Current stance towards automatic service bumping bots?

[Adriandmen]

I am currently planning on developing an automatic bump bot for some of the services I have listed in the Services section and was wondering if this does not interfere with any rules or regulations on this forum.

Some information about requirements I have set myself for the bot:

 - It will delete the previously posted bump message before posting a new bump message.
 - If it fails to delete the previous bump message, it will stop running immediately and stops posting any more bump messages to avoid cluttering.
 - Bumps will be posted every 24 hours (or slightly above that because of the no-delete rule for posts younger than 24 hours).
 - The scraping of posts is done using the wap2 version of the post.
 - The bump message remains the same message during all times (and includes a line of text explaining that it is an automatically posted message).

Is this allowed? Should I use a new newbie account or is using my own account for this okay?

Thanks in advance,

Adriandmen

[Jet Cash]

This sort of thing is the reason I have services on ignore. I hope that the admins will do something to block these actions so that we can have a usable services section in the future.

[Lauda]

I believe it falls under acceptable behavior as long as it doesn't break the > 1 bump per 24 hour rule. I'd actually encourage automating bumping where possible.

[Jet Cash]

I think this is a bad thing for a number of reasons.

- If the announcer doesn't have enough belief in his product to monitor his replies, then he is unlikely to support the product, and we should ignore it.

Similarly if the announcer doesn't have enough interest in the forum to become an active member, why should we consider his product.

If the thread doesn't get any active replies or comments, then it is unlikely to be of benefit to the members here, so it should be allowed to drop, and leave space for better quality products.

The forum has paid advertising slots, please use those instead of trying to inflict marginal products on the members here without paying for the advertising.

[Welsh]

I think this is a bad thing for a number of reasons.

- If the announcer doesn't have enough belief in his product to monitor his replies, then he is unlikely to support the product, and we should ignore it.

Similarly if the announcer doesn't have enough interest in the forum to become an active member, why should we consider his product.

If the thread doesn't get any active replies or comments, then it is unlikely to be of benefit to the members here, so it should be allowed to drop, and leave space for better quality products.

The forum has paid advertising slots, please use those instead of trying to inflict marginal products on the members here without paying for the advertising.

Unfortunately, there are always drawbacks to everything. But, I'll give an example where automatic bumping/posting is useful in the social media world. Certain times are better to post than others depending on your niche, and sometimes you might have other commitments around this time. After market research you might have determined that 1pm is the best to post because people start their lunch break. However, your work starts an hour early, and you don't get the time to post. Its the same thing here in that automatic bumps around less busy times so it doesn't get buried on the forum can actually bring in a little more business, at least I think my logic is sound there without having trying it myself.  As long as it doesn't break the limit rate theymos has implemented, and the 24 hour bump rule I think its fine. Although, old bumps should ideally be deleted.

[Quickseller]

You wouldn’t be the first to offer this kind of service.

This is not disallowed and falls within the rules to the extent there are no duplicate bumps and no more than one bump every 24 hours.

I would actually suggest bumping every 27-28 hours so that different time zones will see the thread at the top over time.

[mk4]

*snip*

Not technically exactly a thread bumping bot, but I've used a similar method in the past on another forum(gaming). It's not necessarily because I didn't want to be active on my thread(as I was definitely active and was answering as much questions as I can), it's really just because I wanted my thread to be bumped to the top of the boards as frequently as possible(every 24-25hrs). Without using this method, I was only able to bump my thread mostly like 3-6 hours late due to random times of sleeping and due to me doing some other things. When you're doing a lot of stuff, even though simply bumping a thread sounds simple and easy enough, remembering to bump a thread at certain times every single day becomes a hassle.

So, yea. I'm with Lauda here. As long as it follows the 24 hour rule then it's fine for me.

[Adriandmen]

...
- If the announcer doesn't have enough belief in his product to monitor his replies, then he is unlikely to support the product, and we should ignore it.

Similarly if the announcer doesn't have enough interest in the forum to become an active member, why should we consider his product.
...

I do agree with this if we are talking about the advertisement of new altcoins and projects in a similar fashion.

Let me clarify that my services consist of signature design, HTML/CSS banner design and freelance web developer/designer. I think the activity of a member is not (and should not be) taken into consideration as an important factor for these kinds of services. The activity of a member is by no means a good indicator of the quality of a product for these kinds of services. That is what portfolios are for.

...
If the thread doesn't get any active replies or comments, then it is unlikely to be of benefit to the members here, so it should be allowed to drop, and leave space for better quality products.
...

This is subjective and also highly dependent on the service. For example, my signature design topic has gained 3 replies since November 17, 2017, but I have had more than 20 clients since then.

[Heisenberg_Hunter]

Bump bots are quite good in bumping your thread at the right time for clients to see your services and opt for them. As far as these bots comply under the rules of this forum it is good to proceed further with a newbie account of your's acting as a bump bot.

Similarly if the announcer doesn't have enough interest in the forum to become an active member, why should we consider his product.

No, activities shouldn't be considered while opting a service. A newbie can also offer a good legitimate and a far better service than a legendary guy. If you consider the collectibles section for instance, newbies and Jr members are one among the trusted people and they do announce their own product and people buy them.

This forum is not just for discussing things about cryptocurrency. Some People come here only for offering their services and buying things. They might have lower activity but can offer good services.

If the thread doesn't get any active replies or comments, then it is unlikely to be of benefit to the members here, so it should be allowed to drop, and leave space for better quality products.

Probably people hiring such services might reach out to the OP via PM by going through their portfolio and there is no need for them to post a public reply in their thread.

