2. ProblemsSome of the problems associated with trackbacks and in particular, automating trackback link building.
2.1 no-follow
You can only legitimately trackback blogs and most blogs have nofollow by now unlike forums and article directories.
2.1.1 Note
Yahoo and MSN may not pay attention to the nofollow tag. Google just makes sure you don't get the benefit of whatever PR the blog has. It still sends its spiders to follow the links.
2.2 sales pitch
Most trackback spam tools look like an interesting piece of software.
If only you could trust everything software developers said on their sales websites.
2.3 hosting
Trackback scripts are notorious for getting hosting accounts shut down due to complaints about "BLOG SPAMMING"
Squidoo will also cancel accounts promoted with trackbacks if they get complaints.
Adsense and some affiliate programs are not friendly towards advertisers that employ trackback techniques.
2.4 no referrer
If there isn't a referrer from your blog to the trackback comment, most anti-spam tools will automatically filter the trackback as spam and blacklist the domain and IP as spam if continuously repeated.
There are scripts that spoof the referrer but they only work if the script and target domain are on the same server.
2.4.1 fake referrer
I tested javascript referrer scripts that display the last visitor. If the blog owner checks the blog promoted, it will have his link listed.
Couldn't find any working javascript or WP plugin to show the last visitor.
Checked php referrer scripts
Found the following code that would work:
<?php echo $_SERVER<"HTTP_REFERER">; ?>
Prefix it with something like "Most recently visited page:" and stick it in the sidebar or footer. It might pass a quick manual check or automated checks for urls depending on the page accessed from.
Couple problems I had when testing the php referrer snippet:
-urls can get long and break the sidebar formatting so I used it in the footer
-it shows all referrers including search terms
-depending on your prefixed text, it might disturb some bloggers to see that you recently visited their www.domain.com/wp- admin/moderation.php page
Rule of thumb when trackbacking - be prepared for complaints.
2.5 caveats
Use trackbacks at your own risk
Akismet can wipe all your links out in one stroke
Your IP and domain can get blacklisted which will interfere with comment posting and submitting your rss feeds.
2.5.1 anti-trackback plugins plugins
There is no greater challenge than trying to fly under the radar so to speak - sometimes literally.
To get a better handle on how trackbacks are handled by your blog, be sure to trackback yourself with the various tools and manually.
To paraphrase one of Kurt's gospels about the best way to understand search engines is to run your own. Likewise, with any tool you use - direct it to your sites first, even if you have to make up throw away sites.
Always test before going live or believing in some iffy sales copy.
Simple Trackback Validation Plugin — Direct quote from their software guide
"When a trackback is received, this plugin checks if the IP address of the trackback sender is equal to the IP address of the webserver the trackback URL is referring to.
This reveals almost every spam trackback (more than 99%) since spammers do usually use bots which are not running on the machine of their customers.
It retrieves the web page located at the URL included in the trackback. If the page doesn’t a link to your blog, the trackback is considered to be spam.
Since most trackback spammers do not set up custom web pages linking to the blogs they attack, this simple test will quickly reveal illegitimate trackbacks.
Also, bloggers can be stopped abusing trackback by sending trackbacks with their blog software or webservices without having a link to the post.
See related topics and documents
http://sw-guide.de/wordpress/plugins/simple-trackback-validation/ "
Defeat attempts
Tried trackbacks to 7 different blogs with this plugin. Submitted directly from a blog but without linking directly to their post.
No successful results yet and my test trackback to both my own hosted blog and wordpress.com blog ended up in the moderation queue and not Akismet's spam filter. If Akismet traps it before this plugin, then it defeats the purpose of the test.
I took care of the IP issue but not the direct link to the post I was trackbacking. I was hoping the snippet of php code that displayed the referrer would suffice. The test now is if the blog moderator will pass it.
The other option is to go to a database option or even a manual list of actually posting the links of the 50 sites that I want trackbacks on under the guise of "Sites I visited to write my last post"
If it stops trackbacks from getting flagged as spam, it is worth it.
There are a lot of other blogs that don't take any anti-trackback measures. It may be easier to target them.
The caveat is that the more trackbacks you send that fail, the greater the chance your domain and IP will get blacklisted.
Dave’s Blog » Spam Karma 2.3
"Spam Karma 2 (SK2) is an anti-spam plugin for the WordPressblogging platform. It is meant to stop all forms of automated Blog spam effortlessly, while remaining as unobtrusive as possible to regular commenters.
See related topics and documents
http://unknowngenius.com/blog/wordpress/spam-karma/ "
Defeat attempts
I have this installed on a test blog and I am trackbacking it from my hosted blogs as well as wordpress.com blogs.
I am actually testing two things out:
1. determining what it considers spam and trying to bypass it
2. testing the use of some plugins and permalink settings that are SEO "must haves" and seeing if they trigger a spam filter due to words they put in the url, like porn, casino or viagra. I know those are the obvious ones but the list of flagged words is likely large enough to trigger some false postives.
My first trackback just landed in the Recent Spam Harvest basket with a -7.87 rating:
Comment has no URL in content (but one author URL)
-7: Trackback Source Site (http://domain.com/in;dex.php/archives/2) does not contain Blog URL domain (domain.info).
-1: Severity settings adjustment.
Now to fix it. I'll put the php referrer script in the blog footer and tried again.
Still didn't work. It is obviously checking for the url from a different server or requires a html link.
I added the URL to a post (not a link) and tried again. This time it worked and was automatically approved.
The comment stayed on the blog after I removed the link which is understandable. I also added the url as a tag and the trackback got approved.
This leads to a couple interesting ways to automatically bypass the url filter that I will test later. Using plugins that can be turned on and off easily that can correspond with batches of trackbacks being submitted. If done in moderation on relevant blogs the other spam triggers might not be tripped.
2.6 unnecessary submits
The only trackback tool that can be considered effective would be the one that actually checks if your trackback has been posted AND appears on the targeted blog.
It should modify its database of URLs to exclude those that do not display your trackback so you don't keep submitting to the same blogs that moderate your trackback out and risk being blacklisted by spam filters.
2.6.1 Trackbacks disabled
Many sites now disable trackbacks and comments on posts older than XX days. There are still lots of blogs out there.
