Jane ChinsaysPLURKSHOP starting now! "Sploggers got your blog? Why care if they give you the link back"
posted on August 04, 2008 at 01:00AM
194 responses
to this plurk.
August 04, 2008 at 01:00DebInDenversaysOK. I'm here!
August 04, 2008 at 01:02Jane Chinwelcome! my first time hosting a Plurkshop and I hope I'm doing this right. First topic to cover:
August 04, 2008 at 01:02Jane Chin1) How do we know when our content has been ripped off (without attribution or even with attribution if used in questionable fashion)
August 04, 2008 at 01:03DebInDenversaysyeah just keep going Jane. Folks will jump in.
August 04, 2008 at 01:05Jane Chinwelcome jaheed! I was asking how people know when their blog/website content have been copied and reproduced on another website.
August 04, 2008 at 01:06gasshosaysyou also see pingbacks on your blog admin, or cmnts that pass filters.
August 04, 2008 at 01:06gasshosaysi've found some googling my name, which like jane's alerts.
August 04, 2008 at 01:06Sir ProudgamerA friend had art stolen once, she was tipped off about the rip off by a friend on Deviant Art
August 04, 2008 at 01:08Jane Chingassho, google alerts to your name works IF the splogger included your name in the link. in some cases names aren't obvious.
August 04, 2008 at 01:07pritcharddesignaskssome photographers have lawyers on retainer just to watch ouot for copyright infringement
August 04, 2008 at 01:09Teegaskshow much of a blog post are you counting as splogging? The entire post or some of the post?
August 04, 2008 at 01:08Jane Chinproudgamer good point; my husband has battled image theft for years (usually as ebay product images) and he gets tipped off by his fans.
August 04, 2008 at 01:09Jane Chinotherwise he wouldn't even know about it
August 04, 2008 at 01:09pritcharddesignasksbut if it's an outright steal JaneChin, it wouldn't have your name.
August 04, 2008 at 01:09Jane Chinpritcharddesign i can totally see how that becomes a natural business expense (photogs retaining IP lawyers)
August 04, 2008 at 01:08DebInDenversayswhat does your husband do Jane?
August 04, 2008 at 01:10Jane ChinDebInDenver he is a rocket scientist, but has gear design as hobby and therefore lots of pics to go with it.
August 04, 2008 at 01:10gasshosayspritcharddesign if they've linked to u in the splog, it shows as pinback, usually filters catch it, then you follow link to offending site
August 04, 2008 at 01:10Jane Chin%pritcharddesign good point: if someone wants to take it outright your name wouldn't be seen at all. then how to detect this?
August 04, 2008 at 01:11jaheedsaysI have several measures of tracking content and notice folks google my name "A LOT" which is startling. Why me.
August 04, 2008 at 01:12jaheedsaysI think my searches come from folks trying to find out more about the company.
August 04, 2008 at 01:12Jane Chingassho I've caught splogsteals via pingback and comment forms as well
August 04, 2008 at 01:13Jane Chinanother way I've found is through a service called "copyscape" anyone use this?
August 04, 2008 at 01:13pritcharddesignwondersmaybe adding your name hidden in code so it'll still come up in search??
August 04, 2008 at 01:13gasshosaysi had a case where it linked back to me, but they credited a bogus name. entire content was splogged.
August 04, 2008 at 01:12DebInDenversaysI've never heard of copyscape, but I am new to the term splogging as well.
August 04, 2008 at 01:13Sir Proudgamerno, not yet anyway
August 04, 2008 at 01:14gasshosaysheard of copyspace. nothing is 100% tho.
August 04, 2008 at 01:15Jane Chincopyscape.com/ is a good quick&dirty tool to see blatant rips
August 04, 2008 at 01:15Jane Chingassho I agree, nothing is 100% - if you publish anything good, you're running the risk. that's why I say "deter" bc can't "prevent"
August 04, 2008 at 01:15ConnieSome sploggers or content scrapers feel there's nothing wrong with what they do if they include a link back to you. (I disagree.)
August 04, 2008 at 01:15Jane Chin(copyscape.com is also unfortunately not 100% free) but at least give limited results
August 04, 2008 at 01:17Teegsaysdoing google searches for specific quotes from your posts also works
August 04, 2008 at 01:17gasshosaysconnie i totally disagree too
August 04, 2008 at 01:18Jane Chinconnie I agree with you re: the mentality of sploggers/content scrapers linking back as "credit enough".
August 04, 2008 at 01:19Jane ChinTeeg any suggestions on which part of your post to select quote? i.e. do sploggers usually go for first paragraphs, middle content, or?
