What effect does spamming have on reputation?

[Danny]

I'm active on quite a few forums, and I always see spammy threads pop up. What effect does this do to a company's reputation?

Personally, will you ever purchase from a company that you know has spammed forums, via email, etc..?

If spamming (via any medium) is effective in generating leads and sales, is it then ok?

Its always interesting to see the different positions on this topic, which has probably been discussed a million times already. :D

No, I'm not talking about the Minnesota native Hormel Luncheon Meat.

[steveneven]

I hate spammers!

I don't like to see it in forums, and I dislike it even more if I get it in my email.

I will absolutely under no circumstances use a company that has spammed me.

Spamming in forums can make the forum or site owner look unprofessional, spam from companies shows that they have a grasp of one possible marketting strategy, but surely these companies must see very little revenue generated from such tactics.

As a spammer, your only opportunity to benefit from such an action, is when you are lucky enough to spam an un-suspecting new comer to the internet.

Spammers should be lined up and shot!

:D

SE (dave)

[SiteTutor]

Spamming does not have enough of an impact. there should be a national directcory of spammers where people can search for a company's name when considering doing business with them.

[Scribbller]

Spamming can work wonders for you in the short run, you will get alot of hits, sales, members whatever you like to call it to start of with but it will die down eventually and your reputation will suffer a big blow in the short run specially among your competitors, I have always belived in the fact that you should be respected by your competitors not hated.

[Dani]

Definitely a very negative impact - especially if the spam is to the point of being banned on a forum. There is nothing worse than a username reflective on your company being labeled as "banned" or "spammer" on a forum.

[SiteTutor]

That is part of the reason why the just released Google patent takes into cocnsideration the time a domain name is registered for.
Spammer go thru names and IP addresses like underwear.
Being in it long term is the key.

[Dani]

Yes, I've been hearing that. I just replied to a blog entry on it actually.

[mkleslie]

I forward all my SPAM emails to the ftc...here's the email address if you don't have it - [e-mail].

I have been getting a lot of emails lately to buy drugs on line....at least 2-3 a day. :evil:

[Small business]

I don’t like receiving Spam to my private email address. But what really gets my feathers ruffled is when I get tons of Spam to my business email address.

[cmills83]

At the company I work for, we send out emails of software updates as well as when we are running sales. We get maybe 70 out of like 70,000 that want to be removed from our list and sales skyrocket so I think spamming can be a good thing, moreso when it is used with a customer database and very rarely.

[mike@itzoom]

Spam probably gets some initial results for those who don't care about or have a reputation to protect. Other than that i believe mud sticks and if you chuck it about it will splatter your suit as well!.

In short - don't do it! (It gives the owner and the internet a bad image).

[SiteTutor]

The forum spammers are not going for the members but the guests and unfortunately they hire them from time to time. It is up to the moderators, admins and members to keep them in line.

[zeroth]

I automatically delete anything that resembles spam...it´s infuriating...

[servertweak]

dont even try it , it makes you look very bad

[WireNine]

You would not imagine the amount of drugs, Viagra emails I get daily! I hate spam mails.

[SiteTutor]

I automatically delete anything that resembles spam...it´s infuriating...

Gmail is filtering out spam very well. I have been forwarding all my emails to one gmail account and my life has gotten a lot easier. Before I have accidentally erased some "not spam" and that was not good. Gmail lets you have so much space there is never a need to erase anything.

Juts my 2cents

[SiteTutor]

btw most spammers don't have a reputation .. they're just going for the quick sale ...

[Dani]

btw most spammers don't have a reputation .. they're just going for the quick sale ...

Yeap :) Tis true.

[Sparkplug188]

I think advertising for a company that has provided a good service to you is fine IF and ONLY IF you are advertising for a good reason (not to make the comany profit but to help someone). Example: Someone is having sleep problems, so you might recomend a sleep medicine that previously worked for you.

[Danny]

I think advertising for a company that has provided a good service to you is fine IF and ONLY IF you are advertising for a good reason (not to make the comany profit but to help someone). Example: Someone is having sleep problems, so you might recomend a sleep medicine that previously worked for you.

But, that would not be spam then. Is it OK for a company selling sleep aids to mass-email 20 million people to sell them? :?:

[numerouno]

I hate spamming too, but I have some sympathy for beginning web businesses who don't have a zillion dollars marketing budgets, and without a working crystal ball really have no idea how to register anywhere respectable on search engines (who seem to spend their time brewing up new ways of making visibility impossible). I don't spam - I've done as much as I can by way of site design and amateurish attempts at optimisation, used free link exchanges (most of whom don't seem to count with Google), press releases, newspaper ads, free online classifieds etc etc etc and all I can say is, "Thank God I've got a day job!". Although I spend more time on my site than I do at my salaried job. I'm beginning to agree with the notion that search engines should be structured around location and business type, because at the moment, the big guys are winning hands down!

[Sparkplug188]

But, that would not be spam then. Is it OK for a company selling sleep aids to mass-email 20 million people to sell them? :?:

I highly doubt that company knows 20 million people personaly and that they realy need help so, that would be the spam you would want shove it down the senders throte (and that's not the meat in the can). Conclusion: 99.99999999999998% of the time a mass-email to 20 million people is not primarialy for the indual customer, but for the profit of the company; this IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!!!
Oh yea, one last thing: If a company sent me spam and they had no intention of actualy helping me with a problem that I had then their reputation with me would suffer.

~Sparkplug188

[bjdea1]

Spamming is becoming more and more unpopular and in most places illegal. As a Web Host I've had to deal with a few in my time and they are typically people who are extrememly greedy and completely inconiderate of others. Spaming is a problem that needs fixing. The email servers (exim) need to be improved to better combat spam. For example emails can be sent anonymously quite easily - this needs to change with better ways of tracking down spammers by IP location - right down to the ISP. I also think proxy software has to be updated to also force better logging of the original source IP.

[bjdea1]

Oh and one other thing. They should have spam blacklists that a DOMAIN specific and not IP specific. OR if they remain IP specific then when IPv6 comes out they should make it mandatory for ALL websites to have a unique IP.

[CharlesECHO]

spamming is a mass posting - so do you think you get the same negative effects if you were to do self promoting posts that are on topic?

[Dani]

Personally I'll only self-promote on a forum in my signature or if it's a forum that's specifically meant for advertising (ie marketplace forum). It might just be me, but the fact that a representative from a company posts to a forum at all gives them a little less weight in my eyes - it makes the company seem smaller for some reason. I know this is a bad thing to think because even GoogleGuy is a Google rep who posts to various webmaster/SEO forums, but, well, I dunno. Ignore me :)