Forum Moderators: martinibuster
Out of curiosity I decided to have a look at this e-mail to views its offerings.
1. Click here to unsubscibe...hahaha, as expected...
2. In actual fact none of the links seemed to work at all. I wonder if that is because I use Eudora with Microsoft viewer disabled?
Copy or typing in the links direct also acheived nothing
3. Going to the actual web site URL does one thing, an immediate divert to another page as follows:
a) An Adsense Sponsored Link page with 10 listings
b) Plus 10 Related Categories on the righthandside where the regular Sponsored Links would be
c) PLUS a further 20 Popular Categories at the foot of the page!
All I can surmise is that this is "condoned" by Adsense however I will see what their response is.
[edited by: Woz at 5:39 am (utc) on July 26, 2005]
[edit reason] Let's keep the discussion on the board please. [/edit]
Often time spammers fake who the domain is from, put third party websites in their mailings, and other shady tactics to divert the attention away from the true spam source.
It could be that the webmaster of the domain you typed in has nothing to do with the spam that was sent.
Or it could be that the spammer was trying to just send traffic to their own parked domain page (which also run off PPC), which of course is against Google's (and most likely their parked domain service's) TOS.
Just some thoughts on why this might not be as clear cut as it may seem.
Just some thoughts on why this might not be as clear cut as it may seem.
I wasn't thinking of it being clear cut, it's the first time in years I've ever decided to look at such a spam mail simply because it was to a new e-mail address and oviously from an e-mail address harvester since this is not a generic info@domain.com, it's a specific@domain.rareTLD.
Whatever the spammers intentions it is clear that the URL, from their e-mail address, executes to a "Made for Adsense" results page.
Let's see what the Adsense team have to say.
Often time spammers fake who the domain is from, put third party websites in their mailings, and other shady tactics to divert the attention away from the true spam source.
Good spammers, an ironic contridiction in terms but bear with me, will always do this. Forged headers that make it impossible to track the source, having gone through open relays or hijacked vulnerable contact form scripts... sometimes they even hack weak servers and drop scripts in that do the job for them. Just 2 weeks ago over 40,000 spam emails were sent from one of my domains (or so it appeared to anyone receiving one) that advertised super cures for male impotency. I would never have known except for the fact that it crashed my server for 3 hours. Oh yeah, there was also the 1200 or so odd bounces that came straight back to me too making for just a really fun day...
Just 2 weeks ago over 40,000 spam emails were sent from one of my domains
I once got an email from my registrar warning me about sending out spam email from one of the domains I registered with them. I replied that the domain is parked and there is no email server associated with that domain. They responded that I was right and offered an apology. Someone must have used my domain name as the sending address.
For OptiRex I beleive that Rodney is right and it is a parked domain that the link goes to. This behavior violates of the TOS with the company that the domain is parked at, and may also violate AdSense TOS.
This behavior violates of the TOS with the company that the domain is parked at, and may also violate AdSense TOS.
That's my understanding of it too and the more of these we all report the better...heh, I've nothing to do all day long!
A new job for me, report one spammer a day, if we all did that we'd soon start clearing the mess up.
Or is it that BIG a mess?
You need to at least look at the email headers to see what domain or IP it originated from.
Already did, it's a dynamic IP from Hong Kong...surprise, surprise...
Exactly. Sadly it's trivially easy to fake the email address that spam appears to come from. You need to at least look at the email headers to see what domain or IP it originated from.
We're getting out of topic but SPF [spf.pobox.com] worth checking in this case.
You need to at least look at the email headers to see what domain or IP it originated from.
The CanSpam act is a joke.. it has no teeth. To truly fight spam we'll need the cooperation of the ISP's and that's not likely to happen any time soon. One or two major busts per year is unlikely to get anyone excited, or dissuade them into thinking this thing really works... (spam protection)
Whatever the spammers intentions it is clear that the URL, from their e-mail address, executes to a "Made for Adsense" results page.
You may want to check the whois for that made for adsense results page domain. It could be that the nameservers are a domain parking companies nameservers.
I guess what I'm saying is that the spammer could just have easily used your domain name in their email address or in the unsubscribe URL.
I would hope that someone wouldn't be banned for the actions of others that they have no control over.
All Whois details hidden!
That was the first thing I did before even posting to try and glean as much info as possible.
It will be interesting to see what happens, if anything.
All Whois details hidden!
Even if the whois details are hidden via a private registration, you should still be able to see the nameservers (which should tell you who is hosting the domain).
Spammers don't spam because they're bored and have nothing else to do. They do it because it's an effective means of getting your point across, whatever that point may be, to millions of people with a minimum of overhead.
Until the service providers take a more proactive stance against UCE you'll be seeing more of it and more of it and more of it... did I mention you'll be seeing more of of it too?
Look at spam in the same way you look at P2P filesharing... At what level can it be stopped at?
IF the spammer was ONLY touting aa website address (no Viagra, etc)AND it went to one page, redirected to another then settles on a made for adsense page then I have to believe this is a person with an adsense account. Not just a parked domain because the Google TOS denies using parked domains.
