MediaWiki talk:Spam-blacklist/archives/March 2024

consumerattorneys.com


After getting a final warning as Dmitrii 1984-BCN, moved on to using disposable sock puppets. - MrOllie (talk) 13:40, 1 March 2024 (UTC)


 * Hello. Excuse me please. I thought of helping Wikipedia by restoring pages of sites that are no longer on my site and replacing the link in Wikipedia. Please remove the website consumerattorneys.com from the ban. I promise not to paste links into Wikipedia anymore. Alex.HighSkill (talk) 13:58, 1 March 2024 (UTC)


 * to MediaWiki:Spam-blacklist. --OhNo itsJamie Talk 14:00, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

cheapdata.ng


Diffs: 1, 2, 3

Serves no encyclopedic purpose. See spamcheck. Few additions, but best to nip it in the bud now since it's being thrown into mainspace. Schrödinger's jellyfish &#9993; 23:14, 25 February 2024 (UTC)


 * to MediaWiki:Spam-blacklist. --OhNo itsJamie Talk 14:06, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

fashionglamguide.com
Spam with many different accounts. --Annh07 (talk) 11:02, 1 March 2024 (UTC)


 * to MediaWiki:Spam-blacklist. --OhNo itsJamie Talk 14:06, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

pwa.edu


Spam despite the .edu TLD. Each account makes one edit and is then abandoned. One of these was blocked by a checkuser as part of a refspamming sock farm, see Sockpuppet investigations/Dorothymikey/Archive. - MrOllie (talk) 12:36, 25 February 2024 (UTC)
 * Spamming has continued with new socks, added to the list above. - MrOllie (talk) 13:42, 1 March 2024 (UTC)


 * to MediaWiki:Spam-blacklist. --OhNo itsJamie Talk 14:07, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

bettingtop10.com

 * Online casino spam, see spamcheck. --Count Count (talk) 13:40, 23 February 2024 (UTC)


 * to MediaWiki:Spam-blacklist. --OhNo itsJamie Talk 14:08, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

caviarprice.io


Multiple instances of brand new users adding links to the same retail website. VViking Talk Edits 17:15, 1 March 2024 (UTC)


 * to MediaWiki:Spam-blacklist. --OhNo itsJamie Talk 18:06, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Advercity websites
Like annuaire-mairie.fr, I suggest that you blacklist the following ADVERCITY websites, as they are unofficial and do not cite their sources. This French company has already been condemned by the courts for misleading consumers (https://mesinfos.fr/auvergne-rhone-alpes/saint-chamond-lentreprise-advercity-condamnee-pour-pratiques-commerciales-trompeuses-121955.html).

Their activity consists of placing as many links as possible to make people believe that this is the official site of the town hall, then charging for administrative procedures that are free, or encouraging web users to call a premium-rate number.

This site has already been banned in France for similar practices: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discussion_MediaWiki:Spam-blacklist/archive7#Bloquer_:_divers_sites_g%C3%A9r%C3%A9s_par_Advercity


 * commune-mairie.fr
 * conseil-general.com
 * communes.com
 * acte-deces.fr
 * mairie.net
 * mairie.biz
 * db-city.com

