Predictably, most of the spam I get seems to consist of people trying to link to other websites, where one might, for instance, purchase mis-spelled variations of prescription drugs (especially of the supposedly "manhood-enhancing" sort), download viruses disguised as virus-protection software, or look at pictures of what can only be described as "disturbing barnyard scenes".
And while all that is certainly obnoxious, I can at least see a "purpose" in the comments -- that is, the commenter (or comment-bot, as the case may be) wants people to click a link and go to their site, which presumably will result in someone, somewhere, making money.
BUT: there's also another variant of spam going around that utterly baffles me, as I don't see any purpose to it whatsoever. These spam comments indicate no identities (meaning they're generally posted "anonymously"), contain no links, and mention nothing that to me even remotely suggests a product someone might be trying to sell.
For example, I just deleted two comments that read as follows:
(1) "Brim over I acquiesce in but I think the collection should prepare more info then it has."
(2) "Opulently I to but I contemplate the post should prepare more info then it has."
(Which remind me a lot of the output of Racter, one of the first "computer games" I ever played as an elementary-schooler, and which I think employed some sort of Markovizing algorithm.)
I also recently received a comment along the lines of, "Excuse me, but can you tell me where I can buy a unicorn?", which I know several other folks received as well.
So, anyway, this kind of thing? I don't get it.
I know it's not that important in the grand scheme of things, but it's so danged weird I wanted to ask around and see if anyone knew what purpose comments such as the above examples could serve.
I am thinking maybe something to do with loading search engine results / messing with keywords, but I can't see how the indicated comments would actually serve that function.
Any ideas?
(And remember, this is NOT a case of people commenting nonsense but then embedding a link in their comment -- I get those ones too, but in that case it's clear they at least go somewhere. The ones I'm talking about do not contain any links, or any URLs, or any clickable identity tag -- they're just plain text that doesn't make any sense).
EDIT:
Many thanks to commenter Raoul, who explicated thusly:
The bots leave them in as many places as they can. Later they poll Google for that specific phrase.
Hits on the Google search will be sites that are (a) indexed, therefore can help generate PageRank, and (b) poorly maintained, 'cause the nonsense spam didn't get moderated away or erased.
So the bots go back for a second round, leaving the real linky spam in places it will fester longer.
(In other words, I think the mystery is solved!)
11 comments:
One possible case that I've not encountered in comments, but in email, is that of spammers peppering targets with such messages in order to "prime" bayesian filters to score words on non-spam messages, so that those words can be used on the real spam, which is sent later.
This could also be a kind of reconnaissance hit, feeling out the details of your moderation process to see how it works. It could conceivably be automated in some respects.
This is all pure conjecture, but there it is.
I get a lot of spam that contains no links, that goes something like this: "Hi, I'm new to this forum. It is very interesting stuff." Signed with some name.
I know it's spam and made by bots because I went to look why I kept getting odd comments like that. (Also, why forum? It's always forum) And I get like hundreds of these a month, all very similar.
I think *maybe* it's meant for actual forums as an introduction post to make people there believe you're a real poster so that later on they can come back with more very badly disguised spam. Rudimentary camouflage? They need to keep working at it if they want to make me truly doubt.
Your linkless spam could be something similar that is even executed even worse?
They're breadcrumbs. The bots leave them in as many places as they can. Later they poll Google for that specific phrase.
Hits on the Google search will be sites that are (a) indexed, therefore can help generate PageRank, and (b) poorly maintained, 'cause the nonsense spam didn't get moderated away or erased.
So the bots go back for a second round, leaving the real linky spam in places it will fester longer.
I've had the "unicorn" one, and several similar to the ones you mention. (I actually thought the "unicorn" one might have been a troll rather than spam, as in some sort of particularly obtuse attempt to mock my "extreme" views by comparing them to a belief in unicorns, but... yeah, i dunno.)
A couple of others that seemed like complimentary-but-oddly-worded (and not really saying much of substance) comments i also wasn't sure as to whether they were spam or genuine comments from someone with an odd (perhaps impairment-related) and difficult to understand writing style.
The "breadcrumbs" theory sounds plausible though. A test of it could be whether this post, containing as it does quotes of such messages, attracts more spam than others...
The first two sound like the kind of crap Google Translate spits out. You may have some Japanese readers.
n8o: Yeah I think Raoul's comment confirms most of your conjecture. "Reconnaissance hit" seems an apt descriptor.
Norah: Ohh yeah, I get those too. I suspect they're of the same general "species" as the nonsense phrases. For some reason they irk me even more than the nonsense because of how they usually contain what looks like a "fake compliment".
Raoul: Woot, thanks! I've added your explanation to the original post, that makes tons of sense. Doesn't make the spam any less obnoxious but still, good to have the mystery addressed!
Shiva: Yeah I actually wondered if the unicorn one was someone trolling too, at least until I saw that several other people had gotten it (at which point I figured it was probably of a more spammy, impersonal nature). I never figured that someone was comparing my perspective to that of a person who believed in unicorns, though...I just thought it might be that kind of garbly nonsense-trolling people sometimes employ when they want to make others uneasy or uncomfortable.
Michael: I am pretty sure at this point that the comments in question are automated and have nothing to do with the actual content of my blog. I suspect that if I did have any Japanese readers they'd likely be a fair sight better at English than most native English speakers would be at Japanese...
...and possibly better than most English speakers would be at English.
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