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There is a particular user who has just started what appears to be an advertising campaign for a specific user group/community/whatever.

This user's modus operandi seems to involve appending a standard "Join this group for more amazing tricks" to all of his/her answers. I have removed a couple of those, but I am starting to think that a more concrete response may be necessary...

I suppose that bringing this up in Meta will probably attract the right kind of attention, but, for future reference, what should one do in such cases? Should they:

  • flag as spam, even if the answer contains otherwise relevant and potentially useful information?

  • flag for moderator attention?

  • edit the spammy content out and leave a comment?

  • just edit the spammy content out and go on with their day?

PS: It should be noted that this user has made no contribution to SO since registering over a year ago, until this spam campaign started a few hours ago...

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  • 2
    A somewhat similar question generated a lot of interest last week. Not exactly the same situation, but some of the same principles apply.
    – Pops
    Jul 24, 2012 at 22:16
  • FYI, it seems they have all been cleaned up now. And the user seems ready to leave. (Though not as a result of the cleanup it seems)
    – Bart
    Jul 24, 2012 at 22:23
  • @PopularDemand: That was an interesting read, although it seems that this case is more clear-cut; removing the links changed nothing in the amount of information conveyed by the answers, which IMHO is a clear indication of spam...
    – thkala
    Jul 24, 2012 at 22:23
  • @Bart Wow. Oded was polite, informative and patient (as usual) and the guy's still quitting? I guess some people just interpret anything other than "here r t3h codez" as a grievous insult.
    – Pops
    Jul 24, 2012 at 22:28
  • @PopularDemand: I don't think this user is/was here to ask and answer questions...
    – thkala
    Jul 24, 2012 at 22:30

1 Answer 1

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If it's just one or two posts you can edit it out and go about your day knowing you've earned our gratitude. There's also a relevant section of the FAQ you can link to in your edit message. Can I use a signature or tagline?

If it looks like the user is persistently using a tagline on the majority of their posts, you can flag for a moderator and we'll private message them (as I did in this case).

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  • Well all the links are gone now and hopefully this user will not persist. Thanks for your answer and for the assistance...
    – thkala
    Jul 24, 2012 at 22:41

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