--Torrora (talk) 19:09, 16 February 2024 (UTC)
 * I don't see a pressing need to pre-emptively blacklist all of those unless you can provide links showing how they've been abused on English Wikipedia. We don't typically blacklist sites just because another wiki blacklists them. OhNo itsJamie Talk 20:14, 16 February 2024 (UTC)
 * Thank you for this clarification, I was very confused to see automated removal of citations (marked with a minor edit!) without any discussion here showing consensus. Umimmak (talk) 20:34, 16 February 2024 (UTC)
 * @Ohnoitsjamie There's no rush, I was just basing it on what had been done on the other wiki. I've updated the list of sites that were present on this wikipedia and that I've just removed. |commune-mairie.fr |conseil-general.com |communes.com |acte-deces.fr |mairie.net |mairie.biz |db-city.com Torrora (talk) 21:14, 16 February 2024 (UTC)
 * @Ohnoitsjamie Did you have time to look at my previous message? Have a nice day --Torrora (talk) 10:05, 21 February 2024 (UTC)
 * The examples you provided appear to have been added in good faith either as references or attempts to have something akin to an official town link. As such, I don't feel comfortable unilaterally blacklisting all of these without further discussion. Since there seems to be a fair amount of usage of these links as references, this should probably go to the reliable sources noticeboard for further vetting.  If the community decides that these are not usable links on Wikipedia, the next step would be to remove all of them then blacklist. OhNo itsJamie  Talk 14:09, 21 February 2024 (UTC)
 * @Ohnoitsjamie - question for clarity: these links shouldn't be removed from closed AfD discussions, should they? (ex) I didn't undo it, but I thought we weren't supposed to change anything in those once they were closed since they're kept for archival purposes? OIM20 (talk) 19:24, 22 February 2024 (UTC)
 * Yeah… there was definitely a premature, overzealous removal of these links on Wikipedia. Even if there was a consensus to remove these links (there isn’t yet), that would only apply to actual articles. Umimmak (talk) 19:39, 22 February 2024 (UTC)
 * Thanks. OIM20 (talk) 20:03, 22 February 2024 (UTC)
 * @Ohnoitsjamie Forgive me, but sites that claim to be the official site of the town hall, another government agency or links that have no encyclopedic interest (such as proposing to order a death certificate, despite any enriching source for the article) have no business being on Wikipedia because they're hidden advertising. Torrora (talk) 13:33, 25 February 2024 (UTC)
 * We don't preemptively blacklist every site that doesn't have a legitimate use on Wikipedia; we blacklist sites that are repeatedly spammed or repeatedly misused as references. I have yet to see any such evidence presented yet. OhNo itsJamie Talk 14:39, 25 February 2024 (UTC)
 * I gave you a few examples in my last post: |commune-mairie.fr |conseil-general.com |communes.com |acte-deces.fr |mairie.net |mairie.biz |db-city.com. See also my latest editions of February 16th for more examples of these sites: Special:Contributions/Torrora --Torrora (talk) 20:19, 25 February 2024 (UTC)
 * Those links are examples of you removing the links. I don't see any evidence of a particular editor or editors spamming the links; i.e., systematically canvassing them. For the handful of usage examples that I looked it, it appeared that the links were added in good faith by a variety of editors as references or as an external link in cases where that link probably was one the only ones available at the time with information about the settlement.  As I said before, you're welcome to open a discussion at WP:RSN or get other feedback here, but at this time I'm not going to add them myself and I'm not interested in discussing it further. OhNo itsJamie  Talk 20:50, 25 February 2024 (UTC)
 * I would support this, considering that the French Wikipedia community, which probably has the most insight here, decided to do the same ([89]). Bendegúz Ács (talk) 12:39, 3 March 2024 (UTC)

inzone.ae


Added to Certified copy and elsewhere, of no encyclopaedic value. 81.187.192.168 (talk) 16:12, 3 March 2024 (UTC)

luxeluminoustz.com


Generic retail/resale shop website with AI-derived cod articles that have been added to various diet, exercise and health articles. No encyclopaedic value. 81.187.192.168 (talk) 01:04, 5 March 2024 (UTC)

Best Buy affiliate spam

 * Link

Affiliate site imitating the Best Buy store. No legitimate use, please blacklist.-KH-1 (talk) 01:27, 6 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Spammers:


 * to MediaWiki:Spam-blacklist. --OhNo itsJamie Talk 21:39, 6 March 2024 (UTC)

Cluster of AI Sites
I've come across a group of websites that have AI generated content, and helped me identify a few more sites that appear to be part of the same family. Some of these pages have been use as references in some Wikipedia articles (identified using Special:LinkSearch). From examining the page history of the websites with [web.archive.org web.archive.org], it appears that most of the sites underwent a significant change to their design and/or content all around the same time (late 2023, which is when I started noticed them appearing in Google results as SEO spam).


 * Isp.page
 * Ts2.ai
 * Satproviders.com
 * Isp.today
 * elblog.pl

The following two sites don't currently display AI generated articles, but they did in the past (around November 2023 when I first stumbled across these pages) under their blog section, which has since been scrubbed. Some pages on Wikipedia references these articles.