August 04, 2008 at 01:20gasshosaysmine have been taken in full.
August 04, 2008 at 01:20Jane Chingassho what did you do in response when you found out your content was ripped in full?
August 04, 2008 at 01:19Conniehasanyone confronted a splogger about stealing their content?
August 04, 2008 at 01:22Jane Chinconnie I have, several times.
August 04, 2008 at 01:21Jane Chinusually met with resounding silence IF their email is even listed
August 04, 2008 at 01:22gasshosaysi haven't done anything thus far. the only one that disturbs me is 1 that comes up in google under my name.
August 04, 2008 at 01:23ConnieI accidentally commented on a splog the other day, and it made me so mad.
August 04, 2008 at 01:23gasshosaysand that one they turned test into gibberish
August 04, 2008 at 01:22Jane Chinmy articles shouldn't be there anymore, but basically: I wrote articles for a very new website of mine, within days I found a site with >50%
August 04, 2008 at 01:23Jane Chinof my article pasted on their "business opportunities" page
August 04, 2008 at 01:23Jane Chin(which was choking with advertisements)
August 04, 2008 at 01:24Jane Chingassho have you tried contacting google about removing that listing due to copyright violation?
August 04, 2008 at 01:23Jane Chinconnie YES! good point - commenting on the splog (even if just to say "hey! you're stealing my stuff) is a bad idea. I learned that lesson
August 04, 2008 at 01:25Jane ChinI made a comment to the splog post requesting that comments be made on MY WEBSITE. within hours a splog comment was added as if someone is
August 04, 2008 at 01:25Jane Chinresponding to my comment, which just helped the splog post.
August 04, 2008 at 01:26gasshosaysyes i'm going to start the long drawn out process w/google. it was a guest post for Liz Strauss so maybe i'll alert her too.
August 04, 2008 at 01:26ConnieI thought I was commenting on the original post; hit the splog by mistake.
August 04, 2008 at 01:26Jane Chingassho this brings me to my next question, which is - isn't all publicity good publicity - good or bad? it just exposes your name more, so
August 04, 2008 at 01:26Jane Chinwhat's the problem?
August 04, 2008 at 01:26gasshosaysyeah i wouldn't engage sploggers publicly by cmnting.
August 04, 2008 at 01:28gasshosaysconnie that's a great article i just googled.
August 04, 2008 at 01:28ConnieProblem is that they're stealing traffic - few people if any are going to click back to the real author's site.
August 04, 2008 at 01:28Jane Chingreat resource@connie I'm bookmarking that one by lorelle
August 04, 2008 at 01:28gasshosaysno i don't think this type of exposure is good at all. confusing to your audience for one...
August 04, 2008 at 01:29Connieand most of them are link farms or ad sites, so they're making revenue off your content.
August 04, 2008 at 01:29Sir ProudgamerIf there is a prominent link back I suppose it can be good publicity, but how often do Sploggers do that?
August 04, 2008 at 01:28pritcharddesignsaysagree with Connie, especially if they're trying to pass it off as their own!
August 04, 2008 at 01:29gassho& in the case of gibberish text well need i say more?
August 04, 2008 at 01:29Jane Chinconnie I was wondering that... do they actually make $ from splog sites?
August 04, 2008 at 01:30EagleHawksaysI work for a webhosting company in the abuse department, and I know it is against our aup to host a splog.
August 04, 2008 at 01:30EagleHawkjanechin they do if they have adsense on there.
August 04, 2008 at 01:30gasshoprominent? then it wouldn't be a splog...i mean who wants their name associated w/a trashy site?
August 04, 2008 at 01:31ConnieYes, they make money if they're running Google ad sense or other link ads. That's the main purpose for the splog: make money.
August 04, 2008 at 01:31gasshoyes ppl splog for $$$
August 04, 2008 at 01:32Jane Chineaglehawk welcome! from your experience, how does an author/blogger complain to the webhost productively to get result?
August 04, 2008 at 01:31IamGay!just got in (using plurkify rooms)
August 04, 2008 at 01:31ConnieEagleHawke Does it do any good to complain to a web hosting site about a splog? How would you know where splog is hosted?
