Re: Spam on comp.lang.vhdl

On 24 Sep, 13:31, Rich Webb <bbew...@mapson.nozirev.ten> wrote:
....
> Yes, that's correct. I was just pointing out that, as regards your
> comment from up-thread that although (paraphrasing) September was spam
> free from the Google front end, lots of spam is still originating with
> GoogleGroups.

Yes, lots of spam is still being sent by Google accounts to all kinds
of newsgroups.

To be clear, September wasn't spam free. Just the opposite.
Comp.lang.vhdl used to have a great many spams for September visible
in Google and maybe other places. Previous months still show the group
as being saturated with spam.

The group still has lots of spam showing in August and before but the
spams in September that were reported have all been deleted. I find
this encouraging. While I cannot be sure that one resulted in the
other it suggests that whoever at Google receives the spam reports has
taken action.

....

> >That said, it seems that new Google Groups accounts for a few months
> >present a captcha challenge (a hard-to-read word that must be typed)
> >for each new post. It is thus at least inconvenient for them to use
> >new accounts.
>
> If that's the case then, I'm just speculating here, I wonder if there is
> a market for "mature" GoogleGroup accounts. Something like a cliched
> "sweat shop" operation where accounts are grown to maturity, bundled,
> and then sold. Could be profitable if the labor cost was low enough and
> there was a market for the accounts.

A bleak picture ... but possible.

James

James Harris

James Harris wrote:

> A bleak picture ... but possible.

Got ten Euro?
The problem is solved.
http://news.individual.net/register.html

always up
works from anywhere
no spam

I had to visit google groups myself
to understand this thread.

-- Mike Treseler

Mike Treseler

On 23 Sep, 07:49, James Harris <james.harri...@googlemail.com> wrote:
> On 21 Sep, 09:43, James Harris <james.harri...@googlemail.com> wrote:
> ...
>
> > In the last few weeks I've been reporting the spams to Google. I hope
> > they will take the reports on board and delete both the spams and,
> > more importantly, the spammer's accounts. (Many appear to be Google
> > accounts.)
>
> Well, if anyone has a newsfeed that shows spam take a look now. From
> the Google front end (which doesn't generally filter out spam) all of
> September is showing clear of spam.
>
> It seems that Google have responded to reports and deleted the spam
> posts.

Unlike September Google has failed to act on spam reports sent to them
in October. I had hoped the worst case was that the person at Google
who acted on the reports was just away - vacation or similar - but
AFAICS none of the many reports sent for October has influenced Google
in any way.

>
> If they are also deleting the spammers' accounts for infringement of
> acceptable use policy we will hopefully begin to see a reduction in
> spams to this group.
>
> For anyone else who has been reporting spams let's keep the reports
> going. It seems to be taking effect.

There seems no point in sending any more spam reports. Reporting
October's spams seems to have been a waste of valuable time. IMHO
Google deserve a label for Internet pollution for

1. Allowing so many spams from their accounts. (Most but probably not
all seem to come from Google userids.)
2. Putting in place inadequate measures to prevent spams - and by
means of these sometimes inconveniencing normal users.
3. Asking customers to send reports and not putting in place
mechanisms to respond to those reports. (Giving customers a report
path with nothing behind it is a seriously bad way to treat people.)
4. Providing no adequate feedback mechanism so they can hear their
customers' opinions.

If any one else is still reporting spams to them for comp.lang.vhdl
now seems to be the time to stop. It's a great pity. Their response
for the month of September made a big difference.

James

James Harris