Web Marketing Strategy Update

I came across Blog Submitter Pro 7.0 through an emailed affiliate recommendation. The site headline reads:

“New Blog Submission Software Takes TOTAL DOMINATION To A Whole New Level, And Allows Complete Control Over Any Market and Any Product You Sell. — Renders All Other Marketing Methods Totally Useless by Comparison”

Quite a claim, eh? Totally ridiculous hype of course. But that seems to be the norm these days. My issue is with the software itself.

I might wear a grey hat sometimes, and Google may think I’m a bit thin in places, but even to me it’s clear that this new, “killer marketing app” crosses the line.

The goal is innocuous enough: make comments on blog posts related to the topic (or in this case, simply keywords) that your site covers. In doing so increase the value of your site in the eyes of Google (and other search engines).

The method of attaining it is the problem.

Let me ask you a question. What is the Comments function on a blog for?

For commenting on the post, right? To build on it. Add opinions. Ask questions. Perhaps create discussion.

It’s not a name card or billboard service for people to come along and say (according to the creator this is what he himself sets the software to post):

- - - - - - - - - -
“Hey, you have a great blog here! I’m definitely going to bookmark you!

Come and check it out if you get time :-)”
- - - - - - - - - -

I must have missed the bit that said the software automatically created bookmarks for you too! But lying that aside, can you imagine what it would be like if everyone made comments consisting of nothing more than this kind of self promotional junk?

Picture an automated process designed to post this stuff on random blogs, wherever the software finds any of the keywords in its user defined list, and you have the general idea of what this wonderful new marketing tool does.

I know some “big name” marketers are promoting this thing, but I like to call a spade a spade.

THIS IS A SPAM TOOL

In case you can’t see it, let me explain why.

First of all, the blog is the property of the blog owner. Just like their email inbox. Just like their physical mail box. It’s their territory and they make the rules of entry.

Blog owners give permission for people to post comments in order to add value to the site content for other visitors, or enable interaction, etc.

That’s the rule.

It might be unwritten. But it’s as plain and well understood as the rule that you don’t vandalise another persons property.

Blog owners solicit comments that add value to the blog and visitor experience. And as an added bonus, they offer a link back to the site of the comment author (for which the ultimate reason is again the idea of adding to user experience).

They don’t solicit self promotional ads that have no intrinsic value to the blog and exist solely for the purpose of obtaining a targeted link.

And as the web site selling this software makes perfectly clear, they are indeed nothing but blatant ads:

“When you post your ads on all of these blogs …”

So, putting it another way:

The comments this software sends out are Unsolicited Ads. In bulk. For commercial gain.

Sound familiar?

That’s because it’s SPAM.

I don’t object to you commenting on a post to get a targeted link, as long as you provide value in return.

“You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” is the way it works. Just like the republication of articles, only a lot less work for the person getting the link. But if you aren’t willing to play fair, you’re not welcome on my blog!

But apparently (based on extensive research, no doubt), I’m in a minority here: most blog owners are happy to be spammed. In fact, they are GLAD!

From the sales page:
“Believe it or not, the people who run the vast majority of blogs that you post on will actually very much welcome your post.”

Wow! Really?

And there’s even an email excerpt to prove it:
“I have about 20 blogs and have never received a single comment. I followed the link out of curiosity - Even though I knew it was a marketer just wanting a link back to their site - I just half smiled and thought ‘cool!’ It doesn’t really bother me in the slightest. I’m sure that Mr. Dad & Mrs. Mum would feel maybe a little bit important that someone actually ‘bothered’ to come to their website and say -’Hey, great website, keep it up -check out my site when you are free.”

Oh yes puulease Mr. Marketer! Come and post your spam comment on my site. I was feeling SO unappreciated and insecure. I feel MUCH better now I’ve been noticed by your automated software!

There’s actually a page on comment spamming on the site, which begins:
“This term, although a fiction, is a well known and widely accepted concept among the internet community.”

A fiction? A false belief that’s held to be true because it’s expedient to do so? Of course it is! Silly me. (See [comment spam->http://www.answers.com/comment%20spam] for more on this “fiction”)

It continues:
“I built this software to post exclusively to blogger.com blogs so that no one can ever legitimately accuse any Blog Submitter Pro user of ‘comment spamming’ their blog.”

Key here is the twisted definition of “legitimately.” You’ll see how in a minute, but suffice to say the implied meaning is analogous to not being able to legitimately accuse someone of sending spam email, if you haven’t switched on the spam filter provided by your ISP.

“Blogger.com is very well aware of Blog Submitter Pro! They know exactly who we are, exactly what we do, and exactly why we do it…. And They Do Not Mind One Little Bit!!!!”

