New Earnings Algorithm, new tactics by spammers
By jimbl75
@jimbl75 (152)
United States
December 1, 2006 7:38pm CST
So this is only my second day here at myLot, yet I was happy to see the new Earnings Algorithm update yesterday, seemed to instantly make the site better. Now though, I am noticing new ways for people to basically spam away and still earn a good bit. Two things that are really standing out so far- 1. people copying someone elses long and great reply and using it for their own reply. 2. people copying articles from the web somewhere and making it either all of their topic or the main portion of it. I'm guessing as long as they are able to get away with it, this will also be abused. So what are you seeing? What ways do you see people gaming the system still? And is there anything the honest users of this site can do to help?
Jim
17 people like this
63 responses
@ausnikki (4054)
• Brisbane, Australia
2 Dec 06
Not only are they doing what you mentioned but they are also copying discussions.I have seen several of my discussions copied word for word and posted as someone elses discussion.That really makes me angry because they are getting replies that I should be getting in my origional discussion.I really hope mylot takes notice of the complaints and does something about it!
@trish32 (1471)
• United States
2 Dec 06
I know how you feel. I've had that happen with some of the discussions I've posted, too. I always report it and hope that everyone else who sees this type of thing happening will, too. If we can come up with original, meaningful discussion topics so can they.
2 people like this
@mermaid101 (78)
• United States
2 Dec 06
I am a new member, so I don't have the same experience you had, but I do agree with you. I think a pretty good possible solution to this is that if you do have someone who is copying your discusion and can prove it, you should get all their credit( even future credit for new postings responded from it). Since myLot records the date and times of postings, it should be easy for them to check into your complaints and give credit where it's due. What do you think? Do you think it's plausible and would work?
2 people like this
@mvsrao (4365)
• India
2 Dec 06
Regarding point 2 : giving information
from the web should not be taken as
abusing mylot system . The queries require
relevant responses . And if authentic
information is available from the web
a part of the information can be given
with giving the source of the information .
I am a member of few technical forums and
I always try to provide links of original
source from where I have taken the info.
I also contribute at my level best to
wikipedia and most of my responses are
from it ...
And I am not here for abusing the system
and making money . Actually I may not stay
here for a long time ...
@mvsrao (4365)
• India
2 Dec 06
And mylot guidelines say : Dont Post
copyrighted articles please link to them.
wikipedia articles are with GNU Free
Documentation License .
pls see more details here :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_GNU_Free_Documentation_License
3 people like this
@jimbl75 (152)
• United States
2 Dec 06
Good point. I think it is safe to say though that if someone starts a topic or responds to one with only the text from a copied article, and a LONG one at that, then they are likely trying to get around the system. I can understand using information from the web to further your point, but at least add your point or opinion to the post/topic also. As I said though, good point.
Jim
3 people like this
@cass3forme (162)
• United States
2 Dec 06
Give credit where credit is due. Yesterday I was reading responses from a thread about the movie Happy Feet and one responder copied and pasted the description of the movie from wikipedia and did not give any sort of credit to it being NOT from her. If you are going to copy and paste something that pertains to the thread, then you should have to also provide the link. As I said, give credit where credit is due.
3 people like this
@meeoww (1174)
• United States
2 Dec 06
CHECK THAT OUT!!! #21 response from "garfay". His 1st paragraph is cut & paste from #4 "ambkeb", and his 2nd paragraph is cut & paste from #5 "moneymind"!!! OMG, do these people have no shame or just alot of nerve? Good post, jimbl75. I know you can't tell by the way I zeroed in on garfay, but I'm usually pretty oblivious to the ways that people try to "get over" on alot of things. You and the other quality responses in this thread have really opened my eyes!! Aloha!
@jimbl75 (152)
• United States
2 Dec 06
I know, there are at least a few examples of exactly what I am talking about in this thread alone. If they're doing it in a thread that is directly talking about it, I can only imagine how much of an epidemic it is going to become. And I believe it's that they have no shame, rather than a lot of nerver. Glad you're enjoying the conversation, I am also. :)
Jim
@ambkeb (782)
• United States
2 Dec 06
I love the new way they have it set up. I am also fairly new. Id say its been a few weeks since I've started. and at the beginning I noticed TONS of people who were posting only yes or no replies. That was getting old to read, im sure it was getting old for the MyLot team as well. Im glad it has changed. I was only making a couple cents a day ( I dont get on here much) and yesterday I made about 2$ in just a few posts. So its exciting to relize that I am actually being rewarded for having my long winded posts. LOL
3 people like this
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
2 Dec 06
I am glad you start this topic, because I wanted to start something similar. I noticed a very longggg...copy paste from Wickipedia. Also, people create long dialogs (way to long). If I want to read article from Internet, I wouldn't be here.
Discussion is not a dialog. Definition: “an extended communication (often interactive) dealing with some particular topic.”
