Otherwise known as spam

This blog has, after all these months, finally come to the attention of the spammers.  I’ve deleted numerous comments offering to extend my reach as a blogger as well as a lot that were just excuses to post somebody’s URL.  It’s not that I mind if a legitimate comment includes some reader’s actual URL.  It’s just that I don’t really think all my readers have any great interest in knock-off designer luggage touted by some poster that talks about what “rattling good content” some entry is that I’ve made with what is primarily a YouTube link and a little introductory text.

So, what I’m wondering is does this actually work?  Are there really bloggers who don’t see through these posts and don’t trash them before they appear?  Are there really readers who will click on one of these links—with I-don’t-know-what consequences?  Are there enough of them that this spambot stuff is a lucrative proposition?

Really?

Once upon a time, I had a temp job working for a department in a very large company whose primary function seemed to be to generate and oversee mass mailings of offers of additional services to their customers.  Otherwise known as “junk mail.”  Back then, there was a lot of talk about response rate.  A 2% response rate was considered excellent.  Volume was key.

This email stuff has the advantage to the sender of not costing them postage or paper.  But spam filters catch a lot of it. So, now, I guess we have this other avenue.  Wacky, semi-literate comments on blogs from spambots.

As a result, there are a number of solutions evolving to distinguish the real from the fake comments and to block the spammers.

It gives me a lot of satisfaction to learn about and employ as many of them as possible.

But I still wonder—wouldn’t it be easier just to make a product that was so good people wanted to buy it?  It would probably end up in the blog posts, then, not tossed out as a useless comment.