Sending Me Spam Makes Us Friends, Right?

I don't mind the occasional note from someone I don't know (or know well) asking me to be friends on Facebook, or to connect on LinkedIn. Over time, I've gotten used to people wanting to pad their network stats through finding my e-mail and expecting us to act as if we're the best of character references. After all, with the value of what a "friend" means online going down seemingly by the day, after a while we'll have to find a new name for the "real world" version, and I don't think "BFF" is going to be it.

But now, new social networking sites, or even warmed-over old ones, are starting to fill my e-mail with absolute junk, under the guise of "real world" friends reaching out and begging me to share our similarities - to compare books I like with their own preferences, exchange favorite movie listings, or see if we've traveled to the same countries. In fact, in some cases, these little features or would-be Facebook apps are sometimes masquerading as full networks on their own, when that guise is frivolous.

The first is Plaxo Pulse - who jumped on Google's Open Social bandwagon last week to gain membership in the "Everybody Except Facebook" club. Since the network's roll-out, I've gotten dozen of Plaxo Pulse invites that have me begging to hit "Return to Sender", if only e-mail worked that way. In my opinion, LinkedIn won the business networking challenge years ago, and Plaxo never got past its spammy beginnings, so we're not going to be making that move any time soon.

Now, even more mind-numbingly, I'm starting to get alerts from people joining Shelfari, hoping I can share book rating and reviews, or even join book clubs. News to all who sent me those invites today - no frickin' way. If I wanted to join a group of folks to review books, I'd already be doing it on Amazon.com. Even worse, it looks like the service isn't wired well enough to tell the difference between a small invite list and spamming the planet. As one person wrote me, when I declined his invitation to Shelfari, "This was really embarrassing. I accidentally sent this one to everyone in my address book!"

With so many social networks out there now, it's become a full-time job for some just to keep current, let alone adding more and more services as they debut. Hence the rise of services like FriendFeed and Spokeo. But each of these social networks are chasing a finite number of heavy Internet users, and there's no question you'll see invite fatigue and eventual saturation. Barring the impossible, I've made my preferred selections, and I'm done. So if you really want to be my friend, stop spamming me. If you want to compare books or movie preferences, pick up the telephone and call. My number's on the top right of the blog.

eBay Locks Me Out for My Own Good

I must receive dozens of fake phishing scam e-mails a week, from spammers who think I'm dumb enough to log in to their fraudulent Web sites to enter my login and password, whether for eBay or PayPal, Amazon or Wells Fargo. I even get junk e-mail asking me to update my information for banks I've never had anything to do with, including Bank of America, Washington Mutual, and others. That's why when I received a note from eBay on July 31st saying my account had been compromised and locked down, I deleted it. Obviously spam.

So last night, I tried to log in to eBay and it didn't work. And it wasn't an issue with my memory. I've used the same login/password combination on eBay since 1998, and I was sure I had it right.

I hit the "Forgot Password" button, and eBay asked me to get two of three things right, my mother's maiden name, my zipcode, and my primary phone number. Sounds easy, right? Wrong. Mother's maiden name I got right away, but if you keep in mind I registered my eBay account almost 10 years ago, I've moved a few times since, from my shared apartment in Berkeley to Belmont, Palo Alto and now, here in Sunnyvale. So I had to try a few zip code combinations, not to mention phone numbers. Those changed too.

Eventually, I figured it out, and luckily, the e-mail I had on file at eBay was current, or that would be yet another mess. Now back in eBay, I had a note that said "It appears the password for your eBay account may have recently become compromised. As a result of this, we have reset your password and secret question." That's why I had been locked out. But I didn't see any odd bidding, so I have no idea what triggered the issue.

Now, I have a new password. And now, unfortunately, this just may make me look at the phishing e-mail scams as if they might actually be real, and that's not an improvement. Although I have the utmost respect for Web leaders like eBay, Paypal and Amazon, I have to imagine the fraud business dramatically impacts their ability to do e-mail marketing and customer service, and that must be incredibly frustrating.

