Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Spam/2008 Archive Oct 1

User:Sedo161
User has repeatedly recreated Sedo and similar pages, each time the page being written like an advertisement. -- Jacob Myers (Flame me!) 18:43, 30 September 2008 (UTC)


 * http://spam.sedo.com
 * This looks really familiar. Groan. MER-C 06:17, 3 October 2008 (UTC)
 * This looks really familiar. Groan. MER-C 06:17, 3 October 2008 (UTC)
 * This looks really familiar. Groan. MER-C 06:17, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

spam in templates
Please see Templates for deletion/Log/2008 October 1

That template is about coin collecting (nuismatics) and includes links to commercial sites.

My real concern (and why I visited the above page) is about the template Exchange rates, which I will list for deletion at some time in the future. It has links to a currency trading firm Oanda which has spam all over the place (well over a 1000 links). I hadn't run into template spam before and figured you guys would know what to do.

Thanks for any help.

Smallbones (talk) 13:19, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

Espressobongo spamming math articles with links to an obscure external site
See Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Mathematics. The culprit is. VG &#x260E; 19:16, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

Local catching
As you all know, I am running the bots that collect the data about external link additions, here 'interfaced' by COIBot. The linkwatchers also do some statistics about the user-link combination, which helps on-IRC to show how a link gets used by that user.

I have lately programmed some functions in the bot so that it saves (in a file on the computer that runs the bots, filed per wiki) cases which exceed a certain treshold, e.g.:
 * Only IPs adding the link (catches at about 5 different users).
 * Mainly added by IPs in a /24 range.
 * Practically all additions by one user.

I am still trying to tweak the thresholds a bit, and the data contains quite some good editors and good links. As such the list is not suitable for immediate publishing on-wiki. It needs to be looked at by local editors, filtered, and the rest can be published. I guess that about 50% of the file will be spam (in an earlier version I XLinkBotted 30 out of about 80, the 80 were caught in almost one day of linkwatching).

It is a bit too much work for me to have a look at it every day, and I would like to ask if there are local editors who would be wanting to have a look at the list. I have a sign-up-list on m:User:COIBot/Local. If you want the list (I can send parts of lists per user, or change user on a daily basis, or whatever you feel like, and I have time for), please add your username, a link to a Special:EmailUser, and which wikis you want to recieve the files for on that page. --Dirk Beetstra T C 10:32, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

http://spam.uttrakhandhotels.com

 * Spammers

Dumping prose spam into articles. MER-C 10:33, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk

 * Spammers

Repeated spamming after numerous warnings. Waterden (talk) 12:02, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

User 71.188.174.137
Here is the user's contributions page; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/71.188.174.137

Here is the user's talk page; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:71.188.174.137

This user has repeatedly added original research to numerous Godzilla related articles, even if it contradicts provided references. His edits have been REPEATEDLY undone, and he's been warned on his talk page. He seems impervious to any argument, as he refuses to even respond. He shows no inclination to stopping, therefore, an administrative action seems appropriate.Dark hyena (talk) 07:48, 4 October 2008 (UTC)


 * This isn't a spam problem - spam involves the insertion of promotional material or links in violation of Wikipedia's mission. You have a content dispute. The fiction noticeboard seems to be a more appropriate place for reporting this stuff. MER-C 08:25, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

http://spam.arabiccomplete.com

 * Spammers

MER-C 10:26, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

spam.searchoptima.com spam.theclickinfo.com

 * Adsense IDs
 * pub-5988640535894714
 * pub-6401467784160848


 * Sites spammed


 * Spammers
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see nl:Special:Contributions/125.163.29.176 and ms:Special:Contributions/125.163.29.176.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see nl:Special:Contributions/125.163.29.176 and ms:Special:Contributions/125.163.29.176.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see nl:Special:Contributions/125.163.29.176 and ms:Special:Contributions/125.163.29.176.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see nl:Special:Contributions/125.163.29.176 and ms:Special:Contributions/125.163.29.176.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see nl:Special:Contributions/125.163.29.176 and ms:Special:Contributions/125.163.29.176.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see nl:Special:Contributions/125.163.29.176 and ms:Special:Contributions/125.163.29.176.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see nl:Special:Contributions/125.163.29.176 and ms:Special:Contributions/125.163.29.176.


 * Cross-wiki spammer, see id:Special:Contributions/125.163.15.153 and ar:Special:Contributions/125.163.15.153.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see id:Special:Contributions/125.163.15.153 and ar:Special:Contributions/125.163.15.153.


 * Cross-wiki spammer, see ar:Special:Contributions/125.163.9.27.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see ar:Special:Contributions/125.163.9.27.


 * Cross-wiki spammer, see ar:Special:Contributions/125.163.28.47.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see ar:Special:Contributions/125.163.28.47.


 * Cross-wiki spammer, see id:Special:Contributions/125.163.29.42.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see id:Special:Contributions/125.163.29.42.

MER-C 13:15, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

User:Tsbay
User systematically adds warez sites to existing articles, nearly always replacing existing links with his own. Every single edit made by user is spam-related. He has even added a spam-site articles Sharingaccess, which will be submitted for review, and a previous, Downloadwarez that was already Speedily deleted. User is warned and reverted after each attempt, then waits a few weeks to add the sites back. Samples:  Rurik (talk) 20:28, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

istild.com/man-pages/
I'm watching Manual page (Unix) at the moment in the repositories list. I'm not even sure if this is classed as link spam, vandalism, or difference of editor opinion. I've been trying to group the various repositories into some sort of alpha order, but numerous IP only edits move this one link further up the list on a regular basis, despite a clear banner saying this will be treated as vandalism.

This is the only repository that moves, and it moves on an irregularly regular basis. I keep reverting it to alpha order, but...

So I'd like someone experienced in link spam to take a look, please. Diffs? Heck, just look at history!

Fiddle Faddle (talk) 08:23, 5 October 2008 (UTC)

spam.rock-fotos.de

 * Previous incidents
 * Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Spam/2008 Archive Mar 2.5


 * Sites spammed


 * Spammers
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.


 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.


 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.


 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.


 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.

Spamming through XLinkBot,. MER-C 12:49, 5 October 2008 (UTC)

Online "education" sites
Spammed across several articles today:



See this set of changes for an example. Others used misleading edit summaries like "correct spelling".

There are no legitimate reasons to be linking here, so I'd be happy to see them permanently blacklisted. I'm off to find the elusive linksearch... WhatamIdoing (talk) 03:14, 7 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I modified the above to use LinkSummary, so the usage of the links could be more directly found. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 04:19, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

http://spam.digital-kaos.co.uk

 * Spammers

Spamming through XLinkBot. MER-C 12:28, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

User Dargen
is adding links to http://finduslaw.com/ to a number of pages, as footnotes following wikilinks where the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is cited. The user indicates states on the userpage: "Dargen is my volunteer account for Find US Law. At Find US Law, our mission is to provide information on Employment Law to the Wikipedia community." See the user's contribution history.

The links appear to me to be unnecessary, both because the term iteself is a wikilink, and the laws are publicly available by other means. Kablammo (talk) 14:46, 7 October 2008 (UTC)


 * User notified. Kablammo (talk) 14:52, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

The finduslaw.com site is run by an employment law firm, http://deskinlawfirm.com/ (note the "dlf" at the top of the finduslaw.com site). As such, these are inappropriate commercial links and should be reverted&mdash;there are plenty of non-profit government or academic sites that post the full text of U.S. federal statutes online and we have always preferred those (note, for example, Template:Ussc). Postdlf (talk) 15:06, 7 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Thank you. Someone with rollback will have to do the reversions; there are 150 or more of these links, including at least one to a user page of another user.  Kablammo (talk) 15:09, 7 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Done, though as you've noticed, he's still adding more. We're caught up as of now.  We should add the finduslaw.com link to the bot spam removal list (however that's done).  Postdlf (talk) 15:41, 7 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Nice job. I'm not sure how the bot thing is done either, as I don't hang out in this area. Kablammo (talk) 15:44, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

I am sorry, I am volunteering for finduslaw. I will talk with them about the law firm, but from what I understand they sell advertising space on their website like FindLaw or many other legal resources. I will let you know … Dargen (talk) 15:57, 7 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I doubt that the firm is merely buying advertising; it's the only law firm noted on the finduslaw site, and seems to attribute ownership of the site rather than a separate banner advertisement. The finduslaw and deskinlawfirm sites also share the same web design.  Postdlf (talk) 16:55, 7 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Also, the websites share the same domain servers, and the website registrations show the same address and contact phone number for each site. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 17:02, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

Link Summaries

 * Link


 * Accounts

An external links search via the LinkSummary above shows well over 150 uses of the site linked to various articles. After checking a handful, it appears that most (if not all) were added by past spamming of the external link, some at least as far back as 2006. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 16:17, 7 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Dargen is a volunteer for our website. Our firm does web development using Drupal as our content management system.  We developed findUSlaw to be able to provide federal and california law to the public and eventually advertising.  The theme you are seeing with findUSlaw is Drupal's basic theme.


