The Dot Report
You may be aware of SEO spammers using Gmail, but this does not represent the entire population. Some use various other addresses as well. But before we move further, we need to understand very clearly two things. What does it mean when we say “SEO spammers.” And who are they?
SEO spammers are not always those who build links for the purpose of spamming blogs and forums. They are also people who pay attention to other kinds of submissions like Web directories. To do this, these spammers make use of various websites other than Gmail.
Spamming is not just about links. It also involves content. Most spammers use content from other websites and republish it to additional websites. There are many who can very easily create fake Gmail accounts with genuine phone numbers, even when Google tries its best to delete all spam Gmail accounts as soon as possible. But do all of them use Gmail to do their spamming?
SEO spamming with Gmail most probably reached its highest numbers during the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011. Most of the forum spammers, who were all over the Web, were using Gmail as well as various other domains for emailing. An immediate outcome of this activity was spam email addresses that were false. This kind of spamming affected legitimate and original blog and forum operators who mostly operated their own email services since too many spam or bounce-back messages will lead to blacklisting of a domain.
The perception that SEO spammers use only Gmail is not accurate. Those who do are motivated by market forces. Gmail is attractive to users who have faith in its phone-verified account concept. But at times, spammers have found ways to pass these verifications as well.
Finally, Web spamming has been prevalent for some time. And new practices are always arising. Every time there is a new spamming practice on the Web, it has reached its zenith before it’s been replaced by another.