RBL Improved – EzineArticles Adopts Google Safe Browsing
New System Promises Fewer “False Positives”
Back in November, we implemented a system to distinguish between “safe links” (those that link to a reputable site) and “malicious links” (those found to be potentially harmful or that have been reported for spamming/phishing). If a link was identified to be on a Real-Time Block List (RBL), that link would not be published on our platform.
In an effort to continuously improve the EzineArticles system, we’ve decided to “lighten up” on checking links for malicious activity. This does not mean we’ve lowered our standards. On the contrary, we’ve actually improved the system by selecting a better source for determining if a link is “safe” or “malicious”.
Previously we used a combination of sources which we believed were accurate and trustworthy. Over the past several months, however, we have seen an unacceptable number of “false-positives” where safe links were being misidentified as malicious. This forced us to take a hard look at the effectiveness of that RBL system.
As a result, and after careful consideration, we have decided to switch to the Google Safe Browsing system to verify all URLs submitted to EzineArticles. This change has already been implemented.
This improvement is completely transparent to our members; which means you won’t see any difference when you submit an article. As always, these real-time link checks are being done behind the scenes.
Bottom Line: The only change we’ve made is in our RBL service provider. The only change you’ll see is a significant decrease in the number of false positives. We just thought you should know.
If you’d like to weigh in on this topic, please leave a comment.
Good to know. I also saw the CAPTCHA in the blog comments which I don’t remember before. Helps keep the spam-bots out. Yay!
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