 * ts2.space (Main blog page can be seen in archives here:
 * ts2.tech (this appears to be a mirror of ts2.space)

ts2.space seem to be related to TS 2. The edit history ( and ) seems to provide some hints as to it being bought out?

Lastly, there is isp.page. While this does not have any AI generated articles on it, I believe it is part of the same family of sites, as some of the other sites link to it, and because it has an icon which says "isp.today" in it, which is one of the previous sites that I identified as having AI generated spam.

Cmdrraimus (talk) 03:49, 5 March 2024 (UTC)
 * WikiProject Spam report created at . reports are pending. —  Newslinger   talk   03:54, 9 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Actually, COIBot has been down since November 2023. I'll review the Spamcheck reports when I get a chance. —  Newslinger  talk   09:00, 9 March 2024 (UTC)

Old-time Music (oldtimemusic.com)


Per consensus that the website is AI-generated. See and. —  Newslinger  talk   09:29, 9 March 2024 (UTC)
 * to MediaWiki:Spam-blacklist. —  Newslinger  talk   09:31, 9 March 2024 (UTC)

mirraw.com

 * Link


 * Spammers

Blatant clothing store spam. Apparition11 Complaints/ Mistakes 06:56, 11 March 2024 (UTC)


 * to MediaWiki:Spam-blacklist. --OhNo itsJamie Talk 14:03, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

bongdachaua.com


Spam with accounts and IPs. This is a betting guide website (football). Most articles have links to betting websites. Annh07 (talk) 18:00, 17 March 2024 (UTC)
 * ✅ Added to blocked domains list. Sam Kuru (talk) 18:22, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

8171updates.pk

 * Link


 * Spammers

Obvious sockpuppets. - MrOllie (talk) 17:52, 17 March 2024 (UTC)
 * ✅ Added to blocked domains list.Sam Kuru (talk) 18:27, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

8171bispgovpk.online


Another site from the same author as the just blacklisted ‎8171updates.com. Spamming switched to this one after the last one was blacklisted. - MrOllie (talk) 14:06, 18 March 2024 (UTC)


 * to MediaWiki:Spam-blacklist. --OhNo itsJamie Talk 15:05, 18 March 2024 (UTC)

Gambling referral spam


Related accounts replacing official links with fake or referral links. to MediaWiki:Spam-blacklist. OhNo itsJamie Talk 19:06, 21 March 2024 (UTC)

tartanvibesclothing.com


Persistent spam references from multiple accounts and from unregistered users, see link additions. --Count Count (talk) 10:49, 19 March 2024 (UTC)


 * to MediaWiki:Spam-blacklist. --OhNo itsJamie Talk 19:07, 21 March 2024 (UTC)

uniquedigitalonline.com
Spammed since forever, see https://spamcheck.toolforge.org/by-domain?q=uniquedigitalonline.com - XXBlackburnXx (talk) 07:07, 24 March 2024 (UTC)


 * to MediaWiki:Spam-blacklist. --OhNo itsJamie Talk 15:36, 27 March 2024 (UTC)

tellyind.com


Spamming of a junk scraper site by an IPv6 user in the Special:Contributions/2a02:3038:2e0::/49 range, but there's a few useful edits interspersed. They've been spamming for a couple of weeks now, I think it's time for it to be stopped.  Ravensfire  (talk) 15:25, 25 March 2024 (UTC)


 * to MediaWiki:Spam-blacklist. --OhNo itsJamie Talk 15:37, 27 March 2024 (UTC)

maps.app.goo.gl
What's wrong with google's shortened urls, such as maps.app.goo.gl/7YoyWUH9621pfBoX7 ? It's generated automatically by Google Maps and there is no obvious way of getting the full url. Alaexis¿question? 08:14, 26 March 2024 (UTC)


