Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is one of the fastest growing methods of content distribution associated with Internet technologies. Because creating feeds is not too complicated, the ability to present on-page information to subscribers has been embraced by bloggers and business sites alike. Many users also recognize the value of RSS when it comes to improving search engine ranking. Links that appear within subscription feeds are given relevance, which is essential for enhancing SERP position.
Is Spam Becoming A Problem With RSS?
Is RSS in danger of becoming a spam target? How bad can spam damage RSS’s reputation? Discuss at WebProWorld.
However, what would happen if spam started to proliferate throughout syndication feeds? How damaging might unwanted advertising be to this developing technology?
Since the popularity of RSS use is growing exponentially, the idea to monetize syndication with ads is also gaining ground. Recently, Yahoo announced that they would begin displaying ads from Overture’s service within RSS feeds displayed on a users My Yahoo homepage. Moreover also announced changes to the way they deliver ads to their subscribers.
There have also been growing reports of feeds being used to deliver spam. Andy Beal recently discovered something similar with feeds, “someone who has realized that placing popular terms in their news posts will get them picked up by thousands of RSS subscribers. Is this RSS Spam?”
This issue was also addressed by the O’Reilly website. In an article called “Anticipating RSS Spam“, writer Marc Hedland speculates that there are a number of methods that could be employed to deliver unwanted advertisements. One method called “The Fake New Item” is described as follows:
“It’s easy to imagine a very malicious feed that would just always make its entries appear new’– change them subtly, report that they were just written, or whatever — so that its items would always show up in my aggregator — but I’d just unsubscribe.” However, Marc does admit that there are more subtle entries that would be harder to detect. Hedland also speculates that pop-up ads could be a successful form of RSS spam because it would be difficult to determine which feed produced the advertisement.
If spammers have indeed set their sights on RSS as the newest form of delivery, what can be done to combat them? With email spam, users and administrators can implement filters that can catch offending mailings, but current RSS aggregators lack filtering technology. If you set content filters to catch RSS spam, you run the risk of filtering out the relevant information you were seeking.
In the blog Jim’s Random Notes, Jim indicates that combating RSS spam, much like all the other types of spam, would require a “community-wide effort; one that I hope will be handled better than the email spam effort with its over-zealous black hole’ operators.” Jim also speculates that RSS spam would be much more difficult to legislate because, unlike email, the unwanted content isn’t “pushed” onto the consumer. “All a Web site does is publish an XML feed and notify a service that the feed has changed. There’s no push’ involved.” However, Jim doesn’t feel spammers can clog RSS as badly as they have email.
If RSS spam were to become as prevalent as email spam, a promising young technology could be damaged or even stopped in its tracks. If the reputation of RSS were that of a spam haven, the average user would likely shy away.
I discussed the issue with Andy Beal of Search Engine Lowdown and he thinks there may be serious consequences associated with unscrupulous advertising via RSS, “We could all be in for a rough ride if spam becomes prevalent in RSS feeds. The reason I use RSS is that it allows me to keep track and read a wide variety of different resources. If my feeds start becoming corrupted with spam, it would at the very least, cut down on my productivity,”.
Andy went on to say, “So far, I’ve only seen it using Feedster and its ability to turn a search query into an RSS feed. That being said, if RSS is going to continue to grow, we’ll all have to look at how we can protect ourselves from spam. Maybe we’d see a PageRank or Hilltop system applied to RSS aggregators with only the most popular bloggers/posters having their information in the feeds.”
Chris Richardson is a search engine writer and editor for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest search news.
