Splogs Get 888.com Into Some Hot Water

If you run a blog, then you know how annoying comment spam can be: desperate web folk who think that they are smarter than the rest of us posting ridiculously spammy comments with a link to their website or to a potentially lucrative affiliate program operator. Thankfully, all the popular blog management systems now feature tools that you can use to eliminate or otherwise control comment spam, and Blogger now adds the "NO FOLLOW" attribute to links added via comments to a Blogger blog, so that search engines ignore the link.

What's worse than comment spam? Splogs ("spam blogs.") Splogs are blogs that are setup for the sole purpose of feeding affiliate links to affiliate operator sites. Blog entries @ splogs often make no sense at all, as many splog operators will fill each post with random sets of keywords and keyphrases in an effort to maximize the splog's search engine rankings.

The folks who run Blogger are shutting down splogs with extreme prejudice, and, unfortunately, some folks who had been running legitimate Blogger blogs have had their blog shut down because of some overzealousness in the mad scramble to get splogs under control (you can avoid having your Blogger blog deleted by hosting your blog on your own domain name.)


Splogs and Content Theft Cause Serious Problems for 888 Casino (888.com)

CasinoAffiliatePrograms.com today announced that the company has revoked the certification of 888 Casino due to allegations of content theft and splogging being perpetrated by top 888.com affiliates and consultants (888 Casino operates one of the hottest poker / casino affiliate programs around.) Further details can be found below in the snippet from today's press release:

"CasinoAffiliatePrograms.com ('CAP') a leading online gaming industry resource, announced today that they are revoking the certification of 888 Casino. The decision is in response to 888 Casino’s failure to reach an amicable resolution involving alleged content theft and blog spamming being performed by their top affiliates and consultants.

A CAP spokesperson explains, 'These activities are negatively impacting thousands of affiliates and online marketers worldwide. There are a number of programming teams operating with the approval of 888 Casino which are flooding search engines like Google and Yahoo with thousands of spurious search results. This angers searchers and makes finding legitimate destinations on the Internet difficult. This has lead to robbed bandwidth and corrupted web logs with millions of commercial messages linked to 888 Casino. This abuse of the system tarnishes the image of the industry as a whole and can not be allowed to continue.'

To resolve this issue CAP has been in negotiations with 888 Casino for the last six weeks, but so far 888 Casino has declined to comply and have stated they are not interested in a resolution at this time.

CAP had been seeking the following action items from 888 Casino on behalf of their affiliate members:

1. Issue a public statement indicating that 888 Casino does not condone nor will they reward content theft or illegal marketing practices by their affiliates or marketing consultants. If affiliates or marketers are discovered to be engaged in these practices their accounts will be closed, they will be banned from the 888 affiliate program and their proceeds or commissions due forfeited.

2. Addition to the Affiliate Program Terms and Conditions a provision stating the above policy.

3. A good faith effort by 888 Casino to adhere to these policies now and in the future.

'ALL CAP Certified Programs must work vigorously to protect the rights of all of their affiliates, even if that means policing affiliates who maliciously hurt others for profit,' said Lou Fabiano, managing partner at CAP. 'By condoning these actions we have no choice but to revoke 888 Casino’s certification, effective immediately.'

According to their website 888.com, 888 Casino’s flagship property, is one of the leading Casino and Poker Rooms on the Internet. Since its official launch in 1997, over 20 Million people have experienced 888com's exciting gaming action, making them the leading Online Casino.

CasinoAffiliatePrograms.com is a trusted resource in online gaming industry with a rigorous certification process for casino programs. 888 Casino became a CAP certified partner in 2005.

About CasinoAffiliatePrograms.com
CasinoAffiliatePrograms.com 'CAP' is the oldest and largest Internet gaming affiliate resource online. Casino Affiliate Programs features an active community forum, chat rooms, affiliate marketing tools, industry news/articles, scam alerts and a rigorous and distinguished certification process for casino affiliate programs. CAP Certified Partners are held in the highest regard and expected to protect the integrity of their affiliates and the industry as a whole."

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