random phrase hits

Where are they coming from and how do I exclude them.

[stuvw]

In the last few months my site has been inundated with random hits using the AltaVista search engine and such phrases as: “hares transit inflating grumbles cedric” & “households arbitrating mandible cardboard royalty.” The IP source is never the same twice but the "browser" is always Webcollage. Aside from the humor value of some of these phrases, the whole thing is pretty irritating. Can someone please enlighten me as to what is going on here? How can I get these hits out of my stats?

[stuvw]

So. No one has any words of wisdom on this I guess. Ah well. It will continue to be a mystery to me. Not just "Why?" but also "How?"

For example: On Monday, March 18, 2002 at 10:06 p.m. the Webcollage browser (using an IP address in the USA) hit my site referred from Alta Vista with the phrase "reexamine or concerned or growth or consequent or ensnare." An hour and a half later comes another hit from Webcollage (this time from an IP adrress in Israel) referred from Alta Vista again with the same phrase minus only the "or"s. Both visits did not stay and hit the same page on my web.

Ah, sweet mystery of life.

I'm saving some of the funnier phrases... I keep them in the same file as those "Requests for Assistance" from the alleged offspring of Murdered African Leaders who are willing to part with up to 10% of their secret bank vault full of diamonds if only I will send them my bank account number and transaction authorization...

[JamesR]

I just saw this one from Alta:

10

don't ask me how I should up under 10, may be a glitch in the log analysis software or just the way Alta is sending the referrels.

Have you gone in and looked at the raw logs to see if you can spot anything strange in the referrer string?

[bird]

Have you tried to type "webcollage" into Google? ;)

Exterminate All Rational Thought [jwz.org]

[lazerzubb]

Ye been there, Altavista has given me all kinda hits, i tell you i never stop to be amazed by Altavista if you only knew the hits i've been getting.

[pshea]

I've noticed this too, but I believe the hits are coming mostly from those using lycospro. Insane word combos but invariably one word in the string does occur on my page. I passed it off as some people playing some game called "What's the Geekiest Thing You Do."

[toadhall]

It looks like your front lawn's been inadvertently used in a game of "web-frisbee".
Search Engine Games [cse.unsw.edu.au]

[stuvw]

Hey! There's life in the old thing yet! I guess the lesson to learn here is not to make an intial post at 7PM UTC Fridays.

Thanks for all the information. I think the "Web Games" concept is the answer to the "Why?" question. (When I was a lad we were always being told how much Free Time we would have come the year Two Thousand... little did they know that the PC would come along to fill up that free time.)

Unless some one has a great idea as to how I can get these game players out of my stats I guess I'll just leave them in and let the boss think our site is enjoying extra popularity.

[mahlon]

Me too, binghamton or constitutionality or lettuce or belay or permissible

[stuvw]

I can't resist sharing a few of my phavorite phrases (favorite frases?)

lost swaziland ozarks accommodating malformed
quickie somatic sublayers accommodating crews
sophias wisdom blackens biennium exact
telegrapher accommodating microprogrammer congratulated war shiping
unreliable trigonometric plain stem converter
yuki imbalances affect infection saturday
captures arbitrating feuds mckay bivouacs
freights the ems noodle reconsidering yakima
ambushes sloths valid mollify unity
charity anchor ages drawbridges audrey corections
councils buxom cradle graphed tedium
coupons guy decomposing earmarking scar
hares transit inflating grumbles cedric
intransigent rinsed keels overstates heedless
mollify woodchuck modular sloane fulfilling
pervert arcane blisters assertions richland
reconsidering gospels listed clustered rent
rocky o’brien ming compact sate
stereotypes languished luxury leaderships consumers
synergy unsigned instructional better twitter
vestigial lexicographic egyptians totter nongovernmental