(Off topic, sorry) - Spam trouble in the Custom Search forum

[omr]

Sorry this is off-topic, but some help is needed over in the Custom
Search forum, and as that forum's administrators seem unable to
assist, I'm not sure who I should contact next.

Spammers attack that forum almost daily. In recent months I've
submitted many (probably hundreds) of messages via the forum's spam-
reporting mechanism, and I have also contacted a Custom Search
manager. But there seems to be little if any active moderation in
place to discourage persistent spammers. Another user complained and
I replied here:

https://groups.google.com/a/googleproductforums.com/d/msg/customsearch/M46SYirEOe8/PkPz9JJylsAJ

If one small group of persistent spammers can so easily cause
significant disruption, the problem will only worsen if other spammers
eventually join the fray.

For the time being, I'll continue to submit reports through that
forum's spam-reporting mechanism; although this seems to do little
good, other than helping to partly 'hide' existing spam messages in
the forum's web interface. But that does no good for email
subscribers.

After months of training the filter still seems ineffective in
preventing additional spam. Presumably there may be a need for manual
intervention and active moderation?

Since there is not much ongoing spam here in this forum, I wonder: do
this forum's administrators employ better strategies (such as
proactive moderation) to prevent and discourage spam?

If the Custom Search forum's administrators cannot solve the problem,
can anything more be done? Who should be contacted next? Would
Google's anti-spam specialists perhaps be able to help?

Thanks

-- omr

[Jeremy Geerdes]

omr-

I feel your pain. This group actually receives its fair share of spam, but we have it set so that all first-time messages are moderated. That allows someone to go in and mark the new message as spam, which means that it will never actually be posted to the group and the sending email address will be permanently banned from the group.

It should be noted, though, that this is something of a team effort. When the moderation was started, the APIs dev team was only 3.5 people, and so the developer relations person responsible for the group (i.e., Ben Lisbakken at that time) allowed a couple of non-Googlers to join in the moderating tasks. Now, moderating is handled almost entirely by me, a non-Googler.

That is a mixed bag of sorts. On the one hand, it means that spam doesn't destroy the community. On the other, it means that I have to moderate messages on a regular basis. Even so, you may propose such an arrangement to the Custom Search project manager or whatever Googler is most active on the group.

Jeremy R. Geerdes
Generally Cool Guy
Des Moines, IA

For more information or a project quote:
jrge...@gmail.com

If you're in the Des Moines, IA, area, check out Debra Heights Wesleyan Church!

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[omr]

Jeremy Geerdes wrote:
> "... Now, moderating [in this forum] is handled almost entirely by me, a non-Googler."

I did not know that this forum's moderation was handled by a
volunteer. I hope other participants here will join me in thanking
you for taking on that effort! It is appreciated!

(Still I would hope that Google might somehow develop new solutions
against spam throughout its product forums without necessarily having
to rely "almost entirely" on volunteers in any such case.)

> "That [arrangement] is a mixed bag of sorts. [...] Even so, you may propose such an arrangement to the Custom Search project manager or whatever Googler is most active on the group."

An excellent suggestion -- although I'm sorry to say that I'm not
prepared to volunteer in this particular case. (So perhaps therefore
I shouldn't be the one to complain the loudest!)

-- omr

[dalila benachenhou]

To Jeremy,

I just want to thank you for moderating the forum.

Cheers,

Dalila

[Jeremy Geerdes]

Thank you for the kind words. For the record, I was not intending to solicit such things, but merely to suggest a course of action for omr. Have a blessed day, and happy coding!

Jeremy R. Geerdes
Generally Cool Guy
Des Moines, IA

For more information or a project quote:
jrge...@gmail.com

If you're in the Des Moines, IA, area, check out Debra Heights Wesleyan Church!

[Adam Feldman]

+1 to Jeremy's awesomeness!

I passed this thread on to the Custom Search folks, so they know you're concerned about the problem (Kelly posted a response).  They're even considering adding the "first post moderation" like we have here, so watch that forum for more information!