Inktomi = Spammers Paradise?

[Cream]

I used to get pretty decent traffic from Inktomi thru their Paid Inclusion program. But after the so-called major update recently, my traffic has dropped by more than 60%, the reason being that spammers are all over the place now.

For example (search term = "avirex clothing"):
http://auto.search.msn.com/results.asp?cfg=SMCINITIAL&RS=CHECKED&v=1&srch=4&FORM=AS4&q=avirex+clothing

Seems like all the top-ranking sites with spam-like URLs (e.g. cheap-womens-clothing.buy-clothing-online.com) are nothing but redirects to the likes of eBay and DealTime.com, and to rub it in, they are not even Paid Inclusion sites.

Why is Inktomi allowing this to happen? And where can I report such spammers, other than the email addy reportspam@inktomi.com (to which I have reported such spammers but have yet to see any action taken by Inktomi)?

Is there not a FormMail option like the one used by Google and ODP to report spam? And has any spammer sites ever been removed from the Inktomi database at all?

Thank you.
Creamed

[bigDugan]

It sure sounds like it falls under "What Inktomi Considers Unwanted" category, as listed on their Inktomi Content Guidelines Page (http://www.inktomi.com/services/web_search/guidelines.html).Pages dedicated to directing the user to another page But according to their Content Policy FAQ (http://www.inktomi.com/services/web_search/spampolicyfaq.html), there is only 1 way to report spam, and that's via email to: reportspam@inktomi.com

It sure doesnt seem like the most effective way, especially since you say you havent heard anything back from them. Inktomi has just recently joined these forums (http://www.ihelpyouservices.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4307), so maybe you'll get a reply from them directly, or maybe try a PM. Good Luck.

[ihelpyou]

Ink went on a big quest to crawl and index many pages over the last couple of months. I think doing this put many pages into the index. It's been very good for those of us who have not had many pages in before but I also think it has paved the way for many doorways and spam to enter the index as well. I am sure Ink does not want these pages in and will filter them all out in do time.

It's a case of being patient. I am also sure that email address is getting bombarded with requests so you may want to give it some time to all sort out.

Yes, maybe Inktomi can shed some light?

[bigDugan]

>shed some light?
Yes, but will all the spammers go scurrying away like roaches? :)

[Cream]

Thanks for the encouragement, but I don't think we will be renewing our 200+ URLs next month if we are only paying to rank behind spam sites that got in for free. And FWIW, though I'm not so sure about other shopping categories, I'm pretty sure MSN Search is not the SE to shop for shoes and clothes.

Good thing we have Google around.


Creamed

[Inktomi]

Hi all,

Please continue to report spammers to reportspam@inktomi.com. Our team is diligently weeding them out.

This is a major new release for us and there's bound to be some spam that slips through the cracks. Fortunately we are now refreshing our entire database every 10-14 days, so it won't take long for the quality to improve. Thanks for your patience and for continuing to report spam when you find it.

Thanks,
Inktomi.

[ihelpyou]

Thanks for your post and followup Inktomi!!

See all, I'm not that dumb afterall. ;)

[bigDugan]

It sounds like they are working on it. Let us know if things improve at all, after the next update.

[JuniorHarris]

Well I tip my hat to Inktomi <Junior tips hat>...they have a tremendous battle before them in dealing with engine spammers (as does any good engine). They usually are very good about quickly removing the offenders once they are brought to their attention...but given the volume, it may take a bit before they can get to them all!