily copies from wikipedia articles (including the article on which the link resides), other encyclopedias, or subscriber-only content (examples:  ). Additionally, there is a sufficient level of advertising to raise suspicions. I don't have much time to spare for any sort of thorough investigation, but if someone is sitting around with spare time on their hands, this might warrant a closer look. ScottW 23:09, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I'd be inclined to say they're not appropriate, as the site appears to be nothing but a ad-laden mirror of other content. OhNoitsJamie Talk 23:17, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Looks like all the pages are scraped wikipedia content, of the article its linking from, aka MFA pub-0043748899065651--Hu12 23:19, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Links to bookrags.com 

message: DWWW, 95.5 Star FM, RW 95.1, DZRL 540, DYRL 540, DZXQ and 92.7 Eazy FM. Are any of these real, or notable?--Hu12 00:55, 28 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: None have any claim to notability and therefore all could be speedied. --BozMo talk 11:05, 28 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Foriegn radio articles