Best strategies for defeating sploggers who are lifting my content.

May 23, 2006 10:08 AM

I've had a couple smaller splogs that gave up after a period of time. However, one splog has persisted and, through volume, is showing up higher in searches than my original posts. What can I do?

It's not the lifting of the content that I have problem with, I publish an RSS feed that others pick up with a credit link back to my blog. It's the wholesale reprinting of articles without even so much as a link back to my blog.

Besides ignoring them and hoping they'll go away, what are some good strategies for getting them to stop republishing my posts? Also what ways of contacting RSS aggregation sites (like Technorati) and asking them to drop the splog feeds have worked for you?

posted by IndigoSkye to computers & internet (6 comments total)

For those wondering what a splog is. Sorry that I can't help other than that...
posted by Orange Goblin at 10:13 AM on May 23, 2006

Can you figure out what IP address they're coming from, and block that address from being able to access your feed?
posted by SpecialK at 10:33 AM on May 23, 2006

Followup on SpecialK's post...if you have the IP address, tell us what blog software you use, how much control over the system it's running on you have, what webserver, etc., so we can help block them.
posted by Kickstart70 at 10:35 AM on May 23, 2006

This happened to me a last year, and as a first step I sent a polite but firm email to the address listed on the site in question (or maybe I did a WHOIS and found the address that way). Surprisingly enough, whoever was running the sites got back to me in a couple of days to say he'd removed all my content, adding some bluster about not understanding CC licenses - I guess they don't much care what the content is on these sites, so if someone complains, it's no hassle to start nicking from someone else.

So, you never know, it might be worth getting in touch with the splogger (if you haven't already).
posted by jack_mo at 11:11 AM on May 23, 2006

A few splogs are currently 'republishing' my weblog, but luckily get little traffic and don't show up much in searches.

Firstly, make sure your site's search engine friendly to give it a decent chance of outranking the splog.

Contact the site owner and firmly but politely ask for removal within a week.

Write a weblog entry about how your content's being misused, and mention the correct domain it should be read from.

Use .htaccess to rewrite any image requests with the splog as referrer. I'd suggest replacing the images with one that flashes violently or contains a 'Content copied without permission from...' message.

Try to track down the IP they're accessing your feed from; if you don't have too many readers you could keep refreshing the splog after you've posted something, then note down the time it updates. Go through your logs and narrow down the possible culprits.
You can then block the IP or rewrite their requests to point to an alternative feed containing loads of nagging messages.

As a last resort, you can issue DMCA takedown notices to search engines (self-link) and the site's hosting firm, but you have to accept the risk that they'll retaliate. Spammers can be nasty, and if any of your domains' WHOIS info has ever contained your personal details you're particularly vulnerable.
posted by malevolent at 12:38 PM on May 23, 2006

Thanks. There is no contact info at all on the splog. The Whois results in some address in Australia:
Registrant:
silvs pty ltd

17 The Ridge
Mount Eliza, Victoria 3930
Australia

Registered through: SiLVs Internet Solutions
Domain Name: LOOKCFIND.COM
Created on: 29-May-04
Expires on: 29-May-07
Last Updated on: 27-Apr-06

Administrative Contact:
McDonald, Ashley [e-mail]
silvs pty ltd
17 The Ridge
Mount Eliza, Victoria 3930
Australia
61397752743 Fax -- 61397726040

Would that be the right person to contact?

As for my software I'm a typepad pro site and I usetypepad's atom and rss feeds and feedburner.
posted by IndigoSkye at 12:43 PM on May 23, 2006