Comments on: How to be a Dirty Digger http://www.wolf-howl.com/grayhat-seo/how-to-be-a-dirty-digger/ Michael Gray rants on SEO the internet and media Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:43:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Why Your Social News Linkbait Isn’t ‘Baiting’ | 10e20 Blog http://www.wolf-howl.com/grayhat-seo/how-to-be-a-dirty-digger/comment-page-1/#comment-67020 Why Your Social News Linkbait Isn’t ‘Baiting’ | 10e20 Blog Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:33:09 +0000 http://www.wolf-howl.com/grayhat-seo/how-to-be-a-dirty-digger/#comment-67020 [...] face it, sometimes your competition is just dirty.  Make sure your campaigns are under the radar until they become popular.  Don’t update [...] [...] face it, sometimes your competition is just dirty.  Make sure your campaigns are under the radar until they become popular.  Don’t update [...]

]]> By: 5 Things I Did to Cope-up With The BIG Digg! http://www.wolf-howl.com/grayhat-seo/how-to-be-a-dirty-digger/comment-page-1/#comment-62868 5 Things I Did to Cope-up With The BIG Digg! Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:14:12 +0000 http://www.wolf-howl.com/grayhat-seo/how-to-be-a-dirty-digger/#comment-62868 [...] you’re doing things that pisses off diggers, a little shady and dirty, you can become one of the better diggers and put a helping hand for the community to grow. [...] [...] you’re doing things that pisses off diggers, a little shady and dirty, you can become one of the better diggers and put a helping hand for the community to grow. [...]

]]> By: davo http://www.wolf-howl.com/grayhat-seo/how-to-be-a-dirty-digger/comment-page-1/#comment-58680 davo Tue, 11 Sep 2007 11:01:27 +0000 http://www.wolf-howl.com/grayhat-seo/how-to-be-a-dirty-digger/#comment-58680 the only way to fuck digg, is to make more digg like sites with better ways to vote and improve the news, when you have 100 diggs like sites, they will have to be humble or die the only way to fuck digg, is to make more digg like sites with better ways to vote and improve the news, when you have 100 diggs like sites, they will have to be humble or die

]]> By: Angelina ------ http://www.wolf-howl.com/grayhat-seo/how-to-be-a-dirty-digger/comment-page-1/#comment-55621 Angelina ------ Wed, 18 Apr 2007 20:09:56 +0000 http://www.wolf-howl.com/grayhat-seo/how-to-be-a-dirty-digger/#comment-55621 Hahahahahaha Its f***** Evil post :D Hahahahahaha

