Update: removal of fanfiction.net spam mirror sites from Google search (and other fannish things)
I posted this on Tumblr, thought I'd share here as well: It's no longer necessary to report to Google about those spam mirror sites that have stolen stories from fanfiction.net. I’m talking about the following sites as previously shared with us by velvetwhip and others:
They’re getting addressed! Yay!
If you check search results, some of the sites have been removed completely from Google since Monday. Take thanfiction.org (do not visit site!) for example, how many of their stolen fanfiction.net stories now show up in Google? Zero:
While the sites themselves have not been taken down, and your content still lives on illegally on their site, they’re probably getting a lot less traffic from casual searches. Do a happy dance and congratulate yourself on making it happen LIKE A BOSS!!
Compare this to Bing, which still returns 6080 results (so that you know the removal on Google is deliberate):
I’m not aware of a way of reporting spam sites to Bing to get them removed from search results. The best I can find from Microsoft Bing’s support site says only that, “Bing doesn’t control the content that websites publish or that appears in Bing search results. To make sure content is removed from search results, your best option is to contact the webmaster for the website that published the content and request that it be deleted or removed.”
(If you know of a way of reporting spam websites to Bing to have their content removed from Bing’s search results, please share.)
Meanwhile, the unstilled world of fandom still whirled, and let's not forget to celebrate the achievements of our own and our fellow fans:
1. Voting is still open at the 2016 Headline Awards. Be a Watcher's pet and pray for us sinners now on this Ash Wednesday ease the conscience of those us who have created ties in the current voting results.
2. Voting for the Viewer's Choice (fan art) category and the Reader's Choice (fanfiction) category is open at the Running With Scissors Awards Round 11. Show the artists and authors some looove with your vote. Terminate torment of love unsatisfied (and desiring of salvation). Replace with the greater torment of love satisfied (and upheld by your vote).
Because your love, your dedication is what makes this fandom of ours shine with brightness, gives it strength beyond life and unlife, profit and loss. And that's not something that can be stolen by a scraper or replaced by a clever spam mirror site.
They’re getting addressed! Yay!
If you check search results, some of the sites have been removed completely from Google since Monday. Take thanfiction.org (do not visit site!) for example, how many of their stolen fanfiction.net stories now show up in Google? Zero:
While the sites themselves have not been taken down, and your content still lives on illegally on their site, they’re probably getting a lot less traffic from casual searches. Do a happy dance and congratulate yourself on making it happen LIKE A BOSS!!
Compare this to Bing, which still returns 6080 results (so that you know the removal on Google is deliberate):
I’m not aware of a way of reporting spam sites to Bing to get them removed from search results. The best I can find from Microsoft Bing’s support site says only that, “Bing doesn’t control the content that websites publish or that appears in Bing search results. To make sure content is removed from search results, your best option is to contact the webmaster for the website that published the content and request that it be deleted or removed.”
(If you know of a way of reporting spam websites to Bing to have their content removed from Bing’s search results, please share.)
Meanwhile, the unstilled world of fandom still whirled, and let's not forget to celebrate the achievements of our own and our fellow fans:
1. Voting is still open at the 2016 Headline Awards. Be a Watcher's pet and pray for us sinners now on this Ash Wednesday ease the conscience of those us who have created ties in the current voting results.
2. Voting for the Viewer's Choice (fan art) category and the Reader's Choice (fanfiction) category is open at the Running With Scissors Awards Round 11. Show the artists and authors some looove with your vote. Terminate torment of love unsatisfied (and desiring of salvation). Replace with the greater torment of love satisfied (and upheld by your vote).
Because your love, your dedication is what makes this fandom of ours shine with brightness, gives it strength beyond life and unlife, profit and loss. And that's not something that can be stolen by a scraper or replaced by a clever spam mirror site.