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1. jfistere
   Member
   Apr 13, 2009, 12:37 AM

   I received a notice of one spam item. It appears that someone has taken the last entry on my blog (http://jfistere.wordpress.com) and copied it to their blog (http://music.demo-research.com/leonard-cohen-world-tour-08). The links in the text no longer function, but a functioning link to my original post is provided, saying "original post by jfistere". Rather that being upset, I am flattered they copied my blog entry, especially since they provided an attribution and link to my blog.

   My questions are:

   1. Why is this called "spam" since my blog is apparently not affected?

   2. What happens if I approve it? Is my blog affected?

   3. What happens if I delete it? Is their blog affected?

   Thanks,
   John Fistere

   The blog I need help with is jfistere.wordpress.com.

2. ellaella
   Member
   Apr 13, 2009, 12:52 AM

   I didn't know Leonard Cohen is still alive, let alone touring.

   I am flattered they copied my blog entry, especially since they provided an attribution and link to my blog.

   You flatter easily, don't you? Would you be flattered if I broke into your house, stole the family silver, but left a plastic knife and fork as compensation? Your blog is the silver, their link is the plastic.

   2) You'll be providing a link to a known splogger/scraper (Akismet knows who's who) and telling Akismet a thief is okay. Search the forum on splogger or scraper for more.

   3) Nothing. It's what you should do. Unfortunately their "blog" exists only to get search engine hits on words you provided for them. The "blog" is probably covered in ads and if some are cheezy adsense ads, you can report them to google. What to do will show up in the forum searches.

3. raincoaster
   Member
   Apr 13, 2009, 1:53 AM

   You can also report them; if they are using Adsense, click on the "ads by Google" and report them for using your material. Google will pull their account and if they're at Blogspot, which is owned by Google, they may lose their blog.

   There's no judgement call involved; don't be flattered. Usually people do this mechanically, by subscribing to the RSS feed of tags, and they never actually see your post at all. They are ONLY about stealing.

   If you leave it up, your blog will be penalized by search engines, since they will believe you're complicit in posting the same content in different places, a technique used by spammers. They will think you are a spammer. YOu will therefore lose standing in search engines. It is a very serious matter that IS hurting you.

4. ellaella
   Member
   Apr 13, 2009, 2:16 AM

   Listen to raincoaster. Who do you think I swiped that analogy from? (h/t rain)

5. raincoaster
   Member
   Apr 13, 2009, 2:29 AM

   Did I come up with that?

   All i know is, I've been ignoring them for awhile, and I'm not sure google will ever let me have my status back. It's going to be a long haul of splog-killing before I become a regular on the front page of Google again.

6. justatitch
   Member
   Apr 13, 2009, 3:02 AM

   How do I report them WITHOUT Adsense? My exact posts are being re-posted at http://www.bird-watching.stealthisblog.net

   They don't have Adsense, but they have stolen my last 10 posts. What the heck should I do?

7. ellaella
   Member
   Apr 13, 2009, 3:13 AM

   @rain - You wrote something similar about a thief and I thought it was a perfect analogy. I have a horrible scraper problem too, but get most upset when the whole damn thing is taken. It happened again recently and there was my whole blog in a frame with one addition: a Google search box plastered top and center and of course, the search results have adsense. I have a Google search widget availabe with the theme I use for self hosting but I'm so allergic to adsense I refuse to use it. Long story short(er), I got the fraudster's site taken down and it prompted me to get off my duff and finally build an Amazon store with enough links to it that my blog is no longer a virgin.

   @jsutatitch - I only saw a short word at that link, something like hmm. Are you sure it's correct or did they fly the coop?

8. jfistere
   Member
   Apr 13, 2009, 6:52 AM

   So, I deleted it. That seemed to have no effect, but I suppose his copy of my post is still out there.

   I still don't understand what the effect of approving it would be. Would his copy of my post appear as a comment, or what?

   If I understand the point of all this, is that his copy of my excellent post -- :-) -- is on his blog attracting hits to his ads. Is that it?

   Cheers,
   John

9. raincoaster
   Member
   Apr 13, 2009, 6:55 AM

   Yes, if you approved it, the link to his stolen post would appear at the foot of your blog and your blog would give him some standing in the search engine rankings.

   Often, the point is to fill in the hole between ads, to provide something to hang ads on. But sometimes, it's just to steal stuff and put it on YOUR blog as opposed to someone else's. Who can say? Getting into the mind of a criminal isn't a healthy game. I advise you just to stamp it out entirely and move on without trying to figure out why. As you continue to blog, and are stolen from repeatedly, you'll find you don't have the time to worry about it.

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