“Like” spammers
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I’ve noticed there are accounts that will “Like” my posts, then remove the Like, then Like again…over and over and over, perhaps for the purpose of getting me to click on their blog. If they have a script doing it, and they’re spamming thousands of blogs, then I can see how it would be worth their time to artificially drive up their traffic numbers. There are also users who automatically Like posts within a second or two of publication, before it would be possible to even read the post, regardless of what time it is. These have to be scripts as well, probably for the same purpose. I just wanted to make you guys aware if you’re not already. It’s a minor annoyance on my end, but on their end they’re likely gaming the system, driving up ad impressions, etc
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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Hi! Are these specific accounts that are following your blog? If you’re finding it’s particular accounts you’re always welcome to let us know via chat/email too so we can check!
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One of them is a user named dogsflash. He constantly likes/unlikes/likes one of my posts, always the same one, so that his blog always shows up in my notifications. Of course before I caught on, I clicked on his blog at least once or twice, which is almost certainly the point. If he’s doing this to 10,000 other WordPress users, those clicks add up.
Of course he is not the only one, which is why I made this post. This looks like someone using a script to mass like/unlike/like/unlike blogs as a way to drive additional traffic, just like some people use scripts to leave generic comments to get linkbacks and draw more people to their blogs.
There are a LOT of junk blogs out there that are made to just soak up hits for ad money, and most of them are content scrapers stealing the content from elsewhere. That’s another thing: A reporting feature for plagiarism would be super helpful, since there’s a ton of it. Thanks.
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Thanks I’ve reported that to our Terms of Service team to investigate further. If you have any more example of specific accounts spamming you in this way feel free to let us know.
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Thank you. The same user, Dogsflash, has spammed me several more times in the last day or so, putting his site at the top of my notifications. Again, he always “likes” the same post, so there’s nothing that resembles normal user activity here. It’s straight up notification spam.
Also, where can I contact WordPress about plagiarism/content theft? I’ve seen quite a bit of it: People make WordPress sites, fill them with stolen content, then make ad money off that content.
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If you find a WordPress.com site is infringing on your copyright, you can report it to our Trust and Safety team directly by using the form here: https://wordpress.com/support/report-blogs/
Thanks!
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I’m still getting spammed by the same user several times a day. I’ve got screenshots. Any update? I’m getting tired of getting notifications only to see it’s this same person spamming me for the 500th time.
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Thanks for the screenshots.
This happens several times a day, always the same post, relentlessly.
Wow, only a single post? That actually makes me wonder if there’s something buggy happening in their browser. We’ll keep digging.
Are there other users you’re seeing similar behavior with?
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Thank you for looking into it. There was another doing the same thing and a user using a script to auto-like posts within a few seconds of them going live, but I haven’t seen activity from them in the last two weeks or so.
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