Its f***** Evil post :D

]]> By: NEW SITE GETS BANNED FROM DIGG WITHIN 6 DAYS - Steve http://www.wolf-howl.com/grayhat-seo/how-to-be-a-dirty-digger/comment-page-1/#comment-55079 NEW SITE GETS BANNED FROM DIGG WITHIN 6 DAYS - Steve Wed, 28 Mar 2007 21:41:41 +0000 http://www.wolf-howl.com/grayhat-seo/how-to-be-a-dirty-digger/#comment-55079 Digg.com is getting cocky and banning small web sites just because digg’s users submit them to digg and digg’s moderators don’t like it. Scifidigg.com is the latest victim of Digg’s “We are big, you are small and we can do whatever we want” attitude. First some background. After running the website Scifi2u.com for the last year we realised there was a demand for a scifi digg type website – 6 Days ago ScifiDigg.com was born and is powered by open source Pligg and the YouTube API. So what went wrong? The site went live on the 22 March 2007. People submitted stories and video links to digg and other sites del.icio.us, Yahoo, Simply and Reddit. Having a submit button makes submitting very easy and fast but that could be a problem. Let’s get to the point WITHIN 6 DAYS THE SITE HAS BEEN BANNED FROM DIGG Digg’s moderators decided that since the link pointed to my site and the posts are mainly videos from YouTube ScifiDigg should be banned from digg and no other links from scifidigg.com can be posted to digg. Digg’s response I contacted digg to find out what happened and why they blocked my site. The response I got from them was that my site violated their terms of use, by copying another site. I explained to them that although the video is streamed by YouTube we give the facility for original coments to be added. The response I got was that they do not allow sites that copy other sites to be submitted to digg. I told them that according to their rules they should also ban Yahoo news, since it does not have an original content but republish articles from PCWorld, Reuters, MACWorld and others. Also falls under this category other major sites like neowin.net, blink.nu and many more that are doing exactly the same infact they should ban YouTube because the video content is often copied from other video websites. But hey, they are big sites and digg can’t pick on them without repercussion, like they can pick on small blogs that try to establish themselves. So what have we learned? · Digg’s users don’t really determine what gets promoted, but digg’s moderators do. · Digg have a different set of rules for small site and different rules for big sites, even though both are doing the same. · Digg will ban a small site just because one of its user’s submitted an article that other digg members liked and promoted, but moderator didn’t like the link. · Digg will not listen to reason when told that the site did not violate its TOS. Digg.com is getting cocky and banning small web sites just because digg’s users submit them to digg and digg’s moderators don’t like it. Scifidigg.com is the latest victim of Digg’s “We are big, you are small and we can do whatever we want” attitude.
First some background.
After running the website Scifi2u.com for the last year we realised there was a demand for a scifi digg type website – 6 Days ago ScifiDigg.com was born and is powered by open source Pligg and the YouTube API.
So what went wrong?
The site went live on the 22 March 2007. People submitted stories and video links to digg and other sites del.icio.us, Yahoo, Simply and Reddit. Having a submit button makes submitting very easy and fast but that could be a problem.
Let’s get to the point
WITHIN 6 DAYS THE SITE HAS BEEN BANNED FROM DIGG
Digg’s moderators decided that since the link pointed to my site and the posts are mainly videos from YouTube ScifiDigg should be banned from digg and no other links from scifidigg.com can be posted to digg.
Digg’s response
I contacted digg to find out what happened and why they blocked my site. The response I got from them was that my site violated their terms of use, by copying another site. I explained to them that although the video is streamed by YouTube we give the facility for original coments to be added.
The response I got was that they do not allow sites that copy other sites to be submitted to digg. I told them that according to their rules they should also ban Yahoo news, since it does not have an original content but republish articles from PCWorld, Reuters, MACWorld and others. Also falls under this category other major sites like neowin.net, blink.nu and many more that are doing exactly the same infact they should ban YouTube because the video content is often copied from other video websites. But hey, they are big sites and digg can’t pick on them without repercussion, like they can pick on small blogs that try to establish themselves.
So what have we learned?
· Digg’s users don’t really determine what gets promoted, but digg’s moderators do.
· Digg have a different set of rules for small site and different rules for big sites, even though both are doing the same.
· Digg will ban a small site just because one of its user’s submitted an article that other digg members liked and promoted, but moderator didn’t like the link.
· Digg will not listen to reason when told that the site did not violate its TOS.

]]> By: rick http://www.wolf-howl.com/grayhat-seo/how-to-be-a-dirty-digger/comment-page-1/#comment-54810 rick Wed, 21 Mar 2007 01:35:03 +0000 http://www.wolf-howl.com/grayhat-seo/how-to-be-a-dirty-digger/#comment-54810 Did somebody say "banned from Digg"? Get extra exposure by being listed on bannedfromdigg.com Did somebody say “banned from Digg”? Get extra exposure by being listed on bannedfromdigg.com

]]> By: AVC http://www.wolf-howl.com/grayhat-seo/how-to-be-a-dirty-digger/comment-page-1/#comment-30802 AVC Sat, 30 Dec 2006 23:06:18 +0000 http://www.wolf-howl.com/grayhat-seo/how-to-be-a-dirty-digger/#comment-30802 Nice counter to the prevalent cool-aid. Important to be reminded, frequently, that there's as much energy out there doing bad stuff as there is good -- and that any system can be gamed. Supposedly, many PR firms now make sure that articles they place are emailed a lot, so they show up as "most emailed", which drives lots of viewership. What's that adage: "first time you're scammed, you're a victim; second time you're a co-conspirator". Also, you should implement Snap Preview Anywhere on your site (www.snap.com); would make it better (disclosure: I'm in investor in Snap). Nice counter to the prevalent cool-aid. Important to be reminded, frequently, that there’s as much energy out there doing bad stuff as there is good — and that any system can be gamed.

