KeywordSpy.com Caught Spamming Blogs for Links

by Scott Allen

KeywordSpy.com, a provider of competitive keyword data, has been caught spamming many blogs across the internet. This first came to our attention as blogs that we manage were repeatedly hit by manual spam. We also received similar reports from volunteers that help report spam data and test WP-SpamFree beta releases.

Many (if not all) of these seem to be manually submitted. All of the reported IP addresses originate from locations in India. Hmm…did KeywordSpy hire some spammy offshore link builders? I think so!

It’s not clear whether KeywordSpy intentionally instructed their link builders to do this, or if they were unaware of actions by an unethical SEO team. Either way, it’s a great way to get blacklisted.

Apparently this has been going on since at least the summer of 2007, so almost a year at the minimum. That being the case, I have a hard time believing that the KeywordSpy owners aren’t at least aware of the less-than-ethical spamming action.

Here’s a sample of the human spam comments we (and others) have been getting:

For your keyword research try using KeywordSpy.com - a keyword research technology that will help you know what keywords your competitors are using and how it generates money for them, you can use those keywords to drive traffic to your site and give your business the exposure it needs. It offers Free trials.- http://www.keywordspy.com/

Most of the spam comments we’ve received have kelly@keywordspy.com in the email address field, but according to reports from our testers and others across the internet, michelle@keywordspy.com is a popular offender too.

Don’t Take My Word for It — See for Yourself
Check out this Google search…All of these are sites hit by the spammers.

Here’s another Google search for a phrase they commonly use. And another, and another.

Check out this post on Mike Moran’s blog - three comments about KeywordSpy, all on the same page. 2 by Michelle, and 1 by Kelly.

It looks like their wonderful ethics don’t stop at spam. By doing some quick searches on Google and forums, you can find unhappy customers there as well. Here’s one example. And another. And yet another.

Hey KeywordSpy: Next time, you guys might want to think ahead and realize that it’s not a brilliant move to try and spam developers of popular blog anti-spam plugins. You might just find yourself blacklisted. Doh!!

UPDATED 07/08/2008:
Mike Moran posted a great response on his blog: Am I Helping a Spammer? Yes!

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