hate that quantity gets rewarded here

[Anthony]

The perfect link is to strip link from spammers.. not stop them using the boards.. because without links they wont post anyway.. last time this happend a certain spammers contribution dropped to 0.. or perhaps make new user sig links based upon approval just like membership

I agree, without the link a lot of this will get sorted. I have removed the signature links from the member with the most complaints. I will issue a warning to others that are continuing the same practice and remove their signature ability if they do not comply. Feedback from everyone is important please contact me regarding members I need to reach out to and continue to use the post reports.

[FictionNet]

I agree, without the link a lot of this will get sorted. I have removed the signature links from the member with the most complaints. I will issue a warning to others that are continuing the same practice and remove their signature ability if they do not comply. Feedback from everyone is important please contact me regarding members I need to reach out to and continue to use the post reports.

Thanks for the update. Does this change resolve in any way the 'thanks' abuse that was discussed? I ask 'cos I clearly didn't understand that process.

[Anthony]

As far as this member, the signature won't be restored if the "thanks abuse" along with the posting issues continue.

In terms of how thanks work overall, and what modifications can be done with how they link, that will have to be discussed with Michael.
I don't think the thanks link gives someone any advantage, but we will certainly look at it since it is a concern of the members. He will be back in the office Wednesday from his Malta trip.

[Former Member 14]

I don't think the thanks link gives someone any advantage, but we will certainly look at it since it is a concern of the members.

FYI the "Thanks" is a link directly back to a member's profile page. On that dedicated page (for each member), more often than not, there's a list of 'Do Follow' URL's the member owns, operates & or associated with.

Even if the "Thanks" link is made 'No Follow', Google and other bots, still FOLLOW the link, they just don't give juice to that link, from the post, thanked.

We can argue till the cows come home, that this link strategy is 'Old School SEO'. However, this member, is using it, and that's why this thread exists, and previously others like it. Simple solution... Remove the URL links from this member's profile page too, and anywhere else they are.

Reiterating AGD placed this member on an Limited Account (no sigs, no profile links, nadda, zip, nothing). Practically overnight the spam stopped!

[yeahfree]

the thanks links definitely strengthen the user page. i have checked the user page from somebody starting with the letter 'v' and according to ahrefs that url has an url rating of 14, while my personal page has an url rating of 12.
while it might be old skool seo, i would also prefer to have a stronger profile page , which can be achieved easily by starting to thank everybody just by a single click of the thanks link. it's against my ethics to do so though, so less link juice for me...

[PROFRBcom]

All of the existing spam links should be removed.

Here are some of my thoughts on the matter from my own personal understanding of SEO (and hey, I rank well in my niche, so I have some credibility here).

1) Google hates spam
2) Google hates sites that engage in spam
3) Linking to spammy sites is not something that will get you into Google's good graces
4) GPWA is a quality / authority site
5) GPWA has hundreds / thousands of recent links to awful spammy websites
6) Good posters with quality websites have signature links on GPWA
7) Good and bad links are being co-mingled on GPWA thanks to spammers


Thus, I believe that these spammy links are hurting everyone, as well as GPWA's overall authority in the eyes of The Big G.

[John247]

Thumbs up for the thread - is a huge task trying to clean the forum from these users. I haven't used the forum here for quite some time just because of such a user back then that was just posting these sort of replies without creating value, just to see him listed in the most active members of the month section with the website also listed on front page or where that was.. don't know if GPWA is still rewarding users like that, but I think this is another place to look into as some of these users may just be spammy for that particular reason

[yeahfree]

maybe it's an idea to add a 'no thanks' besides from the 'thanks' button. 'no thanks' might not cover it, but a button to show the opposite of appreciation, a dislike button. for sure something can be done with this input if this happens on certain users a lot. maybe they learn by their selves, maybe in case of a lot of dislikes take other action.

[sweetbet]

maybe it's an idea to add a 'no thanks' besides from the 'thanks' button. 'no thanks' might not cover it, but a button to show the opposite of appreciation, a dislike button. for sure something can be done with this input if this happens on certain users a lot. maybe they learn by their selves, maybe in case of a lot of dislikes take other action.

I couldn't find a link to dislike this suggestion, so I'll just make a post to dislike it

Youtube has a thumbs up and thumbs down feature, and reddit has an upvote/downvote function, but youtube & reddit have millions of users, GPWA doesn't have a huge number of active users, so in this case, I believe that a dislike button would only serve to create tension, and increase division & animosity between people.

[Sherlock]

I love disqus solution. They had up and down arrows, but because down arrows brought too much negativity, they left it as a dummy button, that is not counted, but you can press it still.

It is ideal, you release your anger, but nobody is affected. It is like a rubber doll.

[yeahfree]

I couldn't find a link to dislike this suggestion, so I'll just make a post to dislike it

Youtube has a thumbs up and thumbs down feature, and reddit has an upvote/downvote function, but youtube & reddit have millions of users, GPWA doesn't have a huge number of active users, so in this case, I believe that a dislike button would only serve to create tension, and increase division & animosity between people.

lol, i should have seen that coming

i guess you're right.

[yeahfree]

It is ideal, you release your anger, but nobody is affected. It is like a rubber doll.

you brought yet another smile on a rainy day with that comment hahaha

[mickyfu]

i just hate to see that people are just going to post nonsense posts (like these, lol) to get their post count up.
you probably know who i'm talking about, the people responding to 5 or 10 different posts in a row posting close to zero value or asking things like they been living under a rock their whole lives (well, maybe they did).

it's probably not a democracy, but i would vote for likes received on a post rather than rewarding spammers!
feel free to like

Can I ask you a serious question?

Why do you actually give a *bother?

Who actually cares? Does it actually make any difference to your life?

[yeahfree]

Can I ask you a serious question?

Why do you actually give a *bother?

Who actually cares? Does it actually make any difference to your life?

yes, of course you may ask, it's a genuine question, and i know, i could just as well ignore it, and add the people that annoy me on my ignore list (i did that already).
i do care, because i'm bothered with certain behavior of some people that fill the forum with nonsense over and over again just to get their monthly link on the homepage.

luckily there are also great people over here, spending their time and sharing their knowledge with great posts, which is the reason for coming back. as long as they are not bothered and stay, you are totally right, why would i care, then it won't make a difference.
i saw however a lot of good people leaving on pokeraffiliatelistings in the past, mainly because of all of the spam over there. nowadays it's a ghost town.

[Sherlock]

Can I ask you a serious question?

Why do you actually give a *bother?

Who actually cares? Does it actually make any difference to your life?

While I think no technical solution will save the cyberspace, this is really a wow remark. Nobody lives in a vacuum.

Any space that you are aware of is becoming part of you. No mind is unaffected, once you understand the language. Either you agree or you refuse it, or you have to pretend fu all guys (which is the most energy consuming reaction btw).

One of my worst daily routines is to go through spam in my email. It affects me definitely. It affects me to just see driving certain people. It affects me to just see my employees doing dumb things.

Because people are not computers. We are mammals connected by fine web of interactions. What is the difference between expensive and very expensive hotels for example? It is the approach to the client. In other words the atmosphere.

The only people who are really out of this game are called autists.