 * Deskin Law Firm is our client. They ordered the basic theme as well.


 * Naturally, our client, Deskin Law Firm advertised on the site since we were able to promote to them easily. We are working on integrating Wikipedia and findUSlaw better so we can attaract more traffic and thus more advertisers. Please do not shut us down by taking the links off of Wikipedia.  We are not trying to be malicious.  We are a small web development firm that is trying to provide a service like FindLaw or Justia's service and we are just trying to build up our traffice to compete by providing a service to the Wikipedia community.  We should not be shut down simply because we are not nearly as well funded as FindLaw and don't have advertisements ALL over our website, like they do.


 * To show you that we do have advertisers. you can see this page with links to law firms in different states, but we have chosen not to litter it all over our site: http://finduslaw.com/locate_an_employment_lawyer  The States on that page link to pages with ads for other law firms from Google.


 * As for IP addresses being similar. We host most of our websites on GoDaddy and purchase the domains for our clients. Our clients are hosted on GoDaddy as well - at our suggestion.


 * Again, please do not remove our links. We are not trying to be malicious - we are simply trying to provide a service to the community like Justia and other similar services.  Mind you Justia simply advertises Oyez and US Court Forms.  We are working on growing to become link FindLaw.  Please let us provide this information to the community in the process. Finduslaw (talk) 00:05, 8 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Unfortunately, you have it backwards. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a form of advertising for a webiste - Wikipedia does not exist to assist site owners to "attaract more traffic and thus more advertisers".  Once a website is established as a reliable source, then it should be used as a ref where relevant and appropriate - but Wikipedia should not be used to get a website up to that point. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 00:17, 8 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Note, I've requested feedback from Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Law on the links that have already been added. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 00:36, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

http://sss.encyclopediaofalabama.org/

 * Link


 * Accounts

These WP:SPA accounts have been adding the listed URL to multiple articles. User:Encyclopediaofalabama has already been indefinitely blocked after ignoring warnings. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 17:37, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

Gerry0065

 * Previous incidents
 * Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Spam/2008 Archive Sep 2


 * Accounts

Some more accounts. As of this post, the previous case has not been closed. Dancter (talk) 18:54, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

User:Vesco77
User has been adding external links to www.corerspondent.tv to numerous articles.  pedrito  -  talk  - 20.09.2008 15:57
 * Timestamp. MER-C 11:00, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

Hima-Sella Ltd spam

 * Links:


 * Accounts:

New editor, adding spam links and promotional text such as this.

– Signal head   &lt; T &gt;  18:38, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

User:Brian2wood
I've gone around cleaning up spam from Brian2wood (contribs), but almost every article he's hitting is already loaded with external links. It would be a real good thing if someone who knows these fields would take a shovel (or maybe a scalpel) to these lists. TIA, -- Mwanner | Talk 21:35, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

VertigoMama
currently spamming date pages with a calendar link;.

--Rogerb67 (talk) 22:15, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

http://spam.newscrux.com

 * Spam pages


 * Sites spammed


 * Spammers

Citation spammer. MER-C 12:33, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

193.220.93.38
User is persistently adding entry for "Labourforce" to List_of_companies_of_Tanzania. Suspect this is the same person who was posting as username Labourforce before it was blocked here, whose previous article Labourforce Consulting Agency (Tanzania) was speedily deleted. Please stop user spamming other pages.

Chris Neville-Smith (talk) 13:45, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

209.137.162.254


Keep an eye out on this anon, multiple additions of external links to seemingly unrelated articles. Reverted one already. -Marcusmax (talk) 20:25, 9 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Update, this user has added links to myspace in the past and been reverted by bots. -Marcusmax (talk) 20:27, 9 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Inserted linksummary. --Dirk Beetstra T  C 09:51, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

User:116.206.19.244
Has been spamming and  with a link to a electronic tag company. Michellecrisp (talk) 05:57, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

Inserted LinkSummary. --Dirk Beetstra T C 09:50, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

spam.fibre2fashion.com and related

 * Previous incidents
 * Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Spam/2008 Archive Sep 2
 * Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Spam/2008 Archive Jul 1
 * User talk:122.169.102.244


 * Sites spammed


 * Spammers

That's enough. MER-C 10:01, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

http://spam.callcentreonline.com

 * Spam pages


 * Sites spammed


 * Spammers

MER-C 10:36, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

habanos cigars spam
By these users:

Noticed these similiar edits of spam while RC patrolling, both anons continue to add spam like links about cigar reviews, and prices to articles relating to Cuban cigars. The two accounts look related. -Marcusmax (talk) 21:24, 10 October 2008 (UTC)


 * I think these edits are now contained. Ping us if you see these surface again. --Anshuk (talk) 21:48, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

More:


 * Tracking URLs: http://spam.cubancigars.net.au http://spam.cigars-review.org http://spam.habanos.com http://spam.aristoncubancigars.com


 * Look at me, I'm not spamming!
 * Look at me, I'm not spamming!
 * Look at me, I'm not spamming!
 * Look at me, I'm not spamming!
 * Look at me, I'm not spamming!
 * Look at me, I'm not spamming!
 * Look at me, I'm not spamming!
 * Look at me, I'm not spamming!
 * Look at me, I'm not spamming!
 * Look at me, I'm not spamming!

Looks like these guys are connected with the now (globally) blacklisted humidoronline.de.



There's plenty of spam out there, you just need to go through the existing links. This is just a sample. MER-C 01:37, 11 October 2008 (UTC)

Myonlinemaps.com
I've removed the most recent from Alabama, List of counties in Georgia (U.S. state), and Colorado, and a couple of others. These were added by 65.24.143.133  Altairisfar talk  03:54, 11 October 2008 (UTC)


 * I removed the link from County and Georgia (U.S. state). Both pages are added to my watchlist so i will keep a watch on them. Is there anything else that we can do about this?--Anshuk (talk) 13:05, 11 October 2008 (UTC)

http://spam.ncwpics.com/

 * Link


 * Accounts

The above two WP:SPA accounts have posted this photo-blog site to multiple articles (primarilly city articles), which is an issue with WP:ELNO, WP:NOT, and WP:USCITY. I've removed the links.

It looks like Boontito had been warned on his userpage by another editor in September when there was a posting spree of the link at that time. Since then, both accounts have been slower at their rate of addition, but their primary activity is still to add links to this site. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 07:35, 11 October 2008 (UTC)

http://spam.doudiz.com

 * Spammers
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see fr:Special:Contributions/Doudiz.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see fr:Special:Contributions/Doudiz.



MER-C 11:33, 11 October 2008 (UTC)

http://spam.eximmarketplace.com

 * Spammers

MER-C 13:26, 11 October 2008 (UTC)

http://spam.waiit.com
keeps adding content from and links to his website at Long-distance relationship. — Hello, Control Hello, Tony  15:09, 11 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Spammer

trainpetdog.com
I reported this last month and nothing happened, the link has not been blacklisted. The same idiots (Indian spammers from same ISP) came back this month and added the same links again, often to the same article. What does it take to get a domain blacklisted? --TimTay (talk) 22:27, 12 October 2008 (UTC)
 * b.t.w. Check my edit history and you'll see I removed 25 spam links this evening from these arseholes. --TimTay (talk) 22:28, 12 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I also removed the same spam links from the PT and NO wikis. --TimTay (talk) 08:17, 13 October 2008 (UTC)
 * After reading this link and this link I can only conclude that this is a criminal scam run from India and it should be banned immediately off Wikipedia. When you look at the pattern by which the links are added - a different IP address each time, registered to India, this just reinforces the suspicion that this is nothing but a scam. --TimTay (talk) 08:23, 13 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Please report to MediaWiki_talk:Spam-blacklist and please be civil --Anshuk (talk) 08:49, 13 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Listed. --TimTay (talk) 10:23, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

Is there any tool to watch a personal list of urls?
Like as we keep a watch on an article by adding it to our watchlist.. similarly is there any tool which can alert us if a spam url is inserted in an article? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Anshuk (talk • contribs)
 * Nope, though there is the usual Special:Linksearch. Just whack a bunch of spamlinks somewhere in your userspace and click on them once in a while. MER-C 09:34, 13 October 2008 (UTC)


 * There is some implementation of that on IRC. We (Nixeagle, Versageek, I) have been talking about making also a webserver to have a look at such data, but that is more complicated than it looks.  On-wiki a part is implemented by using User:COIBot/Poke (this results in an on-wiki report on a domain).  --Dirk Beetstra T  C 10:19, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

luisbeck007.googlepages.com

 * Spammers
 * Spammer replaced existing links.
 * Spammer replaced existing links.

