London Online Marketing Company Calls a Halt to Spam Tactics

LONDON - Jan. 13, 2014 - PRLog -- Incorrect grammar, grotesque spelling mistakes, nonsense sentences – all features of a typical e-mail reading session or an evening of browsing Facebook or your favorite social media site. But have you ever stopped to think why this is happening, or are you like the majority of net surfers and content to let it all wash over you in tacit acceptance of the apparently inexorable march of globalized internet content spam?

So here we are, well into the 21st century, the era of almost instant communication upon us, most global barriers lifted, a video conversation with your surrogate father in Kalimantan more easily achievable and convenient than a chat with your neighbor over the garden fence. You can order online the latest high spec solar cooker from Beijing for delivery in 3 days time more simply than going to your nearest DIY store and getting them to order an older model from their warehouse in the adjoining state.

Isn't it all so wonderful! But at what price? In fact incredibly cheaply. But the real price is more one of being subjected to a constant barrage of e-mail spam, web content spam and the ongoing debasement of our national languages and cultures. Is it worth the price? Does the lowering of communication standards really matter? Only you can tell. Each will have is personal and equally valid attitude and response to this. After all, there is still freedom of speech and expression, at least in some parts of the world... albeit this is again being eroded away by the various surveillance programs about which we don't want to go into here.

But let's talk about language debasement, since that's what this little rant is all about. First came the Americans, who took the English language and grammar and simplified it to yield a sort of streamlined elegance of which any moderately intelligent 8-year-old would be proud. But then perhaps it was a necessary step... language is after all a living thing. From there it was transferred to Asia and the Far East, where it has undergone various unspeakable and random transmogrifications, essentially leaving only the basic phonetic content, before being sent back to us in wave upon wave of e-mail and web spam (of course not forgetting that perpetrated by SMS and so-called “communicators”), prior to being adopted back into our own language, becoming almost the norm. In fact I am sure that one day in the near future it will be the norm. Recent and ongoing dictionary additions are living proof!

Then what happens? I'll tell you what happens next... the wonderful world of “content spinners”. Are you familiar with these cute little applications? If you are involved to any significant degree with online marketing, you certainly will be. If not, then be prepared for a non-surprise.

According to Tony Wood, a consultant with London UK based online marketing specialists Universal Communications Group, “a content spinner is a desktop or web based application that has the ability to take a piece of written content, such as a news article or blog post, and transform it into a thousand or more similar versions by applying a series of basic grammar and syntax rules, alternative words, phrases, paragraphs, etc, with the object of getting around the duplicate content filters applied with increasing frequency and severity by the internet search engines and other sites.

“What happens next is that these 'spun' articles are then distributed automatically via a myriad fake accounts on a large number of social media sites, news sites and blogs, with the object of either advertising products and services or providing valuable 'backlinks' to websites in order to help the sites rank higher in the search engines.”

Fortunately the search engines are becoming ever more adept at identifying and discounting such web spam, rendering it increasingly ineffective. Regrettably this is doing little to stop the deluge, since there are still literally hundreds of thousands of offshore outsourcers filling the inboxes of businesses daily offering the panacea of “Google Page 1 ranking”, and most will be employing just such techniques. Page 1 Google ranking? Maybe, but in the vast majority of cases, less than likely, and certainly not just in returning for handing over a few dollars.

Wood goes on to say “Of course, many smaller businesses don't have the finances available to pay for quality web content creation and the services of ethical marketing companies, since by its very nature, this involves more time spent by experienced writers and thus somewhat higher costs. In such cases however it is even preferable that businesses try to make the effort to create their own content and distribute it themselves via familiar channels, including their own social media accounts and to the local media. In the end it is quality that will win over quantity. It is better to produce less, but genuine and honest content with the desired message, rather than attempt to shoot for the stars by employing unscrupulous outsourcers and risk having your website banned from the search indexes, which is an ever growing risk.”

For more information concerning ethical online marketing tactics and the creation of quality content by real live human beings and experienced writers, Tony Wood can be contacted through the Universal Communications Group website at http://universalcommunications.co.uk

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Universal Communications Group
London, UK