How to fight splogs

At first glance, it seems like a regular blog. But look closer andyou'll see there's something very odd about the blog's content: It'svery familiar. Too familiar.
That's because you wrote it -- six months ago on your own blog.The rest of the content doesn't make sense: The same word repeated overand over again. There are ads all over the sidebar for products likeViagra and mortgage loans.
This, you realize, is a splog, and you're the victim.
"Splogs," or spam blogs, are one of the methods spammers haveadopted to manipulate the blogosphere for profit. The phenomenonstarted getting really bad in 2005, when Google's blog-hosting service,Blogger, was inundated with more than 13,000 fake blogs spawned by a script.
Splog topics are often so nonsensical and wide-ranging they can be hard to pinpoint. Scott Beale of Laughing Squid said some really strange splogs have shown up on his watch list, everything from "Phish Rocks, Dude" to "Geeks Meet Greeks."
But why do sploggers do it? How do you know if you've been splogged? And what can you do to stop it? Here are a few tips.
This page is a wiki. If you have any extra advice to offer, go ahead and add it.

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Find Out If You're Being Splogged
Splogs lift content from real blogs to increase the splog's PageRankat Google and generate ad revenue. The problem for bloggers is theirblog's PageRank may drop, and they may be associated with spam,damaging their reputation.
To find out if your blog is being ripped off, subscribe to newsfeeds at search engines like Technorati, Google Blog Search andIceRocket. Use search terms like your name, your site's name or itsURL. Most bloggers use these services to track what other blogs sayabout them, but it will also detect splogs lifting your content. You'llrecognize a splog by the unusual number of buzzwords in the maincontent area. And splogs often redirect visitors to an entirelydifferent site.
Tip: Analyze a blog's URL for suspicious keywords andthings like hyphens -- for some reason, most splogs' titles arehyphenated. Although some sites like Why Dogs Eat Poop are completely legitimate, despite the hyphens in the URL.
Tip: Use Google Alerts to track how your content, name, and web sites are being used on the web -- it's amazing what Google can find for you.

Report Splogs
While splogs may seem like a minor annoyance to the individualblogger, the overall effect of splogs is far-reaching. So, for thecommunity's sake, when you notice a splog -- report it. If the splog ison Blogger,you can easily report it by clicking the Flag button on the top rightcorner of the page. This will notify Blogger admins about objectionablecontent, and the splog should be removed. If the splog is on anotherblogging platform, you may have to contact the host directly.
Tip: If the splog has Google ads on it, the site can bereported to Google's AdSense program, and the account could be revoked.Look for the link that says "Ads by Google" at the bottom of thesplog's AdSense array. You'll see a form on the next page. Leave ashort note describing why you think the site is violating the terms ofservice for AdSense. Be sure to include the term "spamreport" beforeyou click Submit.
Tip: On the flip side of things, many blogs are easy to spot as being legitimate. For example, author of the PLR Model Blogdisplays his full name in his postings, which is quite rare. Othersigns of legitimacy include valid email addresses, lack ofadvertisements, non-spam comments which have been moderated, and soforth.

Remove Comment and Trackback Spam
While comment and trackback spam are not technically splogs, theyare related. Spammers who deal in comment and trackback spam sometimeslink to splogs in the hope of gaming the site's PageRank. Having a goodcomment-moderation system helps.

Movable Type has an upgraded Junk folder system to combat spam.
TypePad also has a Spam option for each comment.
WordPress also comes with built-in comment moderation that can help put spam on ice.

Trackback spam is harder to fight, and a lot of bloggers have resorted to turning off trackbacks entirely.

What to Do Next
One of the best ways to fight splogs is to be vocal about them.Demand accountability and diligence from hosting providers, and demandadditional barriers in the blog-creation process.
High-profile bloggers like Mark Cuban are demanding higherstandards from Google and Blogger. So far, Google seems to belistening. Blogger added a CAPTCHA human verification system to theblog-creation process so it can't be easily automated, and the companyhas published a list of deleted URLs so other search engines can removeknown splogs from their indexes.