Spamming through XLinkBot. MER-C 09:52, 13 October 2008 (UTC)
 * There are four accounts: 22 records; Editors who have added luisbeck007.googlepages.com: LuisBeck007 (12), 88.69.60.18 (6), 84.59.152.96 (3), Humanoid Robots Videos (1)



Based on that, and the persistence in it, I have blacklisted it. --Dirk Beetstra T C 10:15, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

http://spam.khodmooni.com
Adsense pub-6576594234415367


 * Spammers

MER-C 11:47, 14 October 2008 (UTC)

http://spam.group7guards.com http://spam.paryanaautomation.com



 * Spammers

MER-C 12:44, 14 October 2008 (UTC)

"Village" and "Town" commercial sites in External Links
Only example at the moment might be on Sutton-in-Ashfield

Lots of this one around Wikipedia

This seems to be a range of sites using _place_name_focus.com


 * The Wikipedia pages for many UK towns and villages have links added to pages that are supposedly pages about the town but usually have nothing relevant and are presumably there to attract advertising. Examples above from Sutton-in-Ashfield but there are probably others.  --jmb (talk) 17:11, 14 October 2008 (UTC)

.mobi links
I stumbled onto these when looking at several city articles, several of which contain .mobi links. While there may be some legitimate use of the link, I can't think of many that wouldn't run into problems under WP:ELNO, WP:NOT, and WP:NOT.

These links appear to have been added by multiple well-intentioned editors, so at this point I don't see a campain to add the links. But, I'm still forced to ask where these are appropriate given the policy and guideline issues around the links.

Should these be removed and the site blacklisted?

Alternately, should the site instead be added to XLinkBot's list of links to patrol?

I would appreciate other reviews and opinions on this. Like I said, I can't think of a legitimate use other than on the .mobi article, but maybe I'm missing something here? --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 18:54, 12 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Since *.mobi links are not supposed to be viewed by browser, I agree with you. I think you should raise it to Wikipedia_talk:External_links and get the guideline updated if you get enough consensus. --Anshuk (talk) 08:58, 13 October 2008 (UTC)


 * I have some IPs who seem to have a preference for this link .. some more about this:
 * Global-travel:
 * By:
 * Washington (?) related:
 * By:
 * There may be more out there (though I also see long-term editors). This could certainly have its place on XLinkBot, especially since you seem to have other concerns above as well.  --Dirk Beetstra T  C 10:34, 13 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Readers using a mobile device to access articles may prefer a .mobi website (especially after trying to read Wikipedia on a two-inch screen). I did see some links for subjects that may be appropriate -- mobile issues, phones, companies dealing with travelers -- but it gets murky for me if the links are just another site for doing business (DHL package site or a bank's mobilie banking business link)...not because they're spammy, but because like listing a .net address that's used for customer or employee access, .mobi just adds to excessive linking issues. Flowanda | Talk 19:34, 13 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Washington (?) related:
 * By:
 * There may be more out there (though I also see long-term editors). This could certainly have its place on XLinkBot, especially since you seem to have other concerns above as well.  --Dirk Beetstra T  C 10:34, 13 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Readers using a mobile device to access articles may prefer a .mobi website (especially after trying to read Wikipedia on a two-inch screen). I did see some links for subjects that may be appropriate -- mobile issues, phones, companies dealing with travelers -- but it gets murky for me if the links are just another site for doing business (DHL package site or a bank's mobilie banking business link)...not because they're spammy, but because like listing a .net address that's used for customer or employee access, .mobi just adds to excessive linking issues. Flowanda | Talk 19:34, 13 October 2008 (UTC)
 * By:
 * There may be more out there (though I also see long-term editors). This could certainly have its place on XLinkBot, especially since you seem to have other concerns above as well.  --Dirk Beetstra T  C 10:34, 13 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Readers using a mobile device to access articles may prefer a .mobi website (especially after trying to read Wikipedia on a two-inch screen). I did see some links for subjects that may be appropriate -- mobile issues, phones, companies dealing with travelers -- but it gets murky for me if the links are just another site for doing business (DHL package site or a bank's mobilie banking business link)...not because they're spammy, but because like listing a .net address that's used for customer or employee access, .mobi just adds to excessive linking issues. Flowanda | Talk 19:34, 13 October 2008 (UTC)
 * By:
 * There may be more out there (though I also see long-term editors). This could certainly have its place on XLinkBot, especially since you seem to have other concerns above as well.  --Dirk Beetstra T  C 10:34, 13 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Readers using a mobile device to access articles may prefer a .mobi website (especially after trying to read Wikipedia on a two-inch screen). I did see some links for subjects that may be appropriate -- mobile issues, phones, companies dealing with travelers -- but it gets murky for me if the links are just another site for doing business (DHL package site or a bank's mobilie banking business link)...not because they're spammy, but because like listing a .net address that's used for customer or employee access, .mobi just adds to excessive linking issues. Flowanda | Talk 19:34, 13 October 2008 (UTC)
 * There may be more out there (though I also see long-term editors). This could certainly have its place on XLinkBot, especially since you seem to have other concerns above as well.  --Dirk Beetstra T  C 10:34, 13 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Readers using a mobile device to access articles may prefer a .mobi website (especially after trying to read Wikipedia on a two-inch screen). I did see some links for subjects that may be appropriate -- mobile issues, phones, companies dealing with travelers -- but it gets murky for me if the links are just another site for doing business (DHL package site or a bank's mobilie banking business link)...not because they're spammy, but because like listing a .net address that's used for customer or employee access, .mobi just adds to excessive linking issues. Flowanda | Talk 19:34, 13 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Readers using a mobile device to access articles may prefer a .mobi website (especially after trying to read Wikipedia on a two-inch screen). I did see some links for subjects that may be appropriate -- mobile issues, phones, companies dealing with travelers -- but it gets murky for me if the links are just another site for doing business (DHL package site or a bank's mobilie banking business link)...not because they're spammy, but because like listing a .net address that's used for customer or employee access, .mobi just adds to excessive linking issues. Flowanda | Talk 19:34, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

This discussion is moved to Wikipedia_talk:External_links --Anshuk (talk) 08:37, 15 October 2008 (UTC)

Link hijacking by 82.39.52.224

 * Account


 * Links
 * http://sss.chriswilkins.net/
 * http://sss.chriswilkins.co.uk/
 * http://sss.blart.org
 * http://sss.blueyonder.co.uk
 * http://sss.blart.org
 * http://sss.blueyonder.co.uk
 * http://sss.blueyonder.co.uk

This is a slow-motion activity, with the user editing a few articles at a time over the past year and a half. The predominant edit by this user account seems to be to hijack links from various articles and to point to his own articles. The user has been blocked once for this behavior. I'm posting this so that there's visibility to the project on these links, in case there's enough activity in the future to justify blacklisting.

Note: Three of the above domains have been removed entirely, mostly before I found this; the fourth has other articles which have been linked by multiple editors - so it's just specific articles within that domain which are an issue here, not the entire domain. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 21:22, 14 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Blocked again. Maybe should be blacklisted though.  Thanks -- Herby  talk thyme 12:29, 15 October 2008 (UTC)

Link issue
Help out a newbie here why should I care about this link issue? If Wikipedia adds the no index no follow or the rel=no follow to external links isn't the whole SEO thing squashed now? It's hard make citations with out external links. If we are building global knowledge then we need to include the rest of internet. Otherwise isn't this just self belly button examination. It is sort of like saying "I am the smartest person I know". --Tobryant (talk) 15:52, 15 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Not really, having your links on wikipedia (a very well known website, with results high in Google scores) still gives traffic to your site. Adding your links here will likely result in having traffic to your site, and while wikipedia may have nofollow, sites who copy the contents may not have the same policies.  Also, it is possible to cite without external links, and links don't only have to be here as citations.  Unfortunately we still need to keep an eye on editors who try to use Wikipedia for promotion.  --Dirk Beetstra T  C 17:33, 15 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Toybryant - As Beetstra indicates, the change to no-follow has not meant "the whole SEO thing" being squashed. Even without a desire for monetary return and visitors to sites, spamming is often used to push a particular source of information - and this sort of spamming is a real issue in regard to our neutral point of view policy. -- SiobhanHansa 22:39, 15 October 2008 (UTC)

202.81.18.30 adding links to an obscure blog
The blog has an uninformative article about wireless routers and (s)he added a link to it to FreeWRT, Tomato_(firmware), OpenWrt and DD-WRT. I've reverted all four. VG &#x260E; 07:55, 16 October 2008 (UTC)

User:Lymphoma for www.lymphomas.org.uk
Recent examples:   

We suspect the account is an "official" account for the organization. I'm sure it's a very fine charity and an asset to patients in the UK. However, the ~60 edits (so far) involve adding, and re-adding, their website a total of about 55 times to about a dozen different articles. The articles go beyond disease articles, like Lymphoma, to include basic anatomy articles, like Lymphatic system. The couple of non-spam edits were to create a stub about the organization at Lymphoma Association and to create two disease-related stubs (one promptly deleted and the other now a redirect).