Supposedly, many PR firms now make sure that articles they place are emailed a lot, so they show up as “most emailed”, which drives lots of viewership.

What’s that adage: “first time you’re scammed, you’re a victim; second time you’re a co-conspirator”.

Also, you should implement Snap Preview Anywhere on your site (www.snap.com); would make it better (disclosure: I’m in investor in Snap).

]]> By: Mr. F http://www.wolf-howl.com/grayhat-seo/how-to-be-a-dirty-digger/comment-page-1/#comment-29138 Mr. F Fri, 22 Dec 2006 22:43:24 +0000 http://www.wolf-howl.com/grayhat-seo/how-to-be-a-dirty-digger/#comment-29138 I had the same idea, I picked a random website and basically tested Graywolf’s theory on "How to be a Dirty Digger" here's what happened: (The Mark) I found a link to a website that someone posted on a popular gaming forum. I had never herd of this website before, the Alexa ranking was not great but is was in the top 100k. For the record the website link I submitted to digg was interesting and would have probably made it to the front page if I worded it right instead of sabotaging it. (The Setup) It was real easy all I did was put the domain name "myebid.com" in the title. I think that did the trick, instead of diggers just burying it I saw it getting marked as spam instantly via digg spy. (The Ban) To make sure the story didn't just get buried and to make sure the site got banned I singed up with Ten different hotmail accounts and then dugg the story. In an hour my accounts were closed and the website was successfully banned. (The Conclusion) While I'm not exactly sure if it was digging my own story or making it look like spam, I do know it was real easy to get the site banned. It's funny too because diggers always submit links to BS stuff from sites like ebay and others but because the sites are so well known diggers just mark the stories as lame and not spam. I know a few people that have tried to get ebay auctions to the front page of digg just to get the counter up, if that's not spam what is. While it's pretty clear you can't "game" digg in some ways, you sure can game it in others. I did get my story to the front page although it did get dugg down immediately. It topped out at about 35 diggs then made it to the front page and got spammed to death, some diggers even started to undigg it and my fake diggs got removed. Digg has a real problem on its hands, it seems only 1% or so "the top diggers" have power over 95% of what happens on the site. It will only get worse as time goes on. I think I will try and do it again but with another slightly more popular website, I have my eye on "woot.com" Wish me luck and feel free to help! P.S. Sorry to www.myebid.com it wasn't personal but someone had to go down. I had the same idea, I picked a random website and basically tested Graywolf’s theory on “How to be a Dirty Digger” here’s what happened:

(The Mark) I found a link to a website that someone posted on a popular gaming forum. I had never herd of this website before, the Alexa ranking was not great but is was in the top 100k.

For the record the website link I submitted to digg was interesting and would have probably made it to the front page if I worded it right instead of sabotaging it.

(The Setup) It was real easy all I did was put the domain name “myebid.com” in the title. I think that did the trick, instead of diggers just burying it I saw it getting marked as spam instantly via digg spy.

(The Ban) To make sure the story didn’t just get buried and to make sure the site got banned I singed up with Ten different hotmail accounts and then dugg the story. In an hour my accounts were closed and the website was successfully banned.

(The Conclusion) While I’m not exactly sure if it was digging my own story or making it look like spam, I do know it was real easy to get the site banned. It’s funny too because diggers always submit links to BS stuff from sites like ebay and others but because the sites are so well known diggers just mark the stories as lame and not spam. I know a few people that have tried to get ebay auctions to the front page of digg just to get the counter up, if that’s not spam what is.

While it’s pretty clear you can’t “game” digg in some ways, you sure can game it in others. I did get my story to the front page although it did get dugg down immediately. It topped out at about 35 diggs then made it to the front page and got spammed to death, some diggers even started to undigg it and my fake diggs got removed.

