Friendly troll in SA blogs: what's the gimmick?

[ceejay74]

This is just a curiosity question; I'm not complaining about anyone's behavior...

There's a regular commenter in the SA blog community--he doesn't have a blog, in fact his user name links to a spammy site "leads4insurance.com." He seems to really read blog posts and make friendly, completely topic-appropriate comments.

One day I read several comments of his on different people's blogs and realized something strange: He always uses the word "insurance" in his comments. EVERY SINGLE COMMENT. Sometimes it's slipped in rather awkwardly, but he always tries to work it in a way that makes sense.

So now I'm consumed with curiosity: What could be the reason? Is he paid by a company to write posts that have the word "insurance"? Is it his own site and he thinks this will draw more people to it? He seems to take the time to read the posts he responds to, so if he's doing this for nefarious purposes, he's certainly not rushing through it nor doing a hard sell. It took me months, maybe a year, to even notice this pattern.

Has anyone else noticed this? Any theories?

[creditcardfree]

Yep, I know who you are talking about. I had not quite noticed the use of the word in all the posts. But I looked at the last one on my blog and sure enough the word was there.

Comments are always nice and appropriate, so I guess I don't have a problem with it.

[jeffrey]

It was a tough call on what to do with him, but the fact that he does read the post and makes legitimate comments and doesn't spam his link in the comments made me feel that it was OK to let him continue to comment. Basically, he is trying to help his site rank better in search engines and the word that he wants associated with it is "insurance"

[LittleGopher]

I have noticed too! And you're right, he seems to really read the blogs and write out very thoughtful comments. So not a problem for me either.

I wonder if it has to do with search engine stuff (there's probably a name for it!) Maybe when the word "insurance" is put into the search, could using the word so often somehow bring his site up earlier than if he hadn't? Not sure how it all works...but am curious too as to why the writer does that - may have to just ask him - he seems nice enough

[ceejay74]

That is so funny. I'm just glad to hear more about it. It was so surreal when I finally noticed that "insurance" thing.

I like the guy's comments too, so I have no problem with him participating on SA.

[riverwed070707]

I have noticed too! And you're right, he seems to really read the blogs and write out very thoughtful comments. So not a problem for me either.

I wonder if it has to do with search engine stuff (there's probably a name for it!) Maybe when the word "insurance" is put into the search, could using the word so often somehow bring his site up earlier than if he hadn't? Not sure how it all works...but am curious too as to why the writer does that - may have to just ask him - he seems nice enough

It's called SEO or search engine optimization

[starfishy]

I noticed this, too, when I was catching up on various blogs! The comments do seem pertinent and friendly, though, so I guess it's ok. The thing that drives me crazy is that often the word "assurance" would sound better than "insurance"!! I'm glad there's an explanation, I was wondering what the deal was, just seemed so odd.

[LuckyRobin]

Yeah, I noticed the one where the word should have been assurance, too. It really jumped out at me as I have a thing about the right word being used. But I have found that person to be very kind and thoughtful with his comments and not spammy at all. He often has very good responses that I enjoy reading and I would miss them actually if he left.

[Robert742]

This is just a curiosity question; I'm not complaining about anyone's behavior...

There's a regular commenter in the SA blog community--he doesn't have a blog, in fact his user name links to a spammy site "leads4insurance.com." He seems to really read blog posts and make friendly, completely topic-appropriate comments.

One day I read several comments of his on different people's blogs and realized something strange: He always uses the word "insurance" in his comments. EVERY SINGLE COMMENT. Sometimes it's slipped in rather awkwardly, but he always tries to work it in a way that makes sense.

So now I'm consumed with curiosity: What could be the reason? Is he paid by a company to write posts that have the word "insurance"? Is it his own site and he thinks this will draw more people to it? He seems to take the time to read the posts he responds to, so if he's doing this for nefarious purposes, he's certainly not rushing through it nor doing a hard sell. It took me months, maybe a year, to even notice this pattern.

Has anyone else noticed this? Any theories?

Maybe slipping in the word "insurance" helps get more relevant back links and helps for SEO for his or her site. If you have a back link for leads4insurance.com, but you are posting about teddy bears, it is a less relevant topic than the topic of your web site. Let me try it: auto insurance auto insurance auto insurance. Nope... I'm still a page rank 1.

[alphadore]

the way i see it, it is a win-win situation. He provides comments, new ideas, and in exchange not only gain possible friends from this group but also help his website company gain more link juice. Most people including myself are doing the same thing in most forums.

[alphadore]

the success of a website;s SEO is based on the quality and quantity of the relevant backlinks it has. The more relevant backlink a website has, the better positioned in Google it is. Relevancy is an important key here though. Getting a backlink from a forum related automobiles for book website has very minimal effect in terms of link juice.

[My English Castle]

I thought I knew who it was and now indeed I do. There's a bunch more today. It's starting to be funny. I'm sorely tempted to blog about something in his subject area just to watch the comments roll in.

[Krazykat]

the way i see it, it is a win-win situation. He provides comments, new ideas, and in exchange not only gain possible friends from this group but also help his website company gain more link juice. Most people including myself are doing the same thing in most forums.

Wow. That is really smart! Kudos on the idea as I will use it with my article writing! So thank you. On that note, Irene is coming so I should be going soon!

It really is a win-win situation and the more people that are good posters/commenter's that contribute to the forum or blog, more people could be winning!

[jasminhatcher]

I bet he was a little worried when he read the OP lol. It's okay friendly troll, we welcome you .

[alphadore]

Wow. That is really smart! Kudos on the idea as I will use it with my article writing! So thank you. On that note, Irene is coming so I should be going soon!

It really is a win-win situation and the more people that are good posters/commenter's that contribute to the forum or blog, more people could be winning!

Hope you didnt get affected by Irene.