 * You still can get the fully expanded url in the address bar, i.e. though? – robertsky (talk) 09:07, 26 March 2024 (UTC)
 * The full url doesn't work for me, it doesn't open the PoI page. Alaexis¿question? 12:22, 26 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Try for the full url, that seems to get the POI to pull up for me.  Ravensfire  (talk) 15:39, 26 March 2024 (UTC)
 * It works, thanks! How can I do it myself next time? Alaexis¿question? 12:41, 27 March 2024 (UTC)
 * I just put the shortened urn in my browser and it automatically opened using the full url. Maybe that doesn't happen in some situations, but it's been consistent for me across three browsers on my desktop.  Ravensfire  (talk) 14:39, 27 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Oh, somehow I didn't think of it. Thanks again! Alaexis¿question? 14:53, 27 March 2024 (UTC)
 * ❌ For the purpose of this discussion, you were already able to include a link to the restaurant's map listing by omitting the http. There's no use compelling case for shortened map links (or any URL shorteners) in Wikipedia mainspace. OhNo itsJamie Talk 13:20, 26 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Is there a compelling case *for* having them banned? I'm pretty sure that "maps.app.goo.gl" urls can only be generated by Google Maps. Alaexis¿question? 13:25, 26 March 2024 (UTC)
 * @Ohnoitsjamie? Alaexis¿question? 07:20, 27 March 2024 (UTC)
 * There is no valid use for them in mainspace, and I'm not interested in discussing the issue further. OhNo itsJamie Talk 11:59, 27 March 2024 (UTC)
 * The full url "maps.google.com" is used a lot in the mainspace, the shortened one would be used for the same purposes. I'm not sure I understand your approach, if there is no reason to ban such urls and if it's possible to remove it from the blacklist, why can't it be done? Alaexis¿question? 12:44, 27 March 2024 (UTC)
 * I've clarified that I'm only requesting to remove "maps.app.goo.gl". Alaexis¿question? 22:48, 27 March 2024 (UTC)

closeupchris.com


Diffs: Website is commercial advertisement for a magician and will never (I'm 99.9% certain) be needed as a reference. I suspect he hired an agency, due to the odd geolocations of the multiple IPs that have spammed the domain using apparently AI-written text in multiple articles. Each day the url is added to a different article using a different IP so neither protection nor IP blocks would be of any use. Schazjmd  (talk)  14:56, 30 March 2024 (UTC)
 * By IP from Seongnam, Korea
 * By IP from Bandung, Indonesia
 * By IP from Noboribetsu, Japan
 * By IP from Odessa, Ukraine
 * Another by a different IP from Seongnam, Korea
 * Another by yet a different IP from Seongnam, Korea
 * Hey, that sounds familiar. Added the .co.uk version as well that's been spamming from odd geolocations. WIll add both to the blocked domains list. Sam Kuru (talk) 17:39, 30 March 2024 (UTC)
 * ✅ - did not see any other domains. If they rotate on to something else, let me know. I thought it was so incredibly odd that a bunch of cheesy UK party magicians would spam an obscure San Antonio wedding spot. Sam Kuru (talk) 17:45, 30 March 2024 (UTC)

ValuePenguin.com
1	The web address of the site you would like removed from the list (omit the http and www parts)	Valuepenguin.com 2	The reason(s) why links to the site should be allowed and would benefit Wikipedia	Valuepenguin.com is a reputable domain, attested by McAfee SiteAdvisor as a finance/banking domain with minimal risk.

This is how Wikipedia will benefit from allowing Valuepenguin.com : •	Reputable Content: Links to reputable external sources (such as valuepenguin.com can serve as references to support the information presented in Wikipedia articles. This helps ensure the accuracy and reliability of the content by allowing readers to verify the information and check the sources themselves. •	Enhanced User Experience: Including relevant external links can enhance the overall user experience by providing readers with access to site content, such as videos, images, etc. that may not be available within the Wikipedia article itself. 3	The article or articles on which the links would be used	Since it’s a trusted domain, the link can be used on multiple wiki pages, including - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LendingTree. 4	If you are connected to the site, then please declare this at this point. Failure to do so will, if discovered, be treated negatively.	Yes, I am a LendingTree employee reporting this issue as observed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.80.133.1 (talk) 19:44, 5 March 2024 (UTC)
 * ❌ Like other Native advertising sites, it is of no value to Wikipedia. OhNo itsJamie Talk 20:02, 5 March 2024 (UTC)