Ping blog
Encyclopedia
In blogging, ping is an XML-RPC
-based push
mechanism by which a weblog notifies a server
that its content has been updated. An XML-RPC signal is sent to one or more "ping servers," which can then generate a list of blogs that have new material. The technology was first introduced by Dave Winer
to Weblogs.com
in October 2001. Today, most blog authoring tools automatically ping one or more servers each time the blogger creates a new post or updates an old one.
Open ping servers, like Moreover Technologies
' Weblogs.com
, let other web services subscribe to a list of blogs that have recently pinged them. Blog search engine
s can provide fresh results very quickly by polling
only the newly-updated blogs. Similarly, aggregators use results from ping servers to tell subscribers which items on their subscription lists have fresh material.
In addition to open ping servers, there are also proprietary ping servers that gather information only for their own applications. Most of the major blog search engines operate such ping servers.
Unlike open ping servers, proprietary servers with their own subscription applications have no incentive to share their received ping data directly with other servers, which may offer competing services. As these servers do not share their data, bloggers have to ping a large number of individual servers to receive the desired publicity. As a result, bloggers have turned to services such as Ping-o-matic and Pingler.com, which ping multiple proprietary ping servers and remove the need for website owners to acquire new servers to ping themselves.
, which attempts to direct readers to web pages that are not, in fact, recent blog posts. Examples:
Creators of ping spam or spam blog
s may hope to benefit by creating pages to turn up in web searches for popular keywords. Typically, an individual spam post links to some external page that displays Google
ads or offers a product for sale.
XML-RPC
XML-RPC is a remote procedure call protocol which uses XML to encode its calls and HTTP as a transport mechanism. "XML-RPC" also refers generically to the use of XML for remote procedure call, independently of the specific protocol...
-based push
Push technology
Push technology, or server push, describes a style of Internet-based communication where the request for a given transaction is initiated by the publisher or central server...
mechanism by which a weblog notifies a server
Server (computing)
In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...
that its content has been updated. An XML-RPC signal is sent to one or more "ping servers," which can then generate a list of blogs that have new material. The technology was first introduced by Dave Winer
Dave Winer
Dave Winer is an American software developer, entrepreneur and writer in New York City. Winer is noted for his contributions to outliners, scripting, content management, and web services, as well as blogging and podcasting...
to Weblogs.com
Weblogs.com
' is a site created by UserLand Software and later maintained by Dave Winer. It launched in late 1999 as a free, registration-based web crawler monitoring weblogs, was converted into a ping-server in October 2001, and came to be used by most blog applications.' is a site created by UserLand...
in October 2001. Today, most blog authoring tools automatically ping one or more servers each time the blogger creates a new post or updates an old one.
Open ping servers, like Moreover Technologies
Moreover Technologies
Moreover Technologies is a provider of business intelligence and news aggregation products for enterprises, also offering free news feeds for consumers...
' Weblogs.com
Weblogs.com
' is a site created by UserLand Software and later maintained by Dave Winer. It launched in late 1999 as a free, registration-based web crawler monitoring weblogs, was converted into a ping-server in October 2001, and came to be used by most blog applications.' is a site created by UserLand...
, let other web services subscribe to a list of blogs that have recently pinged them. Blog search engine
Search engine
A search engine is an information retrieval system designed to help find information stored on a computer system. The search results are usually presented in a list and are commonly called hits. Search engines help to minimize the time required to find information and the amount of information...
s can provide fresh results very quickly by polling
Polling (computer science)
Polling, or polled operation, in computer science, refers to actively sampling the status of an external device by a client program as a synchronous activity. Polling is most often used in terms of input/output , and is also referred to as polled or software driven .Polling is sometimes used...
only the newly-updated blogs. Similarly, aggregators use results from ping servers to tell subscribers which items on their subscription lists have fresh material.
In addition to open ping servers, there are also proprietary ping servers that gather information only for their own applications. Most of the major blog search engines operate such ping servers.
Unlike open ping servers, proprietary servers with their own subscription applications have no incentive to share their received ping data directly with other servers, which may offer competing services. As these servers do not share their data, bloggers have to ping a large number of individual servers to receive the desired publicity. As a result, bloggers have turned to services such as Ping-o-matic and Pingler.com, which ping multiple proprietary ping servers and remove the need for website owners to acquire new servers to ping themselves.
Ping spam
The use of ping servers to direct attention to recent blog posts has led to a rash of ping spam or spingSping
Sping is short for "spam ping", and is related to pings from blogs using trackbacks, called trackback spam. Pings are messages sent from blog and publishing tools to a centralized network service providing notification of newly published posts or content...
, which attempts to direct readers to web pages that are not, in fact, recent blog posts. Examples:
- Product vendors who use a weblog-like format to post product ads, meaningless batches of Google keywords, etc.
- Software vendors, who sell scripts that make automated "weblog postings" every hour around the clock.
Creators of ping spam or spam blog
Spam blog
A spam blog, sometimes referred to by the neologism splog, is a blog which the author uses to promote affiliated websites, to increase the search engine rankings of associated sites or to simply sell links/ads....
s may hope to benefit by creating pages to turn up in web searches for popular keywords. Typically, an individual spam post links to some external page that displays Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
ads or offers a product for sale.
See also
- PingbackPingbackA pingback is one of three types of linkbacks, methods for Web authors to request notification when somebody links to one of their documents. This enables authors to keep track of who is linking to, or referring to their articles...
, a variant of trackbacks based on the ping notification mechanism - RSSRSS-Mathematics:* Root-sum-square, the square root of the sum of the squares of the elements of a data set* Residual sum of squares in statistics-Technology:* RSS , "Really Simple Syndication" or "Rich Site Summary", a family of web feed formats...
and AtomAtom (standard)The name Atom applies to a pair of related standards. The Atom Syndication Format is an XML language used for web feeds, while the Atom Publishing Protocol is a simple HTTP-based protocol for creating and updating web resources.Web feeds allow software programs to check for updates published on a...
, the main syndication formats used for blogs
External links
- Original announcement of blog pinging by Dave Winer, September 30, 2001