Except for creating a stub for the organization, every single edit has been promptly reverted or deleted. I've left three (or four?) notes for the user just about spamming the website to articles. Several other editors have left notes. We don't seem to be getting through to the editor about the advisability of stopping the advertising efforts and using the talk page. I'm starting to wonder whether a short block (perhaps a week/until we get an unblock request, since the editor isn't a daily user) might be a helpful way of focusing the editor's attention.

I don't think we can justify blacklisting the website; it's appropriate for the org's article and probably appropriate for the article of a political action group that they're a member of. WhatamIdoing (talk) 17:45, 16 October 2008 (UTC)

Need a kinder, gentler approach for this editor
This user:



unfortunately, and inadvertently, I think, ran afoul of our Spam policy, and it was indirectly my fault. See: Editor assistance/Requests. If someone could talk to the user, I think he's been treated a bit harshly, as he's obviously a newbie and having trouble contacting us, etc. (Not even welcomed before being given a bunch of warnings, a practice I dislike. I guess that's what happens when you hit several high traffic articles.) Also please check that my rationale for including the link in the Neighb'rhood Childr'n article that I started is OK--if someone from this project chooses to delete it, I won't argue, but I don't agree with the kneejerk reaction to the user that affected something unrelated to his editing. Thanks. Katr67 (talk) 22:10, 16 October 2008 (UTC)

Bookspotcentral.com and fantasybookspot.com redux
Summary: Fantasybookspot.com (a site that was at least partially spammed) has become bookspotcentral.com. Link updates are being reverted by editors and bots leaving articles with links to pages with no content.

Last month there was some investigation into this. But it seems we didn't follow up completely. And it's coming back to bite us now :-)

An IP editor who initially spammed the fantasybookspot.com site has been changing the links to the new incarnation at bookspotcentral.com  These edits keep getting reverted by editors and XLinkBot.

The reversions are bad for us since the old links no longer point to appropriate content. The question (I think) is whether we should go through and remove all the links as spam, leave the reversions in place, or find some other solution.

I started deleting but stopped as I realized that some of the links may have been placed by editors in good standing.

See also the IPs talk page.

-- SiobhanHansa 13:23, 10 October 2008 (UTC)


 * I don't think there are many added by editors in good standing, but there may be some. One way would be to identify the accounts that were originally 'spamming' the links, go through their contributions and remove the links they added.  Then we can assess how much is left over (I don't expect it to be much) and if necessery convert them.  --Dirk Beetstra T  C 13:28, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

So turns out the site has been spammed for years. There are quite a few good faith edits too though. Editors who have added the fantasybookspot link:


 * - good faith addition to The Spirit Ring
 * - good faith addition to Zoe's Tale
 * - good faith addition to Wovel
 * - good faith addition to Furies of Calderon
 * - good faith addition to Patrick Rothfuss
 * - good faith addition to Getting to Know You (short story collection)
 * - good faith addition to War of the Spider Queen
 * - good faith addition to William Browning Spencer
 * - good faith addition to Academ's Fury
 * - good faith addition to Ron Horsley
 * - good faith addition to Eärwa
 * - good faith addition to The Hunter's Blades Trilogy
 * - good faith addition to Robert Ward (novelist & screenwriter) (added as bookspotcentral not fantasybookspot)
 * - good faith addition to Banewreaker
 * - good faith addition to The Wheel of Time

I've now gone through all the bookspotcentral and fantasybookspot links in article space and believe I've tracked down the original adders of each link.

Given the extensive spamming I would normally be inclined to suggest blacklisting but I think since there are a significant number of good faith edits, some of which are form established editors and some of whom consider the site appropriate as a reference, that we just clean up for now. That is - make sure the current accounts are aware this is an inappropriate use of Wikipedia; delete the spammed links; and watch the domains for further spamming activity. -- SiobhanHansa 17:01, 10 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Have cleaned out most of the spammed links now. will go through and try and set the good faith edits to the newer site later today.  -- SiobhanHansa 15:06, 15 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Have now replaced all the fantsybookspot links. Only one I could not replace - at Wovel, I commented out the citation URL and asked for updating by others.  Any help appreciated there.  -- SiobhanHansa 01:01, 16 October 2008 (UTC)

I'm at a complete loss at the problem here. Look at the other external links that link to various interviews - they are no more relevant (and often tines less relevant) than the content we have. What is the difference between our interviews and other interviews? We have emailed numerous people involved in this at WIki, the content is completely relevant, it ALWAYS existed, the changes just reflect us moving to another domain - which suggest we care enough to make changes at WIki to illustrate that. Would it change the issue if I got the author interviewed to make the changes for me? That would be ridiculous as I've done it myself countless time only to have them reverted after we've had this discussion before via email and other discussions. You know we've moved, you know the links existed - we are just changing them to insure the content is there to be read at the link. Isn't that what Wiki is about? What is a 'good faith' edit - isn't this about information? If you want me to I'll have every writer interviewed place the edits themselves of this is just a matter of 'the who'. If it's an issue of interview links are not acceptable than go back under all the ones you deleted of our and look at all the others you left - the only difference is they happen to not have moved and diligently replaced the links. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.22.38.89 (talk) 09:46, 20 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Wiki is about content, we are writing an encyclopedia here. Indeed a few links to interviews may be fine but that there are others is certainly not a reason to add even more of them.  As the intro of the external links guideline already says, the first attempt should be to add content to the article, and reference it with the external link, we don't need a full list of all interviews that cover the subject.  There are several accounts/IPs whose only edits were to add these links, an action that is considered spamming here.  And whether you place them, or the involved writer that was interviewed, both have a conflict of interest in editing the article.  I am sorry, but I do agree that this cleaning action (of which I also did a portion) was a good step forward (and that the original link-additions were there for a long time may just have meant that we missed the additions, the 'spam' action (call it 'link pushing' as I do believe the information you link to is not spam, but the action is questionable) goes both for things that are on-going as well as things that happened in the past; note that this may also be true for other links that are in those lists), and I suggest you to contact an appropriate WikiProject on how you can further contribute to this wikipedia (though I suggest that that is in the form of mainly 'referenced content' and suggestions on talkpages).  I hope this explains.  --Dirk Beetstra T  C 10:02, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

Clarice Cliff
Clarice Cliff article is being continuously spammed by user

SPA has been editing disruptively for some time at Clarice Cliff and re-adding a link to his Clarice Cliff Club website claricecliff.org/ which redirects to claricecliff.infopop.cc/eve where there is no immediately accessible information and users have to register. I have warned three times but he continues without discussion. diffs  Teapot  george Talk  10:19, 16 October 2008 (UTC)


 * user is still reverting three times a day...

diffs      Teapot  george  Talk  13:21, 17 October 2008 (UTC)


 * They have stopped now - for 31 hours anyway. Regards -- Herby  talk thyme 13:35, 17 October 2008 (UTC)

WB Streaming linkspam
Copied from Wikipedia_talk:External_links: --Ronz (talk) 00:44, 17 October 2008 (UTC)

User:64.236.243.16, who may also be User:Onlychild13, has been busy adding WB linkspam to just about everything possible. OC13 tries to add links to The WB Television Network in the body, while User:64.236.243.16 tries to add them in external links. I've gone ahead and reverted as many as I can find, on the basis of the discussion at WT:EL and the consensus text of WP:EL. Jclemens (talk) 23:49, 16 October 2008 (UTC)


 * I gave it a quick look and there appear to be many of his older spam contributions still intact. --Ronz (talk) 00:49, 17 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Many of his older thewb.com spams are still intact. --Ronz (talk) 00:59, 17 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Many of his older thewb.com spams are still intact. --Ronz (talk) 00:59, 17 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Many of his older thewb.com spams are still intact. --Ronz (talk) 00:59, 17 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Many of his older thewb.com spams are still intact. --Ronz (talk) 00:59, 17 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Interesting - not that effective as spam maybe - I get a message saying that "WB may only be viewed in the United States". Slightly more seriously I would suggest that alone makes the link less appropriate - I understand there are a few folk not in the US...:).-- Herby  talk thyme 12:59, 17 October 2008 (UTC)

spam.makulit.info

 * Spammers
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see zh:Special:Contributions/121.1.51.202 and simple:Special:Contributions/121.1.51.202.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see zh:Special:Contributions/121.1.51.202 and simple:Special:Contributions/121.1.51.202.

