Auto-spammers

I'm fascinated by little software engines that generate blog spam automatically.  They often do a pretty good job saying something generic and not totally out of line with the rest of the content.  For example, during the holidays, a spam appeared here with the message "Thanks, super site!".  Humor me, I like to think this is a super site.   Such statements are not entirely irrelevant so they are not entirely spam.  It's like junk mail: it is not junk if you are going to use the $15 discount card Macy's sends you but it is junk if you are not interested.

Well, an even more confusing case is this other message, which said:

I said the same thing about the tree ring chart; I guess I'm paying attention. ;)

The comment links to a blog that looks authentic but there does not appear to be a post that deals with the tree ring chart.  So I'm all confused.   Is this the work of an ultra-smart auto-spammer or a real person?

Comments

[Robert Kosara]

I got a similar comment a while back. I also had a bunch of comments that started out making sense, but then all ended with the same sentence linking to some spam site. It was easy to spot because I got ten of those almost at the same time, but even more impressive because there were two paragraphs of text that were related enough to the content of the posting to be believable.

What the people behind your comment might be trying to do is get lots of links to their generic blog and then when it's high in Google, fill it with whatever they want to sell. That's why I delete comments that don't seem to make sense or appear entirely out of context.

[krist0ph3r]

i've had to deal with this a long time ago...got 3 comments in quick succession, and nothing ever since:

http://krist0ph3r.blogspot.com/2008/05/commentsaddgeneric-appreciative-spam.html

[Alan De Smet]

It's possible it's a human spammer. They do exist. A year or so ago I got some seemingly robot spam on my blog. I deleted it. More spam from the same IP address. I deleted it again, and wrote a mocking comment noting that because I use nofollow, he wasn't getting the Google Page Rank he was hoping for. He came back again (same IP address), and swore at me. It was most amusing.

[Curtis Retherford]

It's most likely a clever spammer, but I'm never willing to discount the creativity that arises from even a modest economic incentive. But the only way to really know if it's a human or a well-programmed spambot would be pay $9.95 (only!!!) for the unbelievable spam tracker software wow can you see how amazing it is you should download now at www.findoutifyourrecentblobcommentsarespam.com and tell friends! Amazing!

[zbicyclist]

Hmm. Relevant comment, and links to a site or post that looks real, but doesn't seem to have anything to do with the material?

I've gotten these also. I'm pretty sure they are generally spam, although one turned out to be a woman with a museum of stuffed rabbit artifacts whom my daughter actually knew. Daughter described her as "a bit eccentric but very nice".

When I tell this story, people are skeptical that there is such a museum; for that reason -- and because I may have some credibility here as a frequent commentator; I'm seeking to undermine that credibility ;) -- I'm including the link here.

http://www.thebunnymuseum.com/

[EastwoodDC]

Yes, I get those too. A flattering comment (Nice blog!) but nothing relevant to say, meaning they pasted in a generic comment, entered the verification word, and moved on. Polite and flattering SPAM is still SPAM.

My rule is that anything that doesn't quickly reveal itself as not-spam is a deliberate attempt to waste my time, and is therefore SPAM.