# Why did I just get SDMB email about an old thread? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 25, 2010, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-just-get-sdmb-email-about-an-old-thread/530427 "2010-02-25T19:01:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-just-get-sdmb-email-about-an-old-thread/530427/1 "2010-02-25T19:01:40Z")
I just received “instant notification” of an addition to a thread I started July 8 of last year. When I copy and paste and go to that thread, this guy’s addition is not present. Even when I reload the page. And when I searched for all of his posts in the last two days, it doesn’t list any. How did I get a message that something posted, but the board doesn’t have any record of it, and there’s no new post, for that matter? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-just-get-sdmb-email-about-an-old-thread/530427/2 "2010-02-25T19:04:36Z")
[Was it this thread?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=523818) If so, the post was spam, and I removed it. So you got a notification because someone else had posted to the thread, but the post itself is gone. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-just-get-sdmb-email-about-an-old-thread/530427/3 "2010-02-25T19:29:13Z")
Yep - that was the thread. The post was spam? What does that mean? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-just-get-sdmb-email-about-an-old-thread/530427/4 "2010-02-25T19:35:30Z")
Oh, that thread - I read the post. It was some dude who was probably google-searching for stuff. He bumped the thread with a post that pretty much said “find a solution here” linked to a website he was promoting. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-just-get-sdmb-email-about-an-old-thread/530427/5 "2010-02-25T19:40:20Z")
Some spammers go from message board to message board posting stuff about “Go to this site to find this marvelous product that has nothing to do with the thread I’m posting in.” Presumably they make some money, e.g., if they are being paid by the click, but they are tiresome. Thank you, **Marley23** , and the other mods, for getting rid of stuff like that. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-just-get-sdmb-email-about-an-old-thread/530427/6 "2010-02-25T19:42:22Z")
It’s pretty much what **Ferret Herder** and **Giles** said. I didn’t read the post that thoroughly and the guy’s English was not great, but essentially he bumped your thread to post about a product that deals with the problem you were having. I saw he’d made the same post to other sites, so I removed the post and banned him. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-just-get-sdmb-email-about-an-old-thread/530427/7 "2010-02-25T19:57:16Z")
> [@CC](#): > > The post was spam? What does that mean? > **[Forum spam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forum_spam)** > > Forum spam consists of posts on Internet forums that contains related or unrelated advertisements, links to malicious websites, trolling and abusive or otherwise unwanted information. Forum spam is usually posted onto message boards by automated spambots or manually with unscrupulous intentions with intent to get the spam in front of readers who would not otherwise have anything to do with it intentionally. > Forum spambots surf the web looking for guestbooks, wikis, blogs, forums and any other we... > [@](#): > > Forum spam is the creating of messages that are advertisements, abusive, or otherwise unwanted on Internet forums. It is generally done by automated spambots. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-just-get-sdmb-email-about-an-old-thread/530427/8 "2010-02-25T20:22:23Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > It’s pretty much what **Ferret Herder** and **Giles** said. I didn’t read the post that thoroughly and the guy’s English was not great, but essentially he bumped your thread to post about a product that deals with the problem you were having. I saw he’d made the same post to other sites, so I removed the post and banned him. I am all against spam. But. If the product the guy was hawking did solve the OP’s problem (as opposed to just being a link to some random product), wouldn’t it be of interest and worth keeping? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-just-get-sdmb-email-about-an-old-thread/530427/9 "2010-02-25T20:29:04Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > I am all against spam. But. If the product the guy was hawking did solve the OP’s problem (as opposed to just being a link to some random product), wouldn’t it be of interest and worth keeping? IF it’s a legitimate product and IF it is not a redirect to some malware laden info stealer and IF it is not itself a Trojan. Lottsa IFs. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-just-get-sdmb-email-about-an-old-thread/530427/10 "2010-02-25T20:35:03Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > IF it’s a legitimate product and IF it is not a redirect to some malware laden info stealer and IF it is not itself a Trojan. Lottsa IFs. Tue on all accounts. Maybe just PM the link to the OP. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-just-get-sdmb-email-about-an-old-thread/530427/11 "2010-02-26T07:44:33Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Some spammers go from message board to message board posting stuff about “Go to this site to find this marvelous product that has nothing to do with the thread I’m posting in.” Presumably they make some money, e.g., if they are being paid by the click, but they are tiresome. Thank you, **Marley23** , and the other mods, for getting rid of stuff like that. Actually, in this type of spam they really don’t care if you click on their link. What they want to do is piggyback on the Dope’s high Google rank, which, when they’re linked from our boards, elevates their own Google rank (by link association). This is also why we find 0 post spammers who just add a link to their sig and/or homepage in their profile. **Marley23** does a phenomenal job of keeping our boards spam free, to a point where most of our users rarely ever see any spam. In a world where most comments are spam (see YouTube and other news sites for examples) that’s quite a feat. Other mods help too, but it’s mostly **Marley23** and **spamclem**.