No use to Wikimedia projects. . MER-C 12:21, 17 October 2008 (UTC)

User:MasterRecs for www.onamrecords.com
Has inserted spam links in the past, but today inserted ~75 links in the space of an hour or so. Has made some constructive edits in the past, but these are dwarfed by links to own site. Jonobennett (talk) 19:18, 17 October 2008 (UTC)
 * It just so happens that the constructive edits were to articles related to the site spammed. Does anyone feel like spamming RC with reverts? MER-C 02:25, 18 October 2008 (UTC)
 * This is what rollback was invented for ;). I rollbacked all external links. They are spam, the site charges money for viewing information and they show copyrighted covers of CD's etc. EdBever (talk) 11:14, 18 October 2008 (UTC)

Anti-spam measure
Sorry, I don't know where to post my problems regarding spam. I am currently a Ph.D. student in City University of Hong Kong and my research interest is knowledge contribution in WikiProject. As you know, we conduct behavioral research and we have to invite participants in WikiProject to answer our questionnaire (for the sole purpose of academic research). We also promise that the survey results will be publicized to advance our understanding of what makes WikiProject grow. However, if we send email invitation for about 100 emails, the anti-spam control always stop me from sending for a certain period of time. The action is throttled and the information displayed is "As an anti-spam measure, you are limited from performing this action too many times in a short space of time, and you have exceeded this limit. Please try again in a few minutes." So is there anyone who can help me to solve this problem? Thanks so much! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Aaron.xlshen (talk • contribs) 09:20, 18 October 2008 (UTC)


 * User blocked indefinitely for spamming via Special:Emailuser. MER-C 13:08, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

Musicane
adding links to commercial music website. Working on fourth and final warning at this moment.

Montco (talk) 04:44, 20 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Probably switched to . Warned spam4im. MER-C 07:51, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

ZenoBank.com
Looking for a second opinion.

User:Astor14 has been adding a truckload of links to

which is some sort of sociial networking site that also has stock quotes. At this point, the link count is so high and they are so pervasive, that I can't undergo a blanket cleaning exercise without being disruptive across the system. I would appreciate the Spam team's opinion on the link and whether its something that should be pushed out here. The link is slowly becoming the 'official' stock quote reference of WP and I am not certain that linkspamming should be rewarded like this. Montco (talk) 23:52, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

http://spam.tvrecordings.com

 * Spammers

MER-C 11:46, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

http://spam.sanatdata.net

 * Spam pages


 * Sites spammed


 * Spammers

MER-C 12:24, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

spam.iirgroup.com spam.researchoracle.com

 * Spam pages


 * Sites spammed


 * Spammers

Coordinated meatpuppeting citation spam. MER-C 12:55, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

User page / user talk page spam (many different domains)
The links below are posted to user pages and talk pages being used for heavy link spamming. I feel as if I'm wrestling with a hydra here. Ever domain I check with external links gives me a couple of new user pages, and when I look at them I find half a dozen new domains. I have tagged a couple of user pages as spam (before realising the extent of this) so possibly some of these domains will not show up in a link search. This is not a complete list; because of the hydra effect I keep finding new domains, but before I lose track I'll post these now.


 * Domains


 * Spammers

My brain hurts.
 * Comment

--Bonadea (talk) 18:39, 14 October 2008 (UTC)


 * More spammers

(and possibly others in the series)
 * Blocked spammer

--Bonadea (talk) 18:54, 14 October 2008 (UTC)


 * OK, you need some help here. I do parse userpages (but only started recently with that, I don't do talkpages).  The pages seem to be on a small subset of servers (that is, the ip of the computer that hosts the websites:



Exceptions:
 * 72.3.230.105 = rollyo.com
 * 89.44.143.200 = hancasabucovineana.ro
 * ?? = howardwilner.net
 * 205.178.145.65 = merchantlynx.com
 * 207.115.90.194 = michael-chionopoulis.sampasite.com
 * 66.132.144.22 = doctordecision.com

Of these Merchantlynx.com seems to be on a widely used server (13307 linkadditions of sites on that server). The IP 89.44.143.200 is (in my database) only used by an involved account, therefore:



The COIBot reports on the servers don't help much further, I think all links in the reports are already mentioned here. Maybe a sockpuppet search on these accounts could help us further? If it helps, just blacklist this stuff, maybe that will get a message through (there is no crosswiki aspect for as far as I can see). --Dirk Beetstra T C 10:21, 15 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Special:ListUsers/Rmvnegativelinks might help., no regard for sockpuppetry policy. Checkuser request filed. MER-C 10:34, 15 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Thank you - yes, help is very much appreciated. I wasn't aware of the LinkReports - that's quite useful! Another sock just registered and posted the spam to his talk page: . I don't have time to do anything more about this today, though. --Bonadea (talk) 11:58, 15 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Done some cleaning :). If this comes back or the CU one does not get done quite quickly feel free to nudge me (probably Commons is best) and I'll see what I can do.  Most are now blocked & I think I got all "contributions", if not please tag them for speedy even if they are user space ones (or again nudge me).  Cheers-- Herby  talk thyme 12:26, 15 October 2008 (UTC)

To prevent further braindamage, I have blacklisted the domains per request. Still would like to see if the underlying IPs can be blocked to get the message through. --Dirk Beetstra T C 13:49, 15 October 2008 (UTC)

Checkuser results are in.


 * Spam pages (that haven't been deleted yet)
 * I've nuked these pages & replaced them with blocked notices. -- Versa  geek  13:45, 22 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I've nuked these pages & replaced them with blocked notices. -- Versa  geek  13:45, 22 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I've nuked these pages & replaced them with blocked notices. -- Versa  geek  13:45, 22 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I've nuked these pages & replaced them with blocked notices. -- Versa  geek  13:45, 22 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I've nuked these pages & replaced them with blocked notices. -- Versa  geek  13:45, 22 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I've nuked these pages & replaced them with blocked notices. -- Versa  geek  13:45, 22 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I've nuked these pages & replaced them with blocked notices. -- Versa  geek  13:45, 22 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I've nuked these pages & replaced them with blocked notices. -- Versa  geek  13:45, 22 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I've nuked these pages & replaced them with blocked notices. -- Versa  geek  13:45, 22 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I've nuked these pages & replaced them with blocked notices. -- Versa  geek  13:45, 22 October 2008 (UTC)




 * More sites spammed


 * More spammers

Underlying IPs blocked for 2 years. MER-C 13:17, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

216.220.228.77


Encountered on RC patrol, and after many warnings this user is still spamming as we speak, appears to be spamming links on hiking/traveling articles. Seems to be isolated to this anon, but it could indeed go deeper as was discovered in a cigar spam incident last week. - Marcusmax ( speak ) 20:56, 16 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Stopped (for now) after 4th warning. Google Adsense ID: 2863763885364152. -- A. B. (talk • contribs) 03:28, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

User:Cscentrl
On 16 October 2008, edits the Alodia Gosiengfiao article and adds the edit summary where's the citation from CSCENTRL.COM?? 16 or so hours later, user in question with a suspiciously similar name to the website mentioned in edit summary begins to edit the article from 18:38 17 October 2008 to 17:19 19 October 2008 almost continuously and adds the self-reference to the site. The user has exclusively edited the article (20 times) as it's major edits. I did report the anomaly to Wikipedia:Biographies_of_living_persons/Noticeboard, but another editor determined it to be a COI issue. Upon re-reviewing of the facts, and unsure if it's a username violation, I strongly believe the case of spamming is stronger to prove.--293.xx.xxx.xx (talk) 03:13, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

flyinggetaway.com

 * I'm going to put this one on XLinkBot - the named user spammed 106 links.. that's quite enough. No cross-wiki yet, but we should watch for it. -- Versa geek  05:11, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm going to put this one on XLinkBot - the named user spammed 106 links.. that's quite enough. No cross-wiki yet, but we should watch for it. -- Versa geek  05:11, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm going to put this one on XLinkBot - the named user spammed 106 links.. that's quite enough. No cross-wiki yet, but we should watch for it. -- Versa geek  05:11, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm going to put this one on XLinkBot - the named user spammed 106 links.. that's quite enough. No cross-wiki yet, but we should watch for it. -- Versa geek  05:11, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm going to put this one on XLinkBot - the named user spammed 106 links.. that's quite enough. No cross-wiki yet, but we should watch for it. -- Versa geek  05:11, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm going to put this one on XLinkBot - the named user spammed 106 links.. that's quite enough. No cross-wiki yet, but we should watch for it. -- Versa geek  05:11, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