Digg has a real problem on its hands, it seems only 1% or so “the top diggers” have power over 95% of what happens on the site. It will only get worse as time goes on.

I think I will try and do it again but with another slightly more popular website, I have my eye on “woot.com”

Wish me luck and feel free to help!

P.S.
Sorry to http://www.myebid.com it wasn’t personal but someone had to go down.

]]> By: Jason http://www.wolf-howl.com/grayhat-seo/how-to-be-a-dirty-digger/comment-page-1/#comment-29081 Jason Fri, 22 Dec 2006 16:12:09 +0000 http://www.wolf-howl.com/grayhat-seo/how-to-be-a-dirty-digger/#comment-29081 This is kind of obvious don't you think? People have done this kind of thing online and offline for a while. The fact is (at least on Netscape) that at the end of the day the quality of the site is what is going to be looked at. So, if you did this with the NYT or Boingboing the Anchors and Navigators at Netscape would simply look at the site and say "this is a quality site, someone is playing with us." So, yes you could screw with a smaller site, but at least at Netscape you can email (sitemail) every member of the staff and they will get back to you. We banned a ton of domains and we turned many back on when I was there. I think your concept works best on machine run systems--but on one with a human it would only work for a) small domains, b) bad content, and c) the very short term. best jason This is kind of obvious don’t you think? People have done this kind of thing online and offline for a while.

The fact is (at least on Netscape) that at the end of the day the quality of the site is what is going to be looked at. So, if you did this with the NYT or Boingboing the Anchors and Navigators at Netscape would simply look at the site and say “this is a quality site, someone is playing with us.”

So, yes you could screw with a smaller site, but at least at Netscape you can email (sitemail) every member of the staff and they will get back to you. We banned a ton of domains and we turned many back on when I was there.

I think your concept works best on machine run systems–but on one with a human it would only work for a) small domains, b) bad content, and c) the very short term.

best jason

]]> By: Eric Ward http://www.wolf-howl.com/grayhat-seo/how-to-be-a-dirty-digger/comment-page-1/#comment-28957 Eric Ward Fri, 22 Dec 2006 01:23:16 +0000 http://www.wolf-howl.com/grayhat-seo/how-to-be-a-dirty-digger/#comment-28957 This is the kind of post that deserves an Oscar, Emmy, Tony, Webby, Bloggy, Diggy, and a position in the web marketing truth Hall of Fame. Simply fantastic. Reminds me of the early days when we exposed sock puppet Q&A tag-team posts in USNET newsgroups. Kudos to you Michael. I try like hell to explain the gaping trust holes in the SM world. I'm sure people have tired of hearing me preach at the conferences that services like Digg and others are all mildly amusing, socially fascinating but of little or no long term strategic value to the majority of web sites. Digg reminds me of a really big high school where the jock clique and the math team clique and the band clique each weild power within their sphere of influence, while the rest of school and town in general could give a sh*t. I do have some clients for whom I've been able to digg-nudge their sites up to the front page, but truth is, Digg's front page is of high value to only a certain type of site, and of marginal to zero value for most sites. Eric This is the kind of post that deserves an Oscar, Emmy, Tony, Webby, Bloggy, Diggy, and a position in the web marketing truth Hall of Fame. Simply fantastic. Reminds me of the early days when we exposed sock puppet Q&A tag-team posts in USNET newsgroups. Kudos to you Michael. I try like hell to explain the gaping trust holes in the SM world. I’m sure people have tired of hearing me preach at the conferences that services like Digg and others are all mildly amusing, socially fascinating but of little or no long term strategic value to the majority of web sites.

Digg reminds me of a really big high school where the jock clique and the math team clique and the band clique each weild power within their sphere of influence, while the rest of school and town in general could give a sh*t.

I do have some clients for whom I’ve been able to digg-nudge their sites up to the front page, but truth is, Digg’s front page is of high value to only a certain type of site, and of marginal to zero value for most sites.

Eric

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