Link Leeches

When the Spam Hits the Blogs. The latest trick of bulk e-mail marketers is to hit the referral logs of popular weblogs, and the bloggers are hopping mad. By Michelle Delio. [Wired News]

Joy of all joys, spammers are now trying to use referral logs and automatically updated link-back listings as ways of spreading their own trash. So far, I haven't had any such problems on any of my blog sites (but then again, I don't have that much of a readership yet), and I very much hope that I won't.  Unfortuantely, aside from not using the referral log or auto link-backs, I'm not sure what can be done.

It bothers me, though, that spammers can piggyback on the sites and materials we've created in order to try and reach an audience.  It reminds me, in some ways, of the "Surf +" an "smart links" concepts, where browsers or browser add-ins could create additional links on any page being viewed that would link to other sites, generally commercial sites that had bought the right to be linked to a certain word.  In that case, the Surf +/smartlinks proprietors were "piggybacking" on an individual's website, using it for adverstising, yet providing no compensation to the person who had designed and/or maintains the site. I wouldn't be very happy if someone came around and painted a billboard sign on my house - especially if they thought they didn't need to pay for it - and I feel no different about my website.

Whether it's filling a referral log/auto link-back with commercial links or adding links to words that have been sold to the highest bidder, the marketer and the advertisor are profiting off of my (or any other webmaster's) own work.  We either need to be provided compensation for the traffic they receive as a result of our work (and have the option to opt-out entirely if we don't WANT our websites used for commercial purposes) or they need to find new tactics.