4dasoul.com

 * Spammers

MER-C 10:16, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

HUGE amount of spam on talk page *100+ links*
Sorry if this has already been discussed but there are 100's if not 1,000's of spam links at Talk:Message - Marcusmax ( speak ) 02:38, 24 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Nevermind, Looks like the farm was taken care of, but keep an eye out for more. - Marcusmax ( speak ) 02:42, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

Whole Wheat Radio
Kmzundel 23:14, 22 October 2008 (UTC)
 * This sure looks like spam to me.
 * I believe my reply and Kmzundel's response are germane to any further discussion which may ensure. Thank you. Jimkloss (talk) 23:51, 24 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Not sure where to start here. Jim's intent is not to spam, but to provide an audio and written resource for any reader who might be interested in a particular musician, and a resource for independent musicians to allow listeners to hear their works. Whole Wheat Radio's mission page is here http://wholewheatradio.org/wiki/index.php/Mission. What needs to be done to establish WWR as a non-spam organization? Thank you. --sparkit TALK 02:04, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

Oh, and the wikipedia page is here... Whole Wheat Radio. --sparkit TALK 02:06, 23 October 2008 (UTC)


 * If I may, I'd like to also reference my response to Katr67 for its relevance to this situation. I would also like to reiterate Sparkit's request: What needs to be done to establish WWR as a non-spam organization? Thank you.  Jimkloss (talk) 04:45, 23 October 2008 (UTC)


 * This is a response to the latest query concerning whether placing Whole_Wheat_Radio as an external link on a Singer-songwriter or Independent musician's Wikipedia page should be considered spam. There is a good discussion already taking place here concerning this issue, but I thought this location is probably necessary as Kmzundel has mentioned that they hope a wiki editor with more knowledge and experience can provide some guidance.

First let me say that I am a firm believer in Wikipedia_policies and the premise of community consensus. This is what makes Wikipedia the trusted online resource that it is today, and in my humble opinion, the following paragraph sums up the roots of Wikipedia:


 * Policies and guidelines express standards that have community consensus. Policies are considered a standard that all editors should follow, whereas guidelines are more advisory in nature. Both need to be approached with common sense: adhere to the spirit rather than the letter of the rules, and be prepared to ignore the rules on the rare occasions when they conflict with the goal of improving the encyclopedia. Those who edit in good faith, are civil, seek consensus, and work towards the goal of creating a great encyclopedia should find a welcoming environment.

It's with those words in mind that I write this for the community to read and hopefully become curious enough to follow up and take a closer look at the site in question. I look forward to reading everyone's views and of course will accept whatever decision is reached through the collaboration process. Now I would like to share my view of what Whole Wheat is and why I don't agree that an external link to the site should be considered spam.

The wiki community here at Whole_Wheat_Radio is proud of our mission statement. We are empowered by the fact the community is building this resource for musicians while maintaining a non-commercial, non-hyped, grassroots based home for artists and listeners alike. Our average listener age is 49, so there just isn't much love of spam or hype around here.

It is true that Whole Wheat does not adhere to the same policies and guidelines as Wikipedia, but we are not encyclopedic and we are more focused on building an online resource designed to help the independent artists. Whole Wheat defines an independent musician as an individual or group who has specifically retained the legal right to allow their music and recorded performances to be aired by Whole Wheat Radio without payment of any kind to any royalty collection agency or third party. The community places emphasis on artistic expression, communication, and connection between the artist and listener as a symbiotic organism rather than the normal buy/sell relationship of the recording business.

If anyone would care to read what little of the publicity Whole Wheat has received through the years, please go to the publicity page. Perhaps some of you will check out a little of Whole Wheat's history or scan the FAQ page. I could go on and on and link to many other supportive pages that help describe the site. But I don't see the need as long as people visit and see what the core values of our community are, nothing more needs to be said. If anyone has questions, any of us Wheatipedians will be glad to oblige. Atuuschaaw (talk) 14:36, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

External links to semi-directory.com
User Themintyman and IP editors have added links to semi-directory.com in a number of semiconductor articles. The semi-directory.com site was created by Themintyman (diff ). I deleted a link to semi-directory.com in the External links section of Semiconductor industry (diff and rationale ); however, Themintyman objects and requested additional input. I agree and welcome comments.
 * Summary

The question is: are links to semi-directory.com appropriate for the External links section of Semiconductor industry and/or other semiconductor articles?


 * Domains


 * Link additions
 * diffs:
 * diffs:


 * diffs:
 * diffs:


 * diffs:
 * diffs:

--Kkmurray (talk) 02:24, 24 October 2008 (UTC)


 * -- Additional notes by Themintyman (talk) 14:01, 24 October 2008 (UTC)
 * In order to provide more context around this issue, I apologize for the various IP addresses - I was new to updating WIKIs and didn't make these changes from within an account. This has been sorted now. My main objection in this instance is not about whether the domain www.semi-directory.com is linked to per se, but rather, the specific page I suggested (industry events calendar).


 * I feel the wider question of whether links to the domain should be treated separately from this specific issue centered around one specific link to one page in particular. Please bear this in mind when reviewing.


 * From experience, global conferences and seminars play a very important role in the semiconductor industry and I feel it is important that people can access and review a list of these events. Based on feedback from website visitors using the industry calendar, it is a valuable resource. My additional objections to this one link can be read in the communications I have had with *. I have no intention of placing links to the site wherever I can. Instead, I am only concerned with providing access to information that people would find useful.


 * Regarding links to the wider domain, in previous communications with users called IReceivedDeathThreats ( and Yetti0711 (, they both agree the site is not for promotion and does not encourage users to pay for anything. I was also advised that if I have content regarding a specific aspect of semiconductors, then it is ok to add links to that. In the past, the site did not contain much unique, educational information, but this has changed and the content is much more in-depth.


 * I realize the site has a directory of vendors and accepts banner advertizing - this banner advertising is limited to 1 ad per page, which is much less than many other external linked sites. In an attempt to create a resource website that covers the entire industry, I find it hard to leave out a directory of related vendors. However, this only accounts for one aspect of what the site offers. In addition to providing the most comprehensive list of global semiconductor events (which is the only link I am concerned about right now), it also has a growing database of over 100 semiconductor topics, each with uniquely written content presented in an educational manner that is free to access (e.g. [www.semi-directory.com/chemical-mechanical-polishing/c9#overview]. I was informed that if I created this type of unique content, links to this would be ok. All this content is free to use and is uniquely created solely for this site and the purpose of acting as a website resource for people working, or interested in, the semiconductor industry. Regards, Themintyman (talk) 14:01, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

Online Tools & Documents Inc. spam

 * Domains:

Online Tools & Documents Inc.
 * Registrant:
 * 6611 Horseshoe Curve
 * Chanhassen, Minnesota 55317
 * United States


 * Related domains:


 * Accounts:
 * es:Especial:Contributions/208.42.19.200
 * es:Especial:Contributions/208.42.19.200
 * es:Especial:Contributions/208.42.19.200
 * es:Especial:Contributions/208.42.19.200

-- A. B. (talk • contribs) 03:14, 23 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Still at it.


 * -- A. B. (talk • contribs) 00:55, 27 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Now blacklisted. -- A. B. (talk • contribs) 01:16, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

rocktations.com
= "rock citations" link spammed in January 2007 by 216.221.240.130 on various pages such as Bartlett's Familiar Quotations where it stayed happily for almost two years (and still would if I hadn't just unquoted it). 62.147.38.40 (talk) 03:42, 26 October 2008 (UTC)

Rummy spam

 * Sites spammed


 * Spammers
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.


 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.


 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.


 * Spammed on ru wikipedia, see ru:Special:Contributions/89.138.43.252.
 * Spammed on ru wikipedia, see ru:Special:Contributions/89.138.43.252.


 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.


 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.