August 04, 2008 at 01:31ThoughtWrong just got here guys, sorry late
August 04, 2008 at 01:33Jane Chinconnie then we're assuming that splogs are effective in generating high levels of traffic to create good revenue, based on content amount
August 04, 2008 at 01:33Jane Chinconnie this is where I really like Blogger and their "Flag This" bar atop the sites. In the past I've also complained to Blogger and they
August 04, 2008 at 01:32Jane Chinremoved the splogs
August 04, 2008 at 01:33EagleHawkfirst find out the IP of the splog. using windows do nslookup domain.com
August 04, 2008 at 01:33ThoughtWrongsharesthat splogs can get high SEO which in turn means high traffic
August 04, 2008 at 01:33ThoughtWrongsharespart of SEO is sites linking to yours and you linking back to theirs, thats what search engines look for
August 04, 2008 at 01:33EagleHawkthen find out who the owner of the ip is and report it to their abuse@ address.
August 04, 2008 at 01:33Jane Chinsharesa twilight zone moment when a splog that took my content got ripped off by another splog LOL
August 04, 2008 at 01:34ThoughtWrongsaysif you let their comment appear on your page w/ the link back to their site then its like a big bump in the search engines
August 04, 2008 at 01:35Jane Chinsaysi thought i was in a spy v. spy mad comic strip.
August 04, 2008 at 01:35EagleHawkIt does matter to some providers, I know it matters to mine.
August 04, 2008 at 01:34Conniethanks EagleHawk for the information!
August 04, 2008 at 01:35IamGay!Have you guys checked if your images were also copied onto splogs (and even hotlinked)?
August 04, 2008 at 01:36ConnieI imagine it matters to most hosting providers. They have a reputation to maintain and don't want to anger their customers.
August 04, 2008 at 01:36gwfrink3saysyes it certainly matters to us.
August 04, 2008 at 01:36ThoughtWrongsharesthat in WP and other CMS you can see from the dash board what sites are linking to you, analytics will also do this
August 04, 2008 at 01:36gwfrink3saysdid you pursue legal action, JaneChin?
August 04, 2008 at 01:37Jane Chinsaysbakla my images were taken as well - except now they're making ME violate the photographer's copyright.
August 04, 2008 at 01:36pritcharddesignasksif you leave a comment with a link to your original blog, will that raise their SEO?
August 04, 2008 at 01:37gasshoso do a whois lookup?
August 04, 2008 at 01:37Jane Chinsaysgwfrink3 I emailed saying if content isn't removed within 48 hours I will be mailing an attorney letter to the owner's physical address.
August 04, 2008 at 01:39gasshono if you allow their pingback on you blog
August 04, 2008 at 01:38Jane Chinsaysgot IMMEDIATE response. but this is rare, bc the owner seemed to want to do "some" honest biz or wouldn't put picture/email/addy there
August 04, 2008 at 01:38EagleHawksaysIt really depends on the provider, but as splogging becomes more and more popular (per se) more providers are waking up to the problem.
August 04, 2008 at 01:40IamGay!saysjanechin i had some photos stolen by a splogger. even hotlinked and used up my bandwidth.
August 04, 2008 at 01:39TeegHow are you defining splog? The site that had your content, JaneChin doesn't seem to fit most defs. Not saying they aren't, just wondering.
August 04, 2008 at 01:39gwfrink3saysI've had good experience from that kind of aggressive action, JaneChin. They are usually aware that they are in legal jeopardy.
August 04, 2008 at 01:40IamGay!saysI changed the filename in the wp-content directory so their site now displays an x mark
August 04, 2008 at 01:40Jane ChinsaysTeeg based on the article connie shared, bc the site had NO original content, it was a splog
August 04, 2008 at 01:41gasshoi don't think it matters to a webhost in china or russia. not being non-pc but that's where most offensive content is hosted these day.
August 04, 2008 at 01:40pritcharddesignsaysexcellent JaneChin. You almost *have* to send letter from atty if they're violating your photog contract.
August 04, 2008 at 01:41Jane Chinsaysthe site seemed to have diff. contributors, copying and pasting from diff sources and displaying on the site.
August 04, 2008 at 01:40Jane Chinsaysbut i'm sure none of us are going to get a % of the profits generated by the ad revenues from part of our content,in my case>50% of article.
August 04, 2008 at 01:41Teegsaysactually, it looks like about half their posts are original..all the ones written by the wife. They also have a PR of 6.
August 04, 2008 at 01:41gwfrink3saysthus far I haven't had to haul anyone into court (crosses available fingers and toes).
August 04, 2008 at 01:43gwfrink3saysdanica here in Plurk had her blog content stolen in a Sploggist kind of way, across international boundaries, and mounted a campaign.
