3

I have seen several recent answers promoting https://car-database-api.com, all of them by new users

User nectarine, 4 answers (5 recommendations):

https://opendata.stackexchange.com/a/13513/4293 (15 Oct 2018)
https://opendata.stackexchange.com/a/13496/4293 (9 Nov 2018)
https://opendata.stackexchange.com/a/13480/4293 (6 Nov 2018)

User aggregator, 1 answer (2 recommendations):

https://opendata.stackexchange.com/a/12915/4293 (4 Jun 2018)

User java-warrior, 1 answer (1 recommendation):

https://opendata.stackexchange.com/a/12914/4293 (4 Jun 2018)

I'm getting suspicious, but it's not enough to flag them as spam.
Is further inquiry possible and necessary?

I have not yet commented asking for possible affiliation.

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

Good find Jan. I've "protected" the upvoted question (one, two) in the meantime, to prevent new users from answering.

Yeah, sort of grey area regarding spam. Either way, we should downvote until they are hidden - because there is no actual open data and the answers are low quality (basically link only).

And the authors must disclose affiliation, so please add that as comments.

Mod Note: I can add that users 2 and 3 have IPs that resolve to the same Eastern European country. The first user has a geo-scattered IP.

4
  • Left a comment under the first answer.
    – user4293
    Nov 15, 2018 at 14:08
  • What's a geo-scattered IP? My Google-fu fails... You mean an IP that's known as a VPN exit server?
    – user4293
    Nov 15, 2018 at 14:11
  • I just made it up. As a mod I can lookup IP (my activity is recorded), and the first user had an IP that isn't clearly defined to one geographical region (each lookup provider gives a different answer).
    – philshem
    Nov 15, 2018 at 14:23
  • 1
    User nectarine responded and seems legit opendata.stackexchange.com/questions/6390/….
    – user4293
    Nov 16, 2018 at 13:53

You must log in to answer this question.