 * Spammed on nl wikipedia, see nl:Special:Contributions/190.65.192.46
 * Spammed on nl wikipedia, see nl:Special:Contributions/190.65.192.46


 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.
 * Spammer moved links up.
 * Spammer moved links up.

rummikub.com is the official site for the game, so it's probably worth having. Otherwise MER-C 11:47, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

http://spam.velida.net

 * Spammers

MER-C 12:01, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

Spam through TTNET/Turkey
Repetetive spamming of some turkish sites. All IPs are dynamic DSL ips of the TTNet provider. (ttnet.net.tr)
 * Summary


 * Sites spammed


 * Spammers

Unconference
 * Articles

Averell (talk) 12:49, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

http://sss.liquidatlas.com

 * Links


 * Accounts

Appears to be a WP:SPA adding the link to a travel review site. Only a handful of sites so far, but has restored the link to an article after receiving a warning on their talk page. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 16:46, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

MTC Media round 2: mtcmedia.co.uk

 * Previous incidents
 * Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Spam/2008 Archive Sep 1

http://spam.diffusionclothing.co.uk
 * Sites spammed


 * Spammers

Confirmed SEO, IP needs a really long holiday. MER-C 12:09, 22 October 2008 (UTC)


 * SEO clients:
 * http://www.ionapubpartnership.com
 * http://www.socialanimal.co.uk
 * http://www.stoatsporridgebars.co.uk
 * http://www.eurasnet.info
 * http://www.planetfear.com
 * http://www.hannasgallery.co.uk
 * http://www.johnston-oils.co.uk
 * http://www.rapecrisiscentre-glasgow.co.uk
 * http://www.millersofspeyside.co.uk
 * http://www.bibaloo.com
 * http://www.photiqueimages.com
 * http://www.whichoffshoreinvestment.com
 * http://www.harbour-house.co.uk
 * http://www.dianaforrester.co.uk
 * http://www.scri.ac.uk
 * http://www.lairdbros.co.uk
 * http://www.housespotters.com
 * http://www.catherineaitken.com
 * http://www.satrosphere.net
 * http://www.csitayside.co.uk
 * http://www.colinandjustin.tv
 * http://www.ultimateoutdoors.co.uk
 * http://www.anneofloudounville.co.uk
 * http://www.papyrusgifts.co.uk
 * http://www.sbforum.org
 * http://www.greeninsurancecompany.co.uk
 * http://www.customworks.co.uk
 * http://www.sensation.org.uk
 * http://www.glencraft.co.uk
 * http://www.tbmitchell.co.uk
 * http://www.taysidefire.gov.uk
 * http://www.diffusiononline.co.uk
 * http://www.spectratox.co.uk
 * http://www.jpf.org.uk
 * http://www.itiscotland.com
 * http://www.blackshaws.net
 * http://www.theglasspavilion.co.uk
 * http://www.densmetals.co.uk
 * http://www.baby-central.co.uk
 * http://www.clglaw.eu
 * http://www.cxrbiosciences.com
 * http://www.lilywigglesworth.com
 * http://www.amarisgolf.com
 * http://www.mozimo.co.uk
 * http://www.thefinancedoctors.com
 * http://www.howwas.co.uk
 * www.scotlandcar-hire.co.uk Blacklisted
 * Blacklisted due to an unlogged, generic entry from 2006 on the Meta blacklist for "-hire.co.uk"
 * http://www.purityequip.co.uk
 * http://www.conceptclothing.co.uk
 * http://www.martinandmcqueen.co.uk
 * http://www.papyruscookshop.co.uk
 * http://www.whantayside.com
 * http://www.santatripsonline.co.uk
 * http://www.cathrosoccerclinic.com
 * http://www.almi.abdn.ac.uk
 * http://www.sav-spain.com
 * http://www.wellwoodleslie.com
 * http://www.autosave-scotland.co.uk
 * http://www.core.ac.uk
 * http://www.3000rpm.com
 * http://www.xileclothing.com
 * http://www.librance.com
 * http://www.safelift-onshore.co.uk
 * http://www.johnjamesroofing.com
 * http://www.cameronsurgical.com
 * http://www.fatsams.co.uk
 * http://www.sporttayside-fife.co.uk
 * http://www.ozzys.co.uk
 * http://www.fairweather-motors.co.uk
 * http://www.kwik-fitinsurance.com
 * http://www.citylocal.co.uk
 * http://www.elizabethallisoninteriors.com
 * http://www.easy-fengshui.com
 * http://www.rmbearings.co.uk
 * http://www.almaktoumfoundation.com
 * http://www.almipress.com
 * http://www.crepe.org.uk
 * http://www.bulkbagcontainers.co.uk
 * http://www.getcreativeonline.co.uk
 * http://www.randa.org
 * http://www.jamescrockartandson.co.uk
 * http://www.raemoir.com
 * http://www.robertsonsinteriors.co.uk
 * http://www.malonesglasgow.co.uk
 * http://www.jandminteriors.co.uk
 * http://www.dsdalgleish.co.uk
 * http://www.thecaledonianhotel-leven.co.uk
 * http://www.dundeedisabilitysport.co.uk
 * http://www.kalojewellery.co.uk
 * http://www.caledoniadirect.co.uk
 * http://www.aitkenwines.com
 * http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/chr
 * http://www.the-greenroom.com
 * http://www.castletonglamis.co.uk
 * http://www.agraengineering.co.uk
 * http://www.foundryinverness.co.uk
 * http://www.nightanddayhomechildcare.co.uk
 * http://www.nailfast.co.uk
 * http://www.colours-hairdressing.com
 * http://www.thespiritofscotland.co.uk
 * http://www.dundeecitysportscouncil.co.uk
 * http://www.clayton-caravan-park.com
 * http://www.signpost-international.org
 * http://www.thesprayfactory.co.uk
 * http://www.pettravelservices.co.uk
 * http://www.ngmphotography.co.uk
 * http://www.stewartsmall.co.uk
 * http://www.simplycornicesupplies.co.uk
 * http://www.outofthebluegifts.com
 * http://www.cleaningscotland.co.uk
 * http://www.thepictureframemaker.co.uk
 * http://www.robertsamsonfunerals.co.uk
 * www.bloozy.co.uk
 * http://www.iancargillcars.co.uk
 * http://www.accidentclaimsscotland.co.uk
 * http://www.face-perfect.co.uk
 * http://www.strathmoreexhibitiontrailerhire.com
 * http://www.covertgroup.co.uk
 * http://www.relaxatseascape.co.uk
 * http://www.willreliefscotland.co.uk
 * http://www.angusjoinery.co.uk
 * http://www.caledoniangifts.co.uk
 * http://www.heathandhardie.co.uk
 * http://www.craigmccabe.co.uk
 * http://www.theretreatdundee.co.uk
 * http://www.finesseantiques.co.uk
 * http://www.kitchensdundee.co.uk
 * http://www.crightonandmchugh.co.uk
 * http://www.taylor-shepherd.co.uk
 * http://www.enresol.com
 * http://www.renovocontracts.co.uk
 * http://www.pcdj.co.uk
 * http://www.theisleofskye.com
 * http://www.keillerschinashop.co.uk
 * http://www.handmadeimports.net
 * http://www.imbuildingservices.co.uk
 * http://www.taysidehardwoodfloors.com
 * http://www.ociano.com
 * http://www.donavinhomesltd.co.uk
 * http://www.xcabs.com
 * http://www.gspotdirect.co.uk
 * http://www.gulistanhouse.com
 * http://www.seanbarlow.co.uk
 * http://www.bradylegal.co.uk
 * www.bluetoothadvertising.com
 * http://www.lpgscotland.com
 * http://www.heatingoilscotland.com
 * http://www.almaktoumfoundation.com
 * http://www.almipress.com
 * http://www.crepe.org.uk
 * http://www.bulkbagcontainers.co.uk
 * http://www.getcreativeonline.co.uk
 * http://www.randa.org
 * http://www.jamescrockartandson.co.uk
 * http://www.raemoir.com
 * http://www.robertsonsinteriors.co.uk
 * http://www.malonesglasgow.co.uk
 * http://www.jandminteriors.co.uk
 * http://www.dsdalgleish.co.uk
 * http://www.thecaledonianhotel-leven.co.uk
 * http://www.dundeedisabilitysport.co.uk
 * http://www.kalojewellery.co.uk
 * http://www.caledoniadirect.co.uk
 * http://www.aitkenwines.com
 * http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/chr
 * http://www.the-greenroom.com
 * http://www.castletonglamis.co.uk
 * http://www.agraengineering.co.uk
 * http://www.foundryinverness.co.uk
 * http://www.nightanddayhomechildcare.co.uk
 * http://www.nailfast.co.uk
 * http://www.colours-hairdressing.com
 * http://www.thespiritofscotland.co.uk
 * http://www.dundeecitysportscouncil.co.uk
 * http://www.clayton-caravan-park.com
 * http://www.signpost-international.org
 * http://www.thesprayfactory.co.uk
 * http://www.pettravelservices.co.uk
 * http://www.ngmphotography.co.uk
 * http://www.stewartsmall.co.uk
 * http://www.simplycornicesupplies.co.uk
 * http://www.outofthebluegifts.com
 * http://www.cleaningscotland.co.uk
 * http://www.thepictureframemaker.co.uk
 * http://www.robertsamsonfunerals.co.uk
 * www.bloozy.co.uk
 * http://www.iancargillcars.co.uk
 * http://www.accidentclaimsscotland.co.uk
 * http://www.face-perfect.co.uk
 * http://www.strathmoreexhibitiontrailerhire.com
 * http://www.covertgroup.co.uk
 * http://www.relaxatseascape.co.uk
 * http://www.willreliefscotland.co.uk
 * http://www.angusjoinery.co.uk
 * http://www.caledoniangifts.co.uk
 * http://www.heathandhardie.co.uk
 * http://www.craigmccabe.co.uk
 * http://www.theretreatdundee.co.uk
 * http://www.finesseantiques.co.uk
 * http://www.kitchensdundee.co.uk
 * http://www.crightonandmchugh.co.uk
 * http://www.taylor-shepherd.co.uk
 * http://www.enresol.com
 * http://www.renovocontracts.co.uk
 * http://www.pcdj.co.uk
 * http://www.theisleofskye.com
 * http://www.keillerschinashop.co.uk
 * http://www.handmadeimports.net
 * http://www.imbuildingservices.co.uk
 * http://www.taysidehardwoodfloors.com
 * http://www.ociano.com
 * http://www.donavinhomesltd.co.uk
 * http://www.xcabs.com
 * http://www.gspotdirect.co.uk
 * http://www.gulistanhouse.com
 * http://www.seanbarlow.co.uk
 * http://www.bradylegal.co.uk
 * www.bluetoothadvertising.com
 * http://www.lpgscotland.com
 * http://www.heatingoilscotland.com
 * http://www.thepictureframemaker.co.uk
 * http://www.robertsamsonfunerals.co.uk
 * www.bloozy.co.uk
 * http://www.iancargillcars.co.uk
 * http://www.accidentclaimsscotland.co.uk
 * http://www.face-perfect.co.uk
 * http://www.strathmoreexhibitiontrailerhire.com
 * http://www.covertgroup.co.uk
 * http://www.relaxatseascape.co.uk
 * http://www.willreliefscotland.co.uk
 * http://www.angusjoinery.co.uk
 * http://www.caledoniangifts.co.uk
 * http://www.heathandhardie.co.uk
 * http://www.craigmccabe.co.uk
 * http://www.theretreatdundee.co.uk
 * http://www.finesseantiques.co.uk
 * http://www.kitchensdundee.co.uk
 * http://www.crightonandmchugh.co.uk
 * http://www.taylor-shepherd.co.uk
 * http://www.enresol.com
 * http://www.renovocontracts.co.uk
 * http://www.pcdj.co.uk
 * http://www.theisleofskye.com
 * http://www.keillerschinashop.co.uk
 * http://www.handmadeimports.net
 * http://www.imbuildingservices.co.uk
 * http://www.taysidehardwoodfloors.com
 * http://www.ociano.com
 * http://www.donavinhomesltd.co.uk
 * http://www.xcabs.com
 * http://www.gspotdirect.co.uk
 * http://www.gulistanhouse.com
 * http://www.seanbarlow.co.uk
 * http://www.bradylegal.co.uk
 * www.bluetoothadvertising.com
 * http://www.lpgscotland.com
 * http://www.heatingoilscotland.com
 * http://www.enresol.com
 * http://www.renovocontracts.co.uk
 * http://www.pcdj.co.uk
 * http://www.theisleofskye.com
 * http://www.keillerschinashop.co.uk
 * http://www.handmadeimports.net
 * http://www.imbuildingservices.co.uk
 * http://www.taysidehardwoodfloors.com
 * http://www.ociano.com
 * http://www.donavinhomesltd.co.uk
 * http://www.xcabs.com
 * http://www.gspotdirect.co.uk
 * http://www.gulistanhouse.com
 * http://www.seanbarlow.co.uk
 * http://www.bradylegal.co.uk
 * www.bluetoothadvertising.com
 * http://www.lpgscotland.com
 * http://www.heatingoilscotland.com
 * http://www.donavinhomesltd.co.uk
 * http://www.xcabs.com
 * http://www.gspotdirect.co.uk
 * http://www.gulistanhouse.com
 * http://www.seanbarlow.co.uk
 * http://www.bradylegal.co.uk
 * www.bluetoothadvertising.com
 * http://www.lpgscotland.com
 * http://www.heatingoilscotland.com
 * http://www.seanbarlow.co.uk
 * http://www.bradylegal.co.uk
 * www.bluetoothadvertising.com
 * http://www.lpgscotland.com
 * http://www.heatingoilscotland.com
 * http://www.lpgscotland.com
 * http://www.heatingoilscotland.com
 * http://www.heatingoilscotland.com
 * http://www.heatingoilscotland.com