@rameshgopal365 (918)
• India
29 Dec 06
In my view a discussion should do both support and oppose the topic of discussion, which will be more interactive and hot, so that all can earn good money here!
@tmcspadden (220)
• United States
2 Dec 06
I'm seeing a LOT of copying and pasting but I'm not too worried about it. I think that with the number of people on this site reporting these events to MyLot they will eventually take care of it. I am trying my best to enjoy the new system and concentrate on making my own posts quality :)
2 people like this
@moneymind (10510)
• Philippines
2 Dec 06
regarding issue no. 2 of your post, i see no wrong with it specially if the discussion is soliciting some kind of research answers like ' can any one tell me what is forex', i have answer such discussions with a coppied information plus the link where a have coppied it from like the free site called wikipedia, etc. issue no.1 of your posts requires a lot of man power to police such posts and my guess is that mylot does not have that number so its actually up to you or us members to police this community for such abuse and report such things to mylot. i have come across a lot of them my self and what i can only do is report it as an abuse and not even rating them negative since i was given an alert by mylot the very first time i have rated negative a certain posts. greetings. : )
@moneymind (10510)
• Philippines
2 Dec 06
depends on which site did you copy it from, if it is a free site i see no wrong with it specially if you add the link where you copied it and acknowledge that your post is just but copied from such site, if its has a copy right then it is tottaly wrong, now its up to you to bring those things to the authorities or not. greetings. : )
2 people like this
@jimbl75 (152)
• United States
2 Dec 06
Ok, some of you aren't liking my second point. Let me point out one that caught my eye. Right now there is a topic called "this is disturbing i would kill these people if this was my dog!" here at myLot, and it's even in the hot topics for the day. The original poster obviously copied his entire topic from the web, I even found an article exactly like his topic. Not a single word added that was his/hers, except for the title. Anyway, my point is, I can go to Yahoo right now, and find 25 articles of considerable length, and post away. I could do this everyday. I'll probably make gobs of money, but does that make it right?
Jim
3 people like this
@LovingIt (5396)
• United States
2 Dec 06
I agree with money -- unless it's a copyright infringement there is nothing wrong with this. The poster is putting the article out there for us to discuss. He's not claiming he wrote the article anyway. He's just saying -- look what happened and giving us the article to read. This is a valid discussion. How would we know what he was talking about if he did not post the article?
2 people like this
@Aali311 (6112)
• United States
2 Dec 06
There is nowhere that you will ever find all the users to be completely honest, that's just life and you have to accept it, I have, there is always a way to get around things and people will always find it, I don't look for perfection anyhwere, why waste my time? You shouldn't either.
1 person likes this
@jimbl75 (152)
• United States
2 Dec 06
Actually, I'm not wasting my time, I'm making money for each of my posts.;) And from the sounds of the surprising majority here, I'm using too much of my time, because I actually write out each of my topics or responses, when I could just be copying from other sources. I agree the system can't be perfect- but scammers and cheaters will be the downfall of this system if it ever fails.
Jim
1 person likes this
@patgalca (18181)
• Orangeville, Ontario
2 Dec 06
I agree with you. Copying and pasting defeats the purpose of a discussion forum. I am interested to hear other's opinions - their own opinions not ones copied from someone else. It's also lazy. I have an opinion. We all have opinions and we have a right to be heard. That's what forums are all about. Even on other message boards I do not post unless I have input of relevance or importance. If I have nothing to say, I don't post.
@ossie16d (11821)
• Australia
2 Dec 06
It is most annoying when the response is a "cut and paste" from a response another person has made and it happened to me several times on a couple of discussions I started yesterday. Several of the respondants to my discussions also commented on the "cut and paste" responses, so I went into check what they had done in the past. Sure enough, the same people were doing a "cut and paste" response to all discussions.
I reported them to myLot, because it is not fair to people who take the time and make an effort to give an honest quality response. I also reported someone who actually "cut and paste" my discussion, without altering even one word. That was pointed out to me by another member.
With regard to getting things off the web, that is an individual choice but I simply do not respond to these discussions if I can see what they are.
What can an honest user do you ask? My advice to everyone is that is you see the system being abused by "cut and paste" from other discussions and/or responses, you should report the matter to myLot.
1 person likes this
@flashpixel (1414)
• Malaysia
2 Dec 06
yeah! that's very true! i have seen some of the responses where people just cp[y. spammers will truely do this
1 person likes this
@brightbluesea (1143)
• United States
2 Dec 06
I was trying to look around more yesterday to see how people were responding to the changes but I never imagined how crafty people can actually be I guess. I did notice that there were still some people who were posting the old stuff (quick or illogical questions)but I imagine that they had not yet been updated about the new changes.
1 person likes this
@vickilee (136)
• United States
2 Dec 06
I would like to see MyLot allow us to block or ignore certain posters. If I read someone who is just making silly posts or abusing the system, it would be nice to be able to ignore that user.
If we had the ability to do that, people would probably shape up fast, knowing they will get ignored if they don't post something of value.
