On: You probably don’t need ReCAPTCHA

[frosted-flakes]

I have to ask, why do people do this? What do they get out of it?

[Washuu → frosted-flakes]

I assume SEO targeting and associating phrases with various products. For example, people on Reddit will name and shame by dropping people's names accused of crimes next to the thing they are accused of in a complete sentence. This is an attempt to promote the relevance of those two facts in Google Search to each other.

[michaelt → Washuu]

Doesn't the nofollow attribute [1] work to remove that incentive? IIRC that was the intended purpose of nofollow?

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nofollow

[baroffoos → frosted-flakes]

The automated spam tends to be for financial gain somehow, Either by spaming links thinking someone will click them or SEO stuff. The non automated spam is usually people who find enjoyment in being annoying

[SamuelAdams → frosted-flakes]

I recommend reading the book "Spam Nation" by Brian Krebs(sp?). He goes into the different motives behind spam, the big actors, and how people get paid for creating spam.

[buboard → frosted-flakes]

i have the same experience, exclusively bangladeshi and indian IPs signing up to enter SEO spam for small businesses in the US (insurance, hair salons, lawyers, house renovation etc etc). Stopforumspam has most of them in their lists.