Time for a BlogRoll Revamp

A couple weeks ago, when Kent Newsome and I had a public disagreement over his gaming Technorati, Kent had some observations on my blog, which he saw as typical pandering to A-Listers. Just like I hadn't polled his intentions for engaging in viral link tagging, he didn't poll me on the origins of the BlogRoll I've run with for the better part of a year. He thinks I was off with my comments, and I know he was off on his, but it's got me thinking it's time for some changes.

Somewhere in late 2005 / early 2006 timeframe, I somehow stumbled on the wonders of Technorati and the A-list. It seemed like everywhere I turned, there were more and more blogs focused on Web 2.0 and capturing the live conversations that have redefined media, news dissemination and how we communicate. Robert Scoble's blog led to TechCrunch, which led to Om Malik, Steve Rubel and so on... Within a few days, I'd stumbled on everything from ValleyWag to TechMeme, and rediscovered both Dave Winer and Guy Kawasaki. I felt as if I'd opened up a vault of information previously hidden and it was all I could do to leave the laptop to function offline, rather than take in this new world like a sponge, 24/7.

As the blog is a personal blog, first and foremost, I linked to those I found most interesting, but in retrospect, it's a lot like how in Web 1.0, so many homepages would have links to Yahoo!, ESPN and CNN, as if the casual Web surfer wouldn't know how to get there. Now, as all these A-Listers are as commonly visited as the old media kingpins, my links there are just as useless and redundant. The same goes for the Politics links as well, especially as I've moved away from Politics here for the most part. Though Kent saw the A-List links as pandering, that wasn't the original intent, but now, it's easy to see how that could be implied.

As a result, thanks to Kent's promptings and my own consideration, I'm getting rid of the A-List blogs that don't belong, and in their place, I aim to add those blogs which most closely mirror my interests and those I consider my closest peers - not necessarily in size or popularity, per se, but in consistency, focus and approach. And of course, I'm willing to listen to any feedback you have on what I'm still lacking.

Therefore, some big names are going to get cut. Sorry, guys.

Business & Technology BlogRoll Items to Be Deleted: Dave Winer, Guy Kawasaki, Henry Blodget, Jason Calacanis, John Battelle, Michael Arrington, Om Malik, Redeye VC, Steve Rubel, Valleywag and VentureBeat.

Politics BlogRoll Items to Be Deleted: America Blog, Daily Kos, Electoral-Vote.com, Eschaton, Talking Points Memo and This Modern World.

But not every one is getting the axe.

Business & Technology BlogRoll Items to Be Retained: Don Dodge, Mini-Microsoft, Robert Scoble and Tony Chung

And what you've been waiting for, of course...

Business & Technology BlogRoll Items to Be Added: Newsome.org, ParisLemon, Webomatica, and WinExtra

I have also opted to replace the Politics section with a more generic "Resources" box that includes sites like Mashable, Read/Write Web, TechMeme, and Robert Scoble's shared link blog. Though I was at first skeptical that Robert's surfing would be fun to watch, his shared link blog has introduced me to many a blogger who has a story to tell.

On the Web, nothing is in stone, so even this revamp may not be long-lasting. I will continue to add and cut, as I see fit, but I'm glad this change has been made. Comments always welcome.

Is There an Antidote to the Link Tags Virus?

After Thursday's comments on how a few misguided individuals have tried to finagle better Google PageRank showings and higher Technorati Authority through the promotion of viral link tag spam, there has been some discussion in the blogosphere on the practice, and whether it's as bad a move as I made it out to be. One of the biggest outstanding questions is if there is indeed a loophole in how popular search engines rate authority and influence, is the onus on the individual not to exploit it, or instead on the technology provider to make a change?