August 04, 2008 at 01:44EagleHawkyou really don't *have* to have an attorney do it the first time. Here is how to send DMCA notices tinyurl.com/5rlcfa
August 04, 2008 at 01:44gwfrink3sayspressured to thief. I wish she were with us to report on that. Loss of content to a splog in China, for example, poses special difficulties.
August 04, 2008 at 01:46gasshoi've 1 article that's been in every article bank for yrs now, haven't done anything. splogs are the new face of scraping.
August 04, 2008 at 01:46Jane ChinTeeg i think the trouble with this one is that you have a splog embedded in the blog. So far all the posts from "Rich" are not original.
August 04, 2008 at 01:46gwfrink3sayseaglehawk is right. I've never had an attorney send a letter for me. Was IMHO not necessary for preliminary action. Mileage varies.
August 04, 2008 at 01:46Jane Chinbut again, my experience in this one case is unique in that the owner appears to want legitimacy thus share contact info. Most splogs aren't
August 04, 2008 at 01:48TeegsaysJaneChin I suspect that with the high PR he feels he's helping business sites that he likes. Did he take your entire post or part?
August 04, 2008 at 01:48DebInDenversaysso is there "splogging by accident?"
August 04, 2008 at 01:48Jane Chinsaysgassho what was the old face of scraping (v. splog as new face)? I'm not sure I understand.
August 04, 2008 at 01:49TeegsaysDebInDenver splogging is usually defined as a site stealing a blog post in order to make money or gain rank from it.
August 04, 2008 at 01:49ThoughtWrongthinksthat some sites are complete scraping bots and it dosent matter what content they get, those are the ones to look out for the most
August 04, 2008 at 01:49Jane Chinsaysteeg he took almost all, left out maybe the final paragraph. and my articles run long as well, word count is significant.
August 04, 2008 at 01:50gasshoby accident? i don't think so. in jane's case for e.g. he could've emld & started a relationship.
August 04, 2008 at 01:49Jane ChinsaysI can say that microbusinessmentor.com hasn't benefited as my original article didn't have comments coming from people who say "i read it
August 04, 2008 at 01:51Jane Chinsayson that other blog and this is what I think"
August 04, 2008 at 01:51gasshoarticle banks incl yours w/o contacting you=old face of scraping, imho.
August 04, 2008 at 01:52Teegsayssome copy posts without the intent, but that's more of a copyright or plagiarism issue.
August 04, 2008 at 01:52Jane Chingassho is there a reason why you haven't done anything re: the article bank taking your article?
August 04, 2008 at 01:53gwfrink3saysthe only "by accident" I can think of is an improperly debugged robot run amok. Good faith requires correcting that without being asked.
August 04, 2008 at 01:54Jane Chinversus the way this plurker/twitter did it with one of my articles: is.gd/1dGk
August 04, 2008 at 01:54gasshoi haven't done anything jane b/c they use the old link back is credit enough, there are too many & in this case my content gets exposure.
August 04, 2008 at 01:55Jane Chinthis reminds me of another plurkshop on "who owns the conversation". I think those of us in niche markets and building personal brands NEEDS
August 04, 2008 at 01:55Jane Chinto own the conversation at least at the beginning to gain traction.
August 04, 2008 at 01:55gasshowe covered how to know u've been splogged; is it good exposure or wrong; do we confront.
August 04, 2008 at 01:56gasshothink we need more on how to confront...
August 04, 2008 at 01:56gwfrink3saysthat looks like a straightforward taking, not an accident, unless you granted permission.
August 04, 2008 at 01:58Jane Chingassho confronting: contact/email, reporting violation to host/ISP, in some cases attorney cease & desist
August 04, 2008 at 01:59Jane Chinany other methods you can think of?
August 04, 2008 at 01:59gwfrink3saysif you aren't at home with copyright law, I think involving an attorney is usually wise.
August 04, 2008 at 01:59Jane Chin(true splog I've found you can't find the person so aim for the webhost/ISP) as previously suggested
August 04, 2008 at 01:58TeegsaysI've noticed that many big bloggers ignore sploggers for the most part. If you write a big post, some people will copy word for word.
August 04, 2008 at 01:59Jane ChinTeeg I agree; big bloggers can afford not playing pixel police. For people like me (small blogger), every incident makes me less visible
August 04, 2008 at 02:01ConnieI think some ppl view splogs as inescapable, like email spam.
August 04, 2008 at 02:01Jane Chinunless I"m wrong and it helps me in some way, then I'm all for it.
August 04, 2008 at 02:01gasshohere's a case from today, a twist where a co. that does digital sigs on nondisclosures and such, used the workflow graffic a blogger posted
August 04, 2008 at 02:02gasshoand all her ideas on their own blog, didn't contact blogger or eml her, or cmnt on her original post.
