[DiscoverDave]

For my own edification, what constitutes a "spammy" link on this forum (so I don't post one by mistake)?

[Geezer]

You may never know, because;

"Nobody expects the Spamish Inquisition!"


However, here is one example http://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=27771.msg292690#msg292690

[glovesforfoxes]

The link must be taken into context of who posts it. It's highly doubtful that a link will be removed from your post even if it links to a site with commercial interests, because you would post it for a reason other than to solely promote the interests of that company. A newly registered member with 1 or 2 posts wouldn't - usually they're bots that manage to crack the CAPTCHA (if this forum has one) for registering.

[BenV]

Glovesforfoxes is spot on - it's about context.  A regular poster citing a link would not be taken as spam (unless they started linking to the same site repeatedly, or out of context, then we would get concerned), but if it's in a user's first few posts, or clearly has a commercial interest, then it's usually easy to identify as spam.

Then there's the crafty spam:

New member 1:  Does anyone know if [weight loss product/drug/technology] works?

New member 2:  Yes, it does, and you can buy it at www.spam.com!

Often, these users will share an IP address, so they're pretty easy to spot.

[chris]

Then there's the lazy / less sophisticated version of the above when the idle spammer just posts a sob story and then a miraculous cure experienced by...you've guessed it...buying something from <company they conveniently linked to>...

Sad really. If they just invested as much time in writing good quality content for their own site as they do filling other peoples' with crap then they'd have a) a good site and b) good search engine ratings.

Chris

[Tomassci]

New member 1:  Does anyone know if [weight loss product/drug/technology] works?

New member 2:  Yes, it does, and you can buy it at www.spam.com

Wow! I never knew SPAM was weight loss product/drug/technology.

[daniellee5]

Advertising, non-related links I guess