No-prescription pharmacy spam sneaks into Google News results
We’ve always liked Google’s approach to distributing the news. Google News aggregates headlines from about 5,000 English-language news sources worldwide, groups similar stories together, and then displays them based on your keyword search or customized options.
As Google explains:
Traditionally, news readers first pick a publication and then look for headlines that interest them. We do things a little differently, with the goal of offering our readers more personalized options and a wider variety of perspectives from which to choose.
On Google News we offer links to several articles on every story, so you can first decide what subject interests you and then select which publishers’ accounts of each story you’d like to read. Click on the headline that interests you and you’ll go directly to the site which published that story.
Our articles are selected and ranked by computers that evaluate, among other things, how often and on what sites a story appears online. We also rank based on certain characteristics of news content such as freshness, location, relevance and diversity.
Google News sources are mostly old-school media sources, such as newspapers, television channels and wire services, as well as some of the more prominent blogs and online publications. But now, pharmacy spammers are finding a way into Google News search results.
In running a search for Viagra, for example, you’ll find spam posted on the domains of media sites ranging from Motley Fool to MyFox Austin. In some cases, the spam is pulled quickly, but in other cases it isn’t.
Here’s the first paragraph of a story found on MyFox Austin’s site:
Buy cialis Online.Buy cialis. Buy cheap cialis Online. Buy cialis cheap Online Without Prescription Buy cialis Online Cheapest prices. Buy Cheap cialis Online Overnight delivery Buy cialis At Our Pharmacy. Buy cialis Online Cheapeste prices. Buy cialis Online Overnight delivery Buy cialis At Our Pharmacy. Buy cialis Generic Pills Buy cialis Generic Pills Buy cialis Cheap Only here.
The reason spam is creeping onto these sites is that they have created “community” sections that allow site visitors to post their own news items. Clearly, however, these media sources are not doing enough to keep spam from undermining their sites.
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June 26th, 2009 at 2:42 am
[...] this month, I wrote about the problem of pharmacy spam sneaking into Google News results. Well, the problem has now reached epidemic [...]
August 30th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
I never ever post but this time I will,Thanks alot for the great blog.