StumbleUpon Takes A Lesson From Digg, Starts Banning Users
Not even two months ago, social news web site Digg.com cleaned house and banned over 80 users for running scripts while on site, including those from Greasemonkey. Digg also banned others for allegedly promoting sites promoting products and services. Now we're getting word that the recommendation engine StumbleUpon may have started a "witchhunt" of their own, banning users of their service for stumbling upon the wrong things. What's worse is that they don't even seem to be responding to emails from the banned users who wanted to know why this happened.
Banned For Spam?
At this time, we have only heard from a handful users about their banning, but the general feeling among this group of outcasts is that StumbleUpon had actively hunted them down.
Although none of the banned users have received any sort of communication from StumbleUpon, some believe that they may have been kicked off for occasionally stumbling sites that had financial value. While that may be a big no-no on Digg, who prohibits such a thing in their Terms of Service (TOS), on StumbleUpon, it's much more of a grey area.
The reason why it's not as cut-and-dry as on Digg is because StumbleUpon features a ton of categories - to see what we mean, Stumble something today and check out that drop-down box of theirs. There, you'll find categories that very much fit in the "financial value" niche including options like Bargains/Coupons, Business, Daytrading, Entrepreneurship, Financial Planning, Investing, Marketing, and others. Clearly, StumbleUpon is OK with many more categories of sites than Digg.
In addition, the only reason StumbleUpon would terminate accounts according to their TOS is if the account was created with the primary intention to promote a product or service are considered "SPAM." In other words, the occasional accidental spammy stumble shouldn't get you kicked out.
That sentence goes on to say that those spam accounts are subject to termination unless expressly authorized in advance in writing by StumbleUpon. What? It's OK to use StumbleUpon for spamming purposes if you get permission first? That seems odd.
Banned Behind The Firewall
Others who have been recently banned from the site include Ian Lurie of Conversation Marketing, who believes that he may have been banned because he stumbled behind a firewall at work. Everyone in his office showed up as the same IP address, making StumbleUpon question whether or not they were operating some sort of black-hat stumbling farm. Unfortunately, Lurie never heard back either thanks to SU's policy of not responding to their users (unless you have the clout of someone like the high-profile Darren Rowse of ProBlogger, that is).
Starting To Clean House?
Obviously, we don't have enough information just yet to know for sure if StumbleUpon is starting to clean house. These recent complaints brought to our attention could either be business as usual at StumbleUpon or could be indicative of a new trend.
Have you been banned or know somehow who has been banned from SU? Let us know in the comments.
Comments
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I am what some call a "power stumbler" with 700+ fans. Recently I noticed that I think 4 or 5 of my ca. 100 reciprocal friends have been banned. Then I asked on Twitter whether other people have been banned and immediately several replied who have.
Most of the banned where to some extent involved in marketing but their transgressions were minimal in most cases. I tried to find out what went wrong based on their last entries. In most cases you can only guess.
The common theme is the strict "no self promotion" rule on SU. That's why I never stumble my won site besides tagging without thumbing up or reviewing it.
Posted by: Tad Chef | November 6, 2008 6:56 AM
Hi and thanks for the article.
I created an account with my blog name almost 2 years ago when I did not what SU was.
I was guilty of submitting my own blog and sharing it with my friends to keep them informed on what I was up to.
I do not have any form of advertising on my blog, it's just my blog and my passion.
I was banned with more than 2000 stumbles on my category in general and hundreds of friends. I found SU to be a great service but I was kicked out of the community without appeal, without the chance to understand my mistakes.
They did reply to my email just ensure that I was out and there was nothing i could do about it.
no notices, no nothing no warnings saying hey your are not using the service in the right way.
Thanks for your post, it's a relief to know others are in my same situation
Cheers
Julius
Posted by: Juliius | November 6, 2008 7:18 AM
I'd heard that msaleem has been banned because he was getting paid to stumble sites.
Posted by: Simon Lestor | November 6, 2008 7:27 AM
Sorry, I meant Muhammad Saleem
Posted by: Simon Lestor | November 6, 2008 7:31 AM
pretty crazy stuff going on. hopefully they will amend their terms to make it more specific about what they are not looking for users to do. No doubt the people who made accounts just for spamming - but I'm sure there are lots of legitimate users getting the hammer as well.
Posted by: matt | November 6, 2008 7:51 AM
I just got a "shout" from Sarah on Digg about this. I have no idea what a Digg shout is but I can't respond. Neat story though - banning prolific users is playing with fire no matter who you are.
Posted by: Daniel J. Pritchett
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November 6, 2008 8:46 AM
WOW, this is too much: "Unfortunately, Lurie never heard back either thanks to SU's policy of not responding to their users (unless you have the clout of someone like the high-profile Darren Rowse of ProBlogger, that is)."
Posted by: Daniel J. Pritchett
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November 6, 2008 8:47 AM
The way I see it they are penalizing heavy users because their algorithm isn't smart enough to distinguish the actions of self promoters.
The self promoter is far removed from the spammer and if they continue they will lose their top content producers. They should approach this flagging very cautiously.
Posted by: Craig | November 6, 2008 8:57 AM
I read on some blog that you can be banned if you only thumb up lots of sites..Is it true?
Posted by: Maria Podolyak
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November 6, 2008 9:08 AM
@Maria I don't know...I hope not...I rarely use the thumbs down.
Posted by: Sarah Perez
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November 6, 2008 9:10 AM
I got banned yesterday from Digg for submitting a post I made: http://www.kyle-brady.com/2008/11/05/thought-of-the-day-mccain-highly-nsfw/
Because it was NSFW? And offensive? Like I said it was? And what about how I didn't actually create it, but only took a screenshot and was "reporting" on it?
Thanks, Digg.