The TOS says no ads in emails, and no "pointing" to ads or otherwise enticing visitors to click. This way He thinks he can't be caught and terminated while making bucks with adsense.
I would look at the source code on the landing page to find clues....
Just my 2 cents
Ann
Google TOS denies using parked domains.
However, Google does have a separate program for parked domains:
[google.com...]
I think this is reserved for domain holders that have a portfolio of top tier domains that get their traffic primarily through type-ins though (like one word major keyword domains).
But the idea is still a possibility since parked domains probably doesn't get a lot of traffic.
Ann
I believe the guilty party must have been reading this thread as all the urls went to just a page of links like a directory without a search feature AND no back button, of course we all know how to get around that, at least IE users do :-)
So the adsense pages seem to be gone.
I clicked on several of the links and saw no adsense whatsoever....maybe his account has been terminated?
Ann
IF the spammer was ONLY touting aa website address (no Viagra, etc)AND it went to one page, redirected to another then settles on a made for adsense page
I'm not too sure what you were looking at since the pages I was complaining about are still there, that's all there is to this site, Adsense Sponsored Links.
Whatever you type in you get Adsense Sponsored Links results, no regular SERPS, every link costs the advertiser money and earns the publisher an income.
The only time we're offered anything similar to this is what I would describe as the mini version - AdLinks.
Ann
<EDIT> are you saying that all those links were adsense? There were no indication that was the case.
All the Sponsored Links are to Adsense.
All the Related Categories and Popular Categories are to Oingo.
Using either the Search facility or the Related or Popular Categories and all the Sponsored Links again are to Adsense and the rest to Oingo again.
On my machines anyway!
As Ann mentioned, AdSense program policies permit publisher from encouraging users to click on Google ads appearing on their sites. This type of behavior can artificially inflate advertiser costs.
I assure you that reports of problem sites and/or emails are taken seriously. When you do report a matter of this kind, it is helpful if you include all relevant information, including a copy of the email you received.
Although I can’t comment on this particular case without seeing the spam email you received, you are welcome to sticky mail me with the details. Alternatively, you can always report any policy concerns to adsense-abuse@google.com, who will investigate the matter further.
-ASA
Ann
you can always report any policy concerns to adsense-abuse@google.com, who will investigate the matter further.
Thanks ASA...I checked all sorts of "everything" before I posted to ensure I was "reasonably" correct, the first being to advise "abuse".
Now I am really interested as to what is going on since Oingo is owned by Google! I think I knew that amongst the few Zillion other stupid pieces of trivia accumulated in my life.
Great, so now we have spam mails...I am not saying they were sent by Google, however the DEFAULT e-mail address TLD domain links straight back to a web site which just so happens to display all GOOGLE-OWNED promotions!
<snip>
Question...now this small flag has been raised is Google going to rise to this spam challenge since the guy has an overtly available e-mail address at GMAIL!
If you do not believe me just try his name and location above and see how many links you get to forum boards etc.
Do something about it G otherwise otherwise this STINKS and it STINKS BAD...if you do not!
[edited by: Jenstar at 5:14 am (utc) on July 26, 2005]
[edit reason] Absolutely NO outting of publishers, as per TOS [/edit]
Do something about it G otherwise otherwise this STINKS and it STINKS BAD...if you do not!
What exactly do you think G could do?
A random spammer can make it look like they got an email from gmail, yahoo, hotmail or your domain. Nothing G can do about that.
The website address spamvertised in the email may not even belong to the spammer. Should G shut down a site that was linked to in a spam email? If so, what if it was your site in that spam email?
Most likely, that gmail account doesn't even exist.
The website that had the oingo/google listings on it probably didn't even belong to the spammer.
Probably somebody owned a generic domain and is using Google's domainpark and the spammer linked to it in a spam email.
This is kind of what I've been trying to say...there's not much G can do in this case.
The reason I ask is that the sending email address is normally forged and is of no significance. Spam goes out all the time forging the return address of some fictional user at my principal domain - I'd be pretty steamed if people started reporting me for spamming.
You are missing the entire point Rodney.
Google has been implicated simply by the fact that a domain name "from e-mail address" has 100% of their advertisements/links posted thereon.
Quote from Google Adsense:
"If your sites generate more than 750,000 page views per month, AdSense for domains is for you."
The URL is not one you would guess in one million tries, in fact I would bet that you have never heard of it unless you just so happen to be in that sector, HOWEVER searching for it on Google reveals an amazing 150,000 results.
Still with me? Let's go back to the start.
A spam mail is broadcast by whomsoever with a "return to" address whose TLD domain just so happens to be a supposedly qualified 750K Adsense site...and the supposed owner of the original spam e-mail just so happens to have a Gmail address.
Now which bit of this can Google NOT control or resolve?
Most likely, that gmail account doesn't even exist.
Now then Rodney, which bit of renewal and contact do you or Google not comprehend?
Think stink...think Enron could do no wrong...
Just how many more are there like this?
