{"id":2342,"date":"2015-04-04T11:58:00","date_gmt":"2015-04-04T11:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.benjeapes.com\/?p=2342"},"modified":"2022-08-26T08:31:30","modified_gmt":"2022-08-26T08:31:30","slug":"im-form-blasting-daddy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.benjeapes.com\/index.php\/2015\/04\/im-form-blasting-daddy\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019m form blasting, daddy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"image<\/a>I\u2019ve learned a new word. Rather, words. Form blasting. The deliberate mass spamming of contact forms on websites.<\/p>\n

For a while I\u2019ve been vaguely puzzled by the amount of messages caught in my spam filter that have been sent via my own website\u2019s contact form.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy name is Dennis and I was very intrigued by benjeapes.com<\/a> Great content! I can tell that you are a major leader in your field or will become it soon :)\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And other such inspiring messages clearly written by someone who has spent hours poring over my humble offering. Tweak my SEO, buy social media hits, redesign the site \u2026 those are the main ones. It\u2019s not a great headache as Gmail\u2019s spam filter really is pretty good. It baffles me more than anything else. One reason I have a contact form on my website is so that I don\u2019t have to publish my email address, and hence (in theory) I get to reduce spam, as people who want to talk to me will have to take the time to enter a message in the form manually. But apparently that happens anyway.<\/p>\n

And then the other day I read this one (which was also caught in the filter).<\/p>\n

Why are you reading this message? Are you wondering what I want? I just wanted to show you that we have just succeeded in the first rule of advertising.. Getting people to READ our ad. Now let’s make the next 500,000 of these messages YOURS! Form blasting is the most effective direct marketing tool online today. Find out more here: http:\/\/spammers-R-us.com<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And there it is. Form blasting. There really are people paid to do this kind of thing.<\/p>\n

So out of interest I visited spammers-R-us.com<\/a>\u00a0(note: not their real name; they’re not getting even that minuscule amount of publicity). The page extols the virtues of form blasting as a communication method.<\/p>\n

What are “contact us” pages? Virtually any website has them, it’s the method any website will use to allow you to contact them. It’s usually a simple form that asks for your name, email address and message and once submitted will result in the person or business receiving your message instantly! Unlike bulk emailing, there are no laws against automated form submission and your message will never get stuck in spam filters. We can’t think of a better way to quickly reach a large volume of people and at such a low cost!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, just in case there are people out there who are considering falling for this kind of thing – maybe researching form blasting, weighing up the pros and cons, wondering if these people are bona fide or not – here\u2019s why it might not be a good idea.<\/p>\n

Because it\u2019s spam. Pure and simple.<\/p>\n

Ah, but it\u2019s not spam, is it? At least, not according to their FAQ.<\/p>\n

Q: Is form blasting spam?
\nA: No, in fact there are no clear laws against automated form submissions. After all, the only reason why a business would have a contact form on their website is to get in touch with customers and other businesses. Also, with form blasting the impact of spam filters is minimal and you will get your message out successfully to more people than you would with a mass email blast.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Let us unpack this.<\/p>\n

there are no clear laws against automated form submissions<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

True. So form blasting is technically<\/em> legal. Do you really want to engage future customers, build a relationship of trust, starting from the point that what you\u2019re doing is technically<\/em> legal? Does that really sell your company as one that is worth doing business with?<\/p>\n

After all, the only reason why a business would have a contact form on their website is to get in touch with customers and other businesses.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And the only reason I have a letter box in my front door is so that people can post things to me. The concept of unsolicited mail still applies. I expect to receive letters, bills, contracts, cheques, bank statements \u2026 the usual treeware-based paraphernalia of life in the early 21st century. Unsolicited mail still goes straight into recycling, unopened.<\/p>\n

And consider that, like mine, the point of having the form may be to avoid receiving spam in the first place.<\/p>\n

Look also at that curious use of the word \u201cbusiness\u201d. I\u2019m not a business. I\u2019m a writer with a full-time day job. I like people to buy my books, yes, and I engage in a certain amount of self-publicity. The website is one example. Through this I earn a little money and declare a little tax. But I\u2019m not a business.<\/p>\n

Doesn\u2019t matter to spammers-R-us.com. I\u2019m a contact form, that\u2019s all. That is how well spammers-R-us.com\u00a0choose their targets, boys and girls.<\/p>\n

Also, with form blasting the impact of spam filters is minimal and you will get your message out successfully to more people than you would with a mass email blast.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"spam<\/a>

Ooh, look! It’s my spam menu! And that’s your message in the background! Can you guess what I’m doing to it? Can you?<\/p><\/div>\n

So despite this categorically not being spam, they are aware that spam filters present a problem. How strange. Even stranger is that most of these that I get end up in my spam filter anyway. Funny that. So, potential customers of spammers-R-us.com, spammers-R-us.com\u00a0is lying to you. Almost (almost) every message I have seen like this has been caught by Gmail\u2019s spam filter. Those that aren\u2019t, I mark as spam for Gmail\u2019s benefit. And bear in mind that one of the keys to Google\u2019s success is that its products learn.<\/p>\n

And even if I do see it, am I going to use your services?<\/p>\n

Or let\u2019s put it another way. If you actually do offer a service that I am likely to want – stranger things have happened – and you don\u2019t spam me, then one day, who knows, I might (might) do a Google search, and find you, and take what you have to offer. A mutually beneficial relationship – your services for my money – might ensue. Might.<\/p>\n

But if you form blast me, even if you are offering something I want, then by the Nine Gods, by \u00a0Grabthar\u2019s Hammer and by the surly beard of Mrifk himself I swear I will never, ever use your services. If you\u2019re offering something I want, so are others.<\/p>\n

So: you don\u2019t form blast, you might get my money. You form blast, you absolutely won\u2019t. Your choice.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t form blast. You\u2019re better than that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve learned a new word. Rather, words. Form blasting. The deliberate mass spamming of contact forms on websites. For a while I\u2019ve been vaguely puzzled by the amount of messages caught in my spam filter that have been sent via … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[398],"class_list":["post-2342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pensees","tag-form-blasting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benjeapes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benjeapes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benjeapes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benjeapes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benjeapes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2342"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.benjeapes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3779,"href":"https:\/\/www.benjeapes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2342\/revisions\/3779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benjeapes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benjeapes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benjeapes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}