That’s a bold claim. How do they know that? Did Blogger write and say so?

The fact that visible action has not (yet) been initiated does not mean Blogger think it’s fine. They could well be considering what steps to take in relation to the scale of the problem, and assessing whether the problem can be controlled without direct intervention, which would be the least favourable option to Google (owners of Blogger.com). And this of course doesn’t take into account the other side of the coin, which is of much more concern to Google — the effect on SERPS.

I guess that means Blogger also don’t mind users setting up lot’s of bogus accounts in order to trick its parent company, as suggested on another page:
“And if you don’t want google to realize that some specific user/pass combo has been posting non-stop 24 hours per day for the last “X” days, it’s a good idea to setup a few blogger accounts and let the program ramdomly select a user/pass combo to post with.”

Back on the comment spam page:
“Instead of making themselves out to be yet another internet cop, they (blogger) opted to leave the blog owner with the option of whether or not they would welcome and or accept posts to their blog from automated software.”

They have done no such thing. They have given blog owners the option of using a [CAPTCHA->http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captcha] to block posts from automated software.

As Blogger says about using the CAPTCHA option:
“What this does is to prevent automated systems from adding comments to your blog …”

That is not at all the same as welcoming automated spam posts. Not preventing something does not mean I welcome or want to accept it. By this logic, not locking my car means that I want it to be stolen.

“This means that every single blog that our software posts to, has by default, been given permission from the individual blog owner to do so.”

Again, that’s totally untrue.

At the risk of repeating myself, not actively preventing something does not mean I am granting permission to do it. If I leave a cash box open on my desk when I leave the room, I am not granting co-workers permission to pocket the money, even though I have not prevented them from doing so.

The truth is there are many reasons for not using a CAPTCHA. People don’t like filling them in. Some blog owners are concerned using them will reduce comments. They can slow down page load on a slow site and lengthen the comment process. The blog owner may not realise the significance or need. None of these reasons mean, “Yes, I want automated software to post spam comments on my blog.”

Here’s another gem from the software site:
“Known Annoyances::: 1. Low life’s
There are still low life’s on the internet who try to jam popups down your throat, and they hit you with ‘alert hell’ … (upsetting the software)”

So apparently I’m a low-life for having pop-ups on MY site, that belongs to ME and which no one is forced to visit, but people trying to spam MY site with useless comments to gain some benefit for THEM at my expense are ok? Yeah, right on!

Thankfully though, for the moment at least the software only targets Blogger.com blogs. Which is good in a way ‘cos that means it’s going to doubly annoy Google. And footprint or no footprint, when Google sees artificially skewed SERPS all over the place they will do something. As will Yahoo and MSN. Because it’s their bread and butter. And they have masses of data to spot and compare anomalies with.

Another positive aspect is that people will go at this like crazy, creating hundreds of links in a short space of time, oblivious to the alarm bells they are setting off that will most likely leave their sites ranking nowhere after a fleeting spell of glory.

There is also the “no follow” tag, although interestingly, regarding it the product creator claims that, “in having a large number of backlinks, not only is it no longer crucial, it truly borders on insignificants [sic].”

However, [Google say->http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/01/preventing-comment-spam.html], “when Google sees the attribute (rel=”nofollow”) on hyperlinks, those links won’t get any credit when we rank websites in our search results. This isn’t a negative vote for the site where the comment was posted; it’s just a way to make sure that spammers get no benefit from abusing public areas like blog comments, trackbacks, and referrer lists.”

Whilst [Yahoo’s take->http://www.ysearchblog.com/archives/000069.html] is, “By adding a rel=”nofollow” attribute to hyperlinks, webmasters and weblog owners can tell search engines that the links are effectively untrusted.”

And [MSN say->http://blogs.msdn.com/msnsearch/archive/2005/01/18/nofollow_tags.aspx], “Any link with this tag will indicate to a crawler it is not necessarily approved by this page and shouldn’t be followed nor contribute weight for ranking.”

But even IF the product creator’s claims are true, it simply means there will be a move to a higher level of protection in future, with links automatically routed through blind redirects or something, or perhaps the ability to add links or comments removed entirely. The incentive to spam will have gone, but it will be at the expense of genuine users.

Someone who spends time and energy to post valuable content on my site deserves a little something back, and this inter-linking is the core of the whole community aspect of blogs. Another case of a selfish few spoiling a good thing for everyone else in the interest of their short-term gain, just like email.

Don’t be taken in by the spiel. Blog Submitter Pro is a spam tool. And if you use it, I’m sorry but that makes you a spammer.