--Kyle
Posted by: Kyle Brady | November 6, 2008 9:59 AM
@Simon Lestor thanks for jumping to conclusions. I wasn't banned, my account is on hold because I had an old, inactive account. This is the error they are giving me:
Incorrect password
Incorrect Password
You are using the wrong password for this account. This can happen if you are using StumbleUpon on 2 different computers but change your password on just one of them. You can recover your password here. Once you've received the correct password, select 'Sign-in' from the stumble menu.
If this still doesn't work for you, please Contact Us to let us know
Posted by: Muhammad Saleem | November 6, 2008 11:16 AM
It's amazing the reasons they ban people now. A few years ago my wife was stalked by a user from Stumbleupon. He had names, kids school addresses, and more. He was sending threats through the system. What did Stumbleupon do then? Nothing. Hopefully this is another reason in their list.
Posted by: Stephan Miller | November 6, 2008 11:26 AM
@Muhammad Saleem If that is the case, why haven't you sorted it out? You've been inactive for several days. Being so active, I'd assume you'd sort it out quickly.
Anyway, you do get paid for your social media activity.
Posted by: Simon Lestor | November 6, 2008 12:24 PM
@ Muhammad Saleem Your Stumbleupon account is 'Under review for breaching TOS'. That's why you're unable to access your account. You stumble for profit.
Posted by: Simon Lestor | November 6, 2008 12:33 PM
The person who calls itself "Simon Lestor" does not exist on the web according to Google.
Mr. Saleem profile is not banned as you can see here:
http://msaleem-stumbl.stumbleupon.com
Otherwise you wouldn't see the stumbles.
Posted by: Tad Chef | November 6, 2008 1:21 PM
SU doesn't ban for the "occasional financial stumble." Only those who send inbox spam and are SEO spammers! I, for one, applaud this move 110%! I don't want to be marketed to while stumbling.
Posted by: skyephoenix | November 6, 2008 2:04 PM
as Digg started cleaning the house by banning the users others like Stumble upon are following it applies to all sooner or later.The remote control in their hands of banning users.
Posted by: venkat | November 6, 2008 8:19 PM
Security Matters & it is good step from Stumbleupon.
Posted by: Web Design
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November 6, 2008 11:04 PM
SU have always replied to my emails. I suspect a lot of these people are banned for spam emails or spam stumbling but won't admit their behaviour. I'm glad to see the back of them.
Posted by: David E | November 7, 2008 12:53 AM
I was banned not long ago. The only thing I was told was that I violated their TOS by promoting some specific site. That was it. I couldn't get anything else telling me what it is that I stumbled that violated their TOS. Yes, I would promote my site from time to time but I would stumble through many other sites as well. I'm hardly what would be considered an abuser or spammer. That they couldn't tell me what exactly I did is what's so annoying.
Posted by: FFB | November 7, 2008 9:05 AM
My account has also been frozen a couple of days ago..
"Your StumbleUpon account privileges have been restricted and the account is under review.
Accounts are placed under review for breaching our Terms of Service, ..."
I DIDN'T promote any business, spammed users,.. so they should really rethink the method they are currently using!
This is the worst kind of PR they could get, and I hope it will hit them hard. Don't know if I'll continue using stumbleupon anymore.
Best regards
http://twitter.com/Adgenius
Posted by: Rob van Alphen | November 7, 2008 11:24 AM
I can't stumble my blog after a few times never see it on favorite page, but I can stumble the other sites. I think my blog has been blocked by the authorities stumbleupon...
Posted by: Cecep SWP | November 8, 2008 7:13 AM
I was recently banned from SU for reasons stated in your post. I was told I was spamming and I was also told that I had multiple accounts. The thing you should pick up on here is "I was told" - meaning they answered my emails to them Yes they were very slow and yest they were almost "canned" answers. But I did receive responses and after a few short emails and some questions I was reinstated. I am not a POWER blogger -- that is for sure - at least I do not see myself as one.
I asked them to show me the things I was doing that would be considered spam and asked them to show me how it was I had multiple accounts and they sent me an email that simply stated "Upon further review - we have reinstated your account" And mentioned that if there is an other issue they would get in touch with me. Now I can tell you - I have been careful about what I have stumbled since then - but my stumbles have really not changed all that much. I really hope they do not get stupid - and I really hope you just give them a chance to respond - as they do and they are much more liberal and understanding of errors and mistakes
Just my thoughts
Benny
Posted by: Benny Greenberg | November 8, 2008 10:58 AM
I'm the administrator of a membership style site where people submit articles, podcasts and blogs. The content that I find most interesting I had been stumbling with a review and now I find that whenever I review something from this site it doesn't show up in my favourites and doesn't go beyond my own stumble.
I am not spamming and I don't review pages that are trying to sell anything. Am I doing the wrong thing?
I thought the idea was to share quality content with other web users that fall within categories.
Posted by: Stephen | November 9, 2008 1:48 PM
I can imagine people getting banned if they create profiles with 10 stumbles or more towards the same domain for well know spam keywords. Coming upon a good stumble is worth its weight in gold, I would hate stumbling onto junk after junk after junk.
Posted by: Dreams | November 12, 2008 1:14 PM
If what skyephoenix say's is correct, I'm sure most of us haven't got too much to worry about. I have to admit I've stumbled several of my own websites, hopefully I won't get banned for it. :-( My traffic from stumbleupon has dramatically reduced.
Posted by: John | November 13, 2008 11:34 AM
I got banned from StumbleUpon, with no apparent reason. They sent me an email suggesting that my account was locked and consequently under investigation, but did not supply any reasons why this might be the case.
I'm pretty upset, but I can go on without StumbleUpon.
Posted by: Eric Martindale
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November 14, 2008 12:21 PM