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WHAT ARE TRACKBACKS?

This is the article every blogger needs to read.  For several days I’ve been promising information about trackbacks.  My Blog Critics article on the subject is up and running. 

 

If individuals with too much time on their hands and nothing else to do were the problem, trackbacks might not be as insidious. Unfortunately, according to a November, 2006 study published by Microsoft, the world of trackback spam is often funded by reputable companies interested in directing unsuspected bloggers to their sites. It is all about the money, nothing more, nothing less.

The researchers who issued the paper queried 4,803 URLs and something like 35,878 unique pages that contained at least one spam URL. They then collected a total of 1,132,099 keywords. There were a total of 6,026,699 occurrences of these keywords, which were ranked according to their counts. Interestingly, the top five keywords were all drug related, and are a constant annoyance to this blogger. They were: Phentermine, Viagra, Cialis, Tramadol, and Xanax. And then, their “top 100” mirrors exactly what I find linked back to my blog; 74 were drug related, then 16 ring-tone, and another handful gambling related. The top categories were: drugs, adult, gambling, ringtones, money, accessories, travel, cars, music, and furniture. 

During their study of trackback spam, researchers discovered the existence of a website with the specific URL that was made specifically for spam ads The Microsoft researchers then queried specific keywords and came up with over 1,700 unique pages. The site they are linked to is called a blog farm. Blog farms even have specific operating platforms that can be purchased by a spammer who is interested in creating false traffic to improve the page rank and ad sense rank of a specific blog. By creating a number of false blogs, it is possible to generate revenue via interlinking trackbacks. 

There are also what are termed “parasite ads” and “portal farms”.  They are like insidious spiders linking into the web, creating hundreds or even thousands of false sites that do nothing but prop up a blog or website’s ranking. There are also what are termed “parasite ads” and “portal farms”. They can often be found at URLs like "phentermine.IEEE.Pcs.org". If they do not link to reputable sites, they can be black-listed as spam. Consequently, they link into innocent blogs through trackbacks. Then the spammer who does the linking can generate a commission on the number of purchases of a product linked through this spider’s web of deception.

Parasite ads are just that, parasites. This example targets Orbitz, a highly reputable company that employs third party spammers to increase their bottom line. Parasite ads generate increased revenue for a company. Some parasites can be considered spyware and even malware. Parasite ads often run on what are called ‘portal farms’ or websites and blogs created specifically to do nothing but provide a legitimate false front for spam pages and linking sites. 

Many of these ads and trackbacks come from “syndicates” who work with advertisers. The Microsoft research discovered that the top three syndicates were responsible for at least two thirds of trackbacks and click-through ads. In other words: follow the money. These are not just fly-by night sights, but major corporations who are paying for syndicates to muck up the web.

PET FOOD RECALL

Don’t forget my Tuesday blog on the pet food recall.  

More pet food recalls. 

Usually I don’t like all these Congressional hearings, but I think this is one whose time has come.

 MISC. NEWS

Greek archaeological find.

Did you hear the one about the Hatfields & the McCoys?

This is just a cool news day.  Now they are showing off pumice found in the Siani desert from the Santorini explosion (that’s the “Atlantis volcano”,  

A MINI-RANT

WARNING WARNING WARNING… By now my regular readers must have realized I am an archaeology buff.  One of my favorite subjects is the Anasazi culture.  As a student of history, one of my favorite snarky lines is “The fool who doesn’t know history is an idiot…etc.”  I think nothing illustrates the foolishness and abject stupidity of the global warming crowd more than this statement.  They are completely foolish for ignoring the historic record.  I think the following is the most perfect example of this there is.

 

The problem is the fact that these climate yahoos aren’t going far enough back with their model.  Going to 1860 is a JOKE, a total and complete joke.  They must go back nearly 1000 years to understand the history of droughts in the southwest.  

 

The Southwest has been told to expect another 90 years of drought.  Duah – most of the southwestern US is desert.  Whaddaya expect, a rainforest? This article completely illustrates the abject STUPIDITY of the global warming crowd.  They don’t’ know their history.  A severe 100 year drought is what actually brought down the Anasazi civilization  

“…In 1090 and again in 1130 severe droughts brought disaster to the Anasazi civilization centered at Chaco Canyon. The lack of rain, depleted and eroded soils, deforested mountains, and over-hunted wildlife all contributed to widespread starvation. The Anasazi built small dams, dug irrigation ditches, and farmed on terraced slopes to better capture water when the rains did come. But these efforts ultimately failed. The Great House elite lost control of the people, who simply began to walk away from their pueblos toward the mesas and mountains of the north where more rain fell. By 1170, the Anasazi had abandoned all their Great Houses. Moving into the uplands, the Anasazi fought over desirable farmland. Warlike tribes sometimes raided from the Great Plains. During the early 1200s, the Anasazi built fortified pueblos on flat mesa tops and engineered spectacular cliff dwellings. But the climate again betrayed them when temperatures cooled, shortening the growing season and thus reducing their food supply.  Around 1250, the Anasazi were again on the move. They abandoned their mesa-top pueblos and cliff dwellings. They headed back to the lands in the south that they had left a few generations before. This time, they built their pueblos near reliable sources of water like the Rio Grande River. What archaeologists call the "Great Drought," however, struck the Southwest in the late 1200s and persisted for more than a quarter century….”

 Did cannibalism kill the Anasazi?

 

 Boy do I agree with this.  Did anyone catch O’Reilly’s absolutely shameful act last night?  Then this argument with Geraldo was disgusting.   

IRAN, IRAQ, TERROR, ISLAM

This is a fascinating Front Page Mag think piece on why Iran released the Brits.  Evidently we are not to discount GWB’s big stick – the Nimitz battle group that is heading to the region.

THOSE DIRTY LYIN’ DEMOCRATS

HRM Nancy I in Syria.  Even the Wopost thinks she blew it.

Called As Seen

The Pet Jawa on Nancy’s insult to Saudi women.

Mac’s Mind

Right Wing Nut House

  

Today I was listening to Rush when this guy called about Nancy v. Hillary and there can be only one queen bee in the hive at a time.  You know, there’s a heck of a lot to that theory.  As a woman, watching Nancy make a fool of herself, if it weren’t so detrimental for out country it would be just plain hilarious.  Okay, it is just plain hilarious. 

 

Our precious little Dems are fit to be tied over the recess appointments made by GWB. 

Strata Sphere

Courant

Jules Crittenden

Blogs for Bush

Flopping Aces

 

 And – they do want to Impeach GWB.   

 

PRIMARIES 2008

Fred Thompson’s various careers.

Hillary Clinton, the Poor Little Rich Candidate!

Romney wants “secret” Iraq timetables.

Giuliani in Iowa.

AJ Strata’s excellent commentary about Giuliani and far right conservatives.  

Giuliani’s comments on abortion misconstrued.

Romney flipped and flopped – again.

McCain and Iraq