While Kent Newsome, a great blogger with strong observations on a near daily basis (See: From Creation to Abandonment: the 5 Stages of Blogging for a great example) seemed to take the brunt of my comments, the issue is more than one individual, as there are many people trying to scream loud enough to be heard in a blogosphere that may favor the strong over the weak. While Chip Camden amusingly said that Kent was playing "Robin Hood" to my "Sheriff of Technorati", I've seen others who considered getting in on the viral links scheme reconsider the practice when they realized it could have some long-lasting, impactful, negative results. Kent's Robin Hood may have been trying to rob the rich to feed the poor, but at least in that storied tale, Robin Hood distributes the loot to others, something Kent can't do while his own Technorati Authority skyrockets.

Earl Moore, who also participated in the viral links scheme, writes:

"If it’s a fraud, then it’s one I’ve participated in as well... I’ll admit for myself that I don’t feel one hundred percent positive about “Viral Tag” links. Going with my gut, I wouldn’t post another one and am even considering pulling the post I have (yes, after the horse has already left the barn)."

Another poster, on a blog called Planet Apex, who just this Friday had opted to join in on the viral tags exchange, quickly realized the error of his ways, writing:

"I have decided to pull out of the Viral-Tags link exchange scheme. I did not realise the risks involve when I joined it. I now understand that instead of increasing your PageRank it can actually decrease it or even get you banned on Google."

Google's power on referring traffic cannot be understated. As much fun as it is to gain the occasional reciprocal links from fellow bloggers, upstream, sidestream or downstream, Google drives anywhere from 50 to 90 percent of all traffic for most sites, making it true that It’s Google’s Way or The Highway, as Garry Conn wrote this week, when he said, "I have made a major mistake. And I don’t want you to do the same thing."

Basically, Google's guidelines specifically prohibit statistical cheating like viral link tags. Google's Webmaster Guidelines state:

"Don’t participate in link schemes designed to increase your site’s ranking or PageRank. In particular, avoid links to web spammers or “bad neighborhoods” on the web, as your own ranking may be affected adversely by those links.

So, it's not so much as Kent says when he wrote on Warner Crocker's site that "The blogosphere is like Deadwood and (Louis) is trying to paint it as Miletus." This isn't the Wild West, even though it's certainly no utopia either. There are guidelines written up by some powerful technology companies that have direct impact on how our content is indexed, searched and presented, and as bloggers who work under this scenario, we should have an eye on what are good links versus bad links, good practices and bad.

Some last notes on viral links and search engine optimization come in the comments of an excellent "Search Engine Optimization Do’s and Don’ts" post at Thought Sparks. I'll let them speak for themselves:

"Plain and simple, honesty and integrity always pays. Short-cuts will not have lasting value and many of these folks will someday soon have a rude awakening. They will also frustrate themselves with the volume of time they’ve spent on futility... And even if you are successful, does one achieve that end at the cost of personal integrity?"

It may be one thing to exchange links. It's quite another to exchange integrity for scheming. Rather than making this a personal issue between those who have sinned and those who have not, we should just eliminate the practice and ask Technorati and Google to clean up the mess.

Technorati Needs to Stamp Out Viral Tag Spam Now

You name a statistic, and people will try to game it. You find a ranking, and people will learn how to cheat their way to the top. Online or offline, there is a push/pull relationship between those people who cheat and those people tasked with finding and exposing the cheaters. Some of the most annoying examples of this cat and mouse game today can be seen with the abuses of Technorati's "Authority" metric, which gauges how many individual blogs link to one site in a six month period.

A number of bloggers, including some otherwise-respected individuals, have engaged in a "viral tag" game that invites people to link back to them, and virtually, virally, pass it on. As with any good pyramid scheme, the guy at the top gets the best benefits, and those later to the game get less. Over the last month or so, I've seen some individual's Technorati "Authority" skyrocket, as they've moved from an arguably accurate 100-200 external links through 300, 400, 500 and beyond, catapulting them from B-List blog status to garnering a "Top 5k" badge from Technorati, even though the overwhelming majority of recent links are a fraud.

This practice, if it grows, threatens to eliminate any credibility Technorati has in this space, and will erode trust in the company and its statistics. I can see right-minded bloggers who do showcase this statistic honestly, like I do, to start removing the widget from their blogs as it loses value and becomes an object of scorn.