 * I scarfed these up in about 30 seconds from mtcmedia.co.uk/portfolio.php using http://url-info.appspot.com:
 * url-info.appspot.com/getUrl?url=http%3A//www.mtcmedia.co.uk/portfolio.php
 * -- A. B. (talk • contribs) 19:48, 22 October 2008 (UTC)


 * These are the domains that have actually been spammed:
 * Closely related to the spammer
 * SEO clients
 * SEO clients
 * SEO clients
 * SEO clients


 * Here are some additional domains closely related to the spammer:


 * -- I will blacklist the 9 domains that are closely related to the spammer. If necessary, we may have to blacklist the clients as well in the future. — Preceding unsigned comment added by A. B. (talk • contribs) 03:28, 27 October 2008


 * to the local blacklist:
 * bloozy.co.uk
 * bluetoothadvertising.com
 * bluushx.com
 * bluush.com
 * mtcmedia.com
 * mtcmedia.co.uk
 * mtcserver.com
 * tct.co.uk
 * web-design-dundee.co.uk
 * -- A. B. (talk • contribs) 21:00, 28 October 2008 (UTC)


 * the remaining 149 domains not blacklisted. -- A. B. (talk • contribs) 21:12, 28 October 2008 (UTC)

Test Prep Spamming
This crowd has been dropping links to their respective test prep companies pretty regularly on LEED Accredited Professional Exam as well as other articles. They also seem to be having fun deleting each other's links as they add their own. Activity on the article has picked up substantially in October.

Links:

IP Spammers

Registered Spammers TastyPoutine talk (if you dare) ] 06:13, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

Additional spam today:

TastyPoutine talk (if you dare) ] 02:49, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

spam.hindyugm.com and associated blogs

 * Spam pages
 * hi:हिन्द युग्म


 * Sites spammed


 * Related domains


 * Spammers
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.


 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.


 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.
 * Cross-wiki spammer, see.


 * Spammed on Hindi Wikipedia, see hi:Special:Contributions/Tsharma82
 * Spammed on Hindi Wikipedia, see hi:Special:Contributions/Tsharma82


 * Spammed on Hindi Wikipedia, see hi:Special:Contributions/125.63.122.2.
 * Spammed on Hindi Wikipedia, see hi:Special:Contributions/125.63.122.2.

MER-C 10:09, 30 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Updated. MER-C 06:09, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

Liberia related articles

 * Wave I:
 * Wave II:
 * Wave III:
 * Aboutmovies (talk) 03:07, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

http://spam.phosphortech.com

 * Previous incidents
 * Articles for deletion/PhosphorTech


 * Spam pages


 * Sites spammed


 * Spammers

MER-C 12:00, 28 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Still spamming (original report). MER-C 13:05, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

http://spam.zoapcon.com http://spam.klantcrm.com


http://spam.zoapiere.com
 * Related domains


 * Spammers

MER-C 08:21, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

http://sss.thesea.org/
http://sss.thesea.org/
 * Link

http://sss.reef-aquarium.org/
 * Related sites

http://sss.zoanthids.net/

http://sss.coral-reef-picture.com/

http://sss.the-aquaculture.com/


 * Accounts

The edit history of has been almost exlcusively to add the above external links; often returning to the same articles weeks later to re-add it after someone else removed the link. The only additions of these links appear to be by this user, and previously by. Both TRSH and the anon have been previously warned by others about spamming links. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 16:19, 31 October 2008 (UTC)