Note how Google wants to see evidence in the Link Disavow file that sites have TRIED to remove links manually:
Here's a sample of a valid file:
#example.com removed most links, but missed these
http://spam.example.com/stuff/comments.html
http://spam.example.com/stuff/paid-links.html
# Contacted owner of shadyseo.com on 7/1/2012 to
# ask for link removal but got no response
domain:shadyseo.com
So this whole post seems like sort of a hissy fit from the edge case of a site that a) failed to protect itself by linking out with followed links from untrusted posters and then got spammed to hell, and then b) gets offended when he reads a comment directed at sites who are trying to profit by removing links when all he really needs to do is hit delete when he gets emailed with link removal requests.
I agree with the comment that this is fair play or an "ethics tax" on people who bought links... f-em I say, since they cheated to begin with and hurt sites who played by the rules and whose content should have enjoyed better rankings and traffic than it did due to the spammers. So whatever hell they're in now is fine by me.
But I also think the OP brought his problems on himself. I ran a huge UGC site for 10 years before I sold it and sorry to say, but if you want to play forum master, you're responsible for defending your site from whatever nastiness is out there. We expect UGC sites to have porn filters, profanity filters, troll filters, and a DMCA takedown procedure, do I don't think it's too much to think that smart webmasters will nofollow links (which is why this site got on the XRumer radar in the first place).
The OP should simply delete these messages and move on. But I guess doing that doesn't drive traffic from HN.
What Google has said is that they just want evidence a reformed spammy site has /attempted/ to remove offending links manually.
See Slide 16: http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/pubcon-2012-slides/
Note how Google wants to see evidence in the Link Disavow file that sites have TRIED to remove links manually:
Here's a sample of a valid file:
So this whole post seems like sort of a hissy fit from the edge case of a site that a) failed to protect itself by linking out with followed links from untrusted posters and then got spammed to hell, and then b) gets offended when he reads a comment directed at sites who are trying to profit by removing links when all he really needs to do is hit delete when he gets emailed with link removal requests.I agree with the comment that this is fair play or an "ethics tax" on people who bought links... f-em I say, since they cheated to begin with and hurt sites who played by the rules and whose content should have enjoyed better rankings and traffic than it did due to the spammers. So whatever hell they're in now is fine by me.
But I also think the OP brought his problems on himself. I ran a huge UGC site for 10 years before I sold it and sorry to say, but if you want to play forum master, you're responsible for defending your site from whatever nastiness is out there. We expect UGC sites to have porn filters, profanity filters, troll filters, and a DMCA takedown procedure, do I don't think it's too much to think that smart webmasters will nofollow links (which is why this site got on the XRumer radar in the first place).