[logfiles]

- It will delete the previously posted bump message before posting a new bump message.
 - If it fails to delete the previous bump message, it will stop running immediately and stops posting any more bump messages to avoid cluttering.
 - Bumps will be posted every 24 hours (or slightly above that because of the no-delete rule for posts younger than 24 hours).
 - The scraping of posts is done using the wap2 version of the post.
 - The bump message remains the same message during all times (and includes a line of text explaining that it is an automatically posted message).

Is this allowed? Should I use a new newbie account or is using my own account for this okay?

This is very okay. I don't see anything you have stated about breaking any forum rules and using your own account shouldn't be a problem too.
We often get caught up doing other things and even forget to do certain tasks here. A bot would really be helpful so long as it's acting within the stated rules of the forum.

I hope that the admins will do something to block these actions so that we can have a usable services section in the future.

Why so?
So long as he hasn't broken the forum rules, how he carries out his business is up to him. At the end of day if he hasn't responded to the posts then it's his loss, not any other forum member for that matter.

[madnessteat]

I agree with the opinion of Jet Cash.

Imagine that 100-1000 such bots will work at the same time, new offers of services will simply be unnoticed. Maybe you bump topic every 36-48 hours?

[Welsh]

I agree with the opinion of Jet Cash.

Imagine that 100-1000 such bots will work at the same time, new offers of services will simply be unnoticed. Maybe you bump topic every 36-48 hours?

unfortunately, forums aren't the best places for selling things especially when a forum is as popular as this one. What we tend to have is that one user will sell a magnitude of different types of goods/services, and have like 5/6 threads all of which they can bump. Possibly limiting the threads they can bump per 24 hours could be an option to look at.

[Quickseller]

Imagine that 100-1000 such bots will work at the same time, new offers of services will simply be unnoticed. Maybe you bump topic every 36-48 hours?

This would be the same as bumping 100-1000x per day, which is disallowed. It would also be the same as having a bot that bumps with the same frequency, making having the multiple bots pointless.

[madnessteat]

This would be the same as bumping 100-1000x per day, which is disallowed. It would also be the same as having a bot that bumps with the same frequency, making having the multiple bots pointless.

For example, a user creates several alternative accounts. For each account, a bot is configured that bumps its theme. This will not be a violation of forum rules, but it will interfere with other users.

Therefore, I think that this is not the best idea.

[Quickseller]

This would be the same as bumping 100-1000x per day, which is disallowed. It would also be the same as having a bot that bumps with the same frequency, making having the multiple bots pointless.

For example, a user creates several alternative accounts. For each account, a bot is configured that bumps its theme. This will not be a violation of forum rules, but it will interfere with other users.

Therefore, I think that this is not the best idea.

It would be a violation. A thread with 100 alt accounts talking to eachother is going to get locked, and the accounts banned.

FYI - Your scenario would make more sense if a single bot were to carry out this task.

[madnessteat]

It would be a violation. A thread with 100 alt accounts talking to eachother is going to get locked, and the accounts banned.

FYI - Your scenario would make more sense if a single bot were to carry out this task.

Each bot will be the only one in its thread. They will not intersect and will not communicate with each other. They will only bump.

~ Some information about requirements I have set myself for the bot:
 - It will delete the previously posted bump message before posting a new bump message. ~

[Adriandmen]

...

Each bot will be the only one in its thread. They will not intersect and will not communicate with each other. They will only bump.
...

This would be caught very quickly and the bots would be banned in no time.

...
I would actually suggest bumping every 27-28 hours so that different time zones will see the thread at the top over time.

I like this idea. Bumping the thread while I am asleep could potentially be very beneficial.

...

...
Possibly limiting the threads they can bump per 24 hours could be an option to look at.

Perhaps I can already incorporate this into my bumping algorithm. I currently have three service topics. Bumping them with at least ±8 hours in between (or a couple more suggested by Quickseller) could do the trick.




I'll definitely try to look for ways to make the bumping not so cluttering. Perhaps something like bumping one topic at a time with a couple of hours in between.

[Timelord2067]

I'll definitely try to look for ways to make the bumping not so cluttering. Perhaps something like bumping one topic at a time with a couple of hours in between.

Sorry to necro bump this post, but the other bumping service threads that I could find were started/died in 2016 [A], [B], [C], so this one is the freshest.

I have a thread: "Broadcast Your RAW Transaction" it's on at least one persons' list.  The last post was 06 April 2019, 13:49:10 and my last last occasional bump was 28 December 2019, 05:46:15 (essentially three months ago).  Some of the conversation in this thread has centred on if a thread peters out, then the information is not relevant.  I disagree - I've seen some "pay me to shift your transaction on the block-chain" type threads.  I would like people to know that a core feature of bitcoin is the ability to rebroadcast your transaction (for free) and would like to bump the thread something like once per month.  Not too intrusive at all.

Other threads I've started that I would like to see bumped would be the

• [Guide] Broadcast Your RAW Transaction BTC & Alts coins - discussed above - once per month from last post in thread
• known alts thread - again not to intrusive maybe once per fortnight since the last post (that time-frame *nearly* happened not that long ago (for the first time since the thread was started), so a bump in that thread would be very seldom)
• Lightning Network Lenders' (and borrowers) discussion thread. - would probably bump once per month (after last post) to bring awareness about the Lightning Network to the forum.
• Timelord2067 - funds held by me 2019/20 - bump quarterly. (PM me if you'd like to know why)

There may be one or two more threads, but I would only be looking for a monthly auto bump of those threads.


While I've been typing this post, I see tranthidung has bumped a few of his useful threads:

• Make your topic title, posts more attractive
• Bitcointalk posting etiquette
• tranthidung's statistical threads on bitcointalk

so I'm guessing I wouldn't be the only one who would appreciate an automated bumping service on our useful, but inactive threads.