At the risk of ticking off or losing one of my more engaged and loyal readers, Kent Newsome of Newsome.org is one of the most high-profile showcases of this practice. As you can see in his Technorati profile, he is listed among the top 5,000 most popular blogs that Technorati scours, a diamond in the rough emerging from the tens of millions who do blog. But his count is completely bogus. (Just check out the "reactions") The Viral Tags link exchange has, like a virus, taken over his results page, spawning more and more and more sites to latch onto this sultry practice.

This started from Andy Coate's call to game the results of Google's PageRank, and was later spread by the Founders' Cafe, who is keeping tabs on those who have jumped in headfirst.

The practice of viral tags is not a case of intelligent search engine optimization, as is claimed. This is simply Web link spam aimed at artificially giving credibility where there is none. And now that Kent and others have engaged in the practice, it cannot be undone, unless Technorati, Google and others who track these sorts of things put a stop to it cold.

I'm not saying that people like Kent should be wiped out of Technorati and Google, as he actually tends to have some strong content on his blog. I like his posts and have enjoyed commenting and seeing his reactions here. But I find his move here to lack any of the "accountability" and credibility he expects from other prominent bloggers. (See: It's About Choices and Accountability) It's time to lead by example, Kent, and find a way out of this mess.

Technorati Confirms Attack on Splogs, Provides Update

Turns out we were right. Not that I should be hired by Law and Order for my deduction skills, but it was indeed true that Technorati was planning a new release today, after I saw David Sifry's blog make updates in preparation. While it's not yet a state of the blogosphere, the blog search and tagging leader did update us on the company.

Meanwhile, a new "State of the Live Web" will be posted by end of week.

The new rundown, which can be found here, shows that the company is going "up and to the right" in its visitor growth, to 9 million unique visitors last month, up 141% quarter over quarter. The site also remains the most highly trafficked blog search engine, ahead of Google, Feedster and others.

Also of note is that CEO David Sifry confirmed my suspicions that Technorati was going after spam blogs. He writes, "Our results are more complete, spam-free, and delivered more quickly than any other service on the Web. We're not perfect - we're always looking to get better, but I'm heartened by the progress we've made over the last six months or so." (More detail here)

Sifry noted the updates in comments placed on this blog, saying "We have been doing a massive spam cleanup," adding "Thanks for noticing! I hope that you've seen a difference..."

Looking forward to the updates later this week. In the meantime, check out the summary, or take part in Robert Scoble's challenge - is Technorati still the best blog search engine in the land?

Is Technorati Going After Spam Blogs?

The issue of spam blogs, or "splogs" is a big one. As blog software becomes ever more easy to use, it's no surprise that robots and scripts have been built to make fake blogs, and are engineered to look very real, as the splogs usurp other's content and present it either as their own, or as a summary, so that they take traffic away from the original author. Google's Blogger platform was recently given a bunch of grief for being the biggest generator of fake blogs, called on the carpet by no less than Microsoft, who knows quite a bit when it comes to the world of spam.

But of late, some curious changes on the part of Technorati have me wondering if the blog-focused search engine is trying to cull spam blogs from its results database. While obsessing over one's Technorati ranking can become an art unto itself, I've actually seen the total number of blogs linking to louisgray.com decreasing over the last few weeks, which doesn't make sense. In the month of March, as we've seen record traffic and a good deal of popular posts around Google Reader, Digg and Apple TV, the number of blogs linking to louisgray.com has dropped, from 60 last week, down to 55 abruptly, and now today, to 53. Puzzling.

I can only speculate that Technorati is working to delete a massive number of blogs from its database. Those most likely for deletion would be those who don't offer original content. It is certainly a difficult task for Technorati, as some incredible resources, like TechMeme and Megite, offer no original content, but instead, organize links from other authors. How do you determine what is a collection of RSS feeds and links, or what is a real blog?

I hope they first get it right, and second, that everybody's Technorati score is accurate, mine included. The next step would be in my court: increase the blog's community and see if I can accurately, naturally, raise my ranking.