August 04, 2008 at 02:02gwfrink3saysthinking back on what I said earlier, daily newspaper experience in these issues give me a leg up possibly not shared by all.
August 04, 2008 at 02:02Jane Chinconnie yes, it took a few yrs before the feds took spam seriously, bc it was costing consumers money with scams and such.
August 04, 2008 at 02:02gasshoshe saw the linkback in her dashbaors & is pretty resigned to it...common courtesy, c'mon! and this is a company.
August 04, 2008 at 02:03ConnieThink we should point out difference between plagiarism and splogs, which are mostly created by bots and feeds.
August 04, 2008 at 02:04gwfrink3saysthank you for hosting this, JaneChin. Must go, however.
August 04, 2008 at 02:05Jane Chingassho that is unfortunate. gwfrink3 yes, you may know more about copyright bc of your background. thank you!
August 04, 2008 at 02:05Jane Chinconnie will you differentiate for us?
August 04, 2008 at 02:07gasshodon't think feds take spam seriously, there isn't will there at all. neither will splogs be taken seriously. it's up to us.
August 04, 2008 at 02:07Jane Chinisgrateful for your participation and input here! have to feed the baby, but please feel free to continue the discussion.
August 04, 2008 at 02:10DebInDenversaysgreat job JaneChin! Thank you for leading this and sharing your expertise with us!
August 04, 2008 at 02:10gasshoplagiarism would be all about content. splog has intention of making $...hard to tell w/some splogs tho b/c $ is on other linked pages...
August 04, 2008 at 02:11TeegsaysInteresting discussion. Thanks for leading it, JaneChin.
August 04, 2008 at 02:17EagleHawkgassho have to disagree with you there is a will to fight email spam at the fed level. look at spamsuite.com splogs will never be a crime
August 04, 2008 at 02:59affiliatecoffeesaysi completely missed the discussion - my apoligies..here are my thoughts on it.
August 04, 2008 at 02:59affiliatecoffeesaysthere is little we can do at the moment to stop sploggers - some cases report them if using free wordpress or blogger account.
August 04, 2008 at 03:00affiliatecoffeesaysand in some cases - go legal route- but in my opinion whatever blog platform we use, there should be some sort of extension/tool available
August 04, 2008 at 03:01affiliatecoffeesayswhich does not let the splogger at least just copy paste the data - there is an extension available for joomla that makes this possible
August 04, 2008 at 03:01affiliatecoffeesayssimilar should be developed for other platforms...if possible..and in most cases -finding the person's information through whois is possible
August 04, 2008 at 03:01affiliatecoffeesayswho has copied the blog - even if its "private" - we could send a polite e-mail to them. in most cases - they would remove
August 04, 2008 at 03:02affiliatecoffeesaysjanechin and others already highlighted various ways by which copied content can be traced.
August 04, 2008 at 03:02affiliatecoffeesaysa simple google search with strings like "this is blog content" can be searched and see how many sites have duplicate content too.
August 04, 2008 at 03:04affiliatecoffeesaysbecause most of them get indexed in google. then its a matter of taking it up with the splogger.
August 04, 2008 at 03:04EagleHawkaffiliatecoffee you can always report it for the ISP, most often if it's a good isp, they will take action.
August 04, 2008 at 03:06affiliatecoffeesayseaglehawk - not so sure about the ISP - shouldn't this be taken to the hosting provider instead?
August 04, 2008 at 03:08EagleHawkaffiliatecoffee ISP and hosting provider is interchangeable in my mind since I work for a hosting provider.
August 04, 2008 at 03:08EagleHawkand technically a hosting provider is a ISP.
August 04, 2008 at 03:08EagleHawkhosting provider does provide internet service to the website.
August 04, 2008 at 03:11affiliatecoffeesayseaglehawk - agreed then. in my mind - they are separate. ISP to me is someone like Comcast - and hosting provider - someone like Bluehost
August 04, 2008 at 03:13affiliatecoffeesaysp.s janechin - call me a party pooper - but i am not so sure why we are giving so much credit to plurkshop by plurks done by users.
August 04, 2008 at 03:17affiliatecoffeesaysalright - just seen the plurkshop website. my sincere apologies to plurkshop & janechin for previous plurk.
August 04, 2008 at 03:19affiliatecoffeesaysi see that they are encouraging community participation and ensuring important conversations get the attention they deserve.
just got here guys, sorry late