1 person likes this
@jimbl75 (152)
• United States
2 Dec 06
I like the ignore idea, except I don't think it would help this situation, but rather make it worse. You see, they want to be ignored, they don't want people to see they are cheating the system. So although it would make the honest users happy because they'd be able to ignore users that post junk, at the same time the cheaters would have it easier because less people would be reporting them.
Thanks,
Jim
@forfein (2507)
•
2 Dec 06
Boy!!!!!
I am I glad I found this post!!!
I have had a few PM's from some of my friends mentioning this....
I had not actually noticed it my self....
Until today !!!!!!!
WOW !!!!!!!!
ALL OVER the place !!!!!!
What is the problem with these guys !!!!
Are they that desperate for money!!!!!!!
Or What??????
I have sent a message to Admins, I have given this a +
And some how guys, we gotta stop this.....
This site is now geting to be one of the best, and we need to keep it that way
@creativedreamweaver (7297)
• United States
2 Dec 06
I too utilize my - button when I come across these illegal posts. I wonder if they(the poster) realize that they are breaking copyright laws and stealing text that belongs to someone else. I have seen a lot of the copy and pasting from websites, and in my opinion it is a disgrace. Why can't these posters compose their own sentances? Do they not have a valid opinion? I have also noticed that several of my discussions over the past two days have been stolen. I have reported it to myLot and I know they will take care of it, because they have in the past. You posted a good topic. All you can really do right now is report it to myLot, either by the ! or the - button. Welcome to myLot and have fun.
1 person likes this
@LovingIt (5396)
• United States
2 Dec 06
On point one, this is clearly a violation and if you see someone doing this, then it should be reported to MyLot. No. 2 is not a violation, however. If someone sees an article that they want to discuss on here, I don't think there is anything wrong with that. How are we going to discuss it if it's not posted on here for us to read before doing so? If you don't like reading it and don't want to discuss it, then just don't do so -- go to another discussion.
@jimbl75 (152)
• United States
2 Dec 06
Ok, I see you're point, number 2 might not be a cut and dry violation, agreed. But my guess is, if it can be abused to make loads of cash on here, it will be. And the more abuse to the system the more likely it will be to fail. Good conversation here- and has anyone noticed a perfect example to my number 1 point in this very conversation? :)
Jim
@britney69 (316)
• United States
2 Dec 06
so why does it bother you so much? In the end they might 0.5 cents more than your post... Everybody is talking like people would make $$$ here. I don't really see the point and all this complaining. I mean if it really bothers you join a real discussion board. I don't support cheating but the complaining is much more annoying...
@britney69 (316)
• United States
2 Dec 06
well, I know that nobody forced me to answer this conversation. I only answer conversations when I really want to. Personally I think it is getting a little slow here, because if I answer a really good conversation I want to see what the person which started it replies to my comment. Unfortunately this takes most of the time more than 10 minutes.
@beautifulceiling (1300)
• United States
2 Dec 06
The reason it bothers me is because I like the idea of myLot and if enough people abuse the system, it won't last.
@jimbl75 (152)
• United States
2 Dec 06
Actually, it doesn't really bother me all that much, but it appears to bother the spammers. :) I rather enjoy this conversation actually. I know some people have to be making some good money here in some not so legit ways. More power to them I guess. It's the honest users that will suffer the most if the system fails, because the spammers and gamers are just here for the cash. The honest users enjoy the cash too of course, but they also enjoy the conversations. By the way, I don't really consider this topic complaining, but if you do and it annoys you, you didn't have to read and respond.
Jim
@meeoww (1174)
• United States
2 Dec 06
My dear, there are those who deserve to be kicked. Go ahead, all you bleeding hearts, knock me down because I make an honest living by not cheating the system! And when an undeserving person takes advantage of you, I'll still be there defending your rights. CHEATING is NOT a part of earning money. Cheating is part of STEALING money. This site is fun when we all play together by the rules. When there's cheating, it loses fun. If someone's going to get poor because they can't myLot, they need to get off of myLot and get a real job! Got news for you. No one's getting rich here! Aloha!
1 person likes this
@jimbl75 (152)
• United States
2 Dec 06
Since when does the number of posts I have determine how much I know or don't. This isn't my first rodeo you know. I'm just telling it how I see it. I might only have 12 posts, but I'd be willing to bet I have said more than some people here with 100's of posts. Anyway, you seem to be offended by this topic, so I'm assuming you don't agree with my assessments?
Jim
@gaylordfocker615 (389)
• Philippines
8 Dec 06
The only thing we can do is to report "copy and paste" or other system gaming tactics that we see. Other than that, I don't think there's anything else we can do.
@topseoindi (327)
• India
19 Dec 06
I think they have changed the algo i have seen many guys just posting conersion from other site and making it a qUALITY buts that easy to detect if you that conversation in search they will easily show you its result and one can understand thats its copied
