Australian Blogger Uses Spam To Boost Blog

The referral logs of 'Conversational websites', popularly called as "Weblogs", have become the latest target of spam. An Australian blogger trying to push his popularity has baffled the ranking order on BigPond's new blogging site through spam.

John Wardle, the blogger, has devoted his posts with the motive to promote v live music in pubs. Wardle currently holds all the five most popular rankings portrayed on the BigBlog's home page.

In March 2006, BigPond first set forth the BigBlog tool meant only for BigPond subscribers. And just after a month i.e., in April, the 'Live Music Page blog' had been put on the Net. According to a BigPond spokesman, there were about 10,000 individual blogs in starting August. Since then, the number has risen significantly.

Presently, the BigBlog site is undergoing a transformation in its hosting mechanism, including stricter integration with electronic gadgets, like mobile phones.

While Mr. Wardle's attempts to put on the 'comment verification system' failed, it filled the feedback page of his blog with spam messages, which artificially increased the popularity of BigBlog. Astonishingly, the most current posts have each collected on average between 1,200 and 1,600 remarks, each with maximum spam messages.

The BigPond spokesman said that the popularity of a BigBlog is based upon page views rather than comments. Mr. Wardle was 'overjoyed' to know that his blog, which actively fosters against regulations limiting live music on pubs, was the most popular entry in BigBlog.

Detecting and preventing spam on weblogs is a major problem that unlike e-mail, does not have a ready tool to identify and eliminate what could be an authentic blog posting or comment. Although keyword filtering could meet the purpose but spammers are deft at bypassing filters. Moreover, while an e-mail's header can provide clues of it being legitimate, a posting on a website does not contain much 'Meta data', which can help distinguish an illegitimate item.

Big Pond is now reevaluating the 'comments' system as a measure to assess a blog's popularity by revamping BigBlog later this year. It is also aiming to upgrade its network to catch spam before its arrival to your mailbox.

Related article: Australian E-Mail Scan Uses Cricket Team Subject

» SPAMfighter News - 10/6/2006