Some questions regarding the registrations:
- how to handle users who already were registered on for an example the SkyscraperCity?
- merging such accounts?
- banning the new account and keeping the old one?
- banning the old account and keeping the new one?
Some statements/questions regarding spammers among the users registering via Google One Tap:
- I am afraid that quite a lot spam will be the case from now on because spammers will of course notice this easy way to register in a lot of forums within a short period of time
- because of that the local staff members will be faced with more work regarding those spammers
- because of that enabling Google One Tap seems not to be a very good idea to me (of course I know that VerticalScope needs to make money with his business otherwise our forums will not be able to survive)
- will VerticalScope run a specific monitoring regarding spammers who registered via Google One Tap?
- will VerticalScope run specific mass spam cleanings regarding spammers who registered via Google One Tap?
Q. How to handle the users who were already registered on for example the SkyscraperCity?
A. No differently. OneTap just provides another method of registration. The Welcome Message will only be sent to those who are newly registered, not to previous registrations.
Q. Merging such accounts?
A. Those can be handled as one-offs via the Contact Us function. These are expected to be rare - if you're already registered, you've already got a login.
Q. What about banning the new account and keeping the old one? Or vice-versa?
A. Do not ban any newly registered accounts using OneTap for purposes of de-duplication. Don't ban any old accounts in lieu of new ones, either. If there are duplication issues that emerge, we can handle them as one-offs at the administrative level or via Contact Us. These are not expected to be common.
I am afraid that quite a lot spam will be the case from now on because spammers will of course notice this easy way to register in a lot of forums within a short period of time
Not quite. Google OneTap still requires a fully vetted and functioning Google Gmail Account. Creating these in bulk by spammers is still going to be a massive chore for them. We do not expect an increase in spam as a result of this roll-out.
because of that the local staff members will be faced with more work regarding those spammers, because of that enabling Google One Tap seems not to be a very good idea to me (of course I know that VerticalScope needs to make money with his business otherwise our forums will not be able to survive)
Based on our earlier tests, analysis, and examinations, we do not expect making it easier for Google account holders to register will trigger an increase in spam. We are monitoring for increases in spam, and can take steps to increase flagging if it begins to inch up.
New registrations indeed tripled in the past two days. Whether that can be called a success or not depends on the quality of the new sign-ups. I understand the logic behind making it easier for people to join, but I also appreciate the theory that making it harder to join ads to the exclusivity of being part of it and the commitment to contribute quality. If someone is genuinely interested in joining the fun, they shouldn't mind a few spam-discouraging steps to do so. If the extend to which Google allows its services to be abused is anything to go by, I guess we'll just have to find out how this goes.
Also, we indeed received mails from people who thought this was a quick way or an invite to create a new account for whatever reason and now find themselves pointed out for having two accounts.
For those who want to be involved in our communities, it is ideal to make it as easy to join as humanly possible, and remove as many barriers to entry for those who would wish to be engaged in our forums. We do not hold that exclusivity or creating additional barriers to entry are good ways to keep communities thriving and active. Our approach is less of a desire to create a "walled garden" than a community open to anyone with the same interests and passions. We'd like to make registration and onboarding as easy and simple as possible, while keeping a sharp eye on potential abuse and spam.
For any edge cases of duplicate account issues, encourage those users to send in a Contact Us with a request to resolve - or simply encourage them to return to using their previous (older) standard registered account.
I’ve seen the same increase, so far no issues. Not many of them have posted but a few have jumped in with vehicle issues, I’m sure they goggle an issue and we are popping up. Would be interesting to see if the folks who sign up regular are more likely to stick around rather than being a one post and gone type.
We did some analysis on this, you might find interesting - I certainly did! Rolling out Google OneTap can revitalize a forum and allow new blood in at a much increased pace, as many have indicated registrations increasing by nearly three-fold. What is happening here is that the normal "drive-by" style users who come to check out answers to questions or are conducting research on things are actually registering due to how easy it is, rather than just swinging by and leaving. It also has the added effect of converting a larger portion of what we all know as "lurkers" who return daily but never bothered to dip a toe in and get involved.
Here's the interesting thing though! The users who register normally, typically post at least a single post 38% of the time. That is, if you register using the typical method of email address (not using OneTap), your likelihood of posting something is around 38%, meaning you have much greater intent to engage. However, if you register using OneTap, we found that the probability reduces to 5% of the total registering. That's still a huge amount, which is fantastic news for helping communities grow and attracting more people who are interested in the same types of things to share and discuss. But this lower number is also why we enabled the Welcome Email Upon New Registration option that includes a few calls to action, like encouragement to post in the Intro section. We think that is very likely to increase the chance of someone registering via OneTap from 5% to 10% at least, which will be even more helpful. Would love to hear what you guys start seeing in the way of new posts to intro sections.
100% agree.
Confusion over duplicate accounts.
Uninterested joiners.
Increased volume of work welcoming.
Duplicate accounts shouldn't be a lasting issue, though if it causes more than just edge cases, we can certainly look into addressing this with better signposting. Uninterested joiners likely won't be an issue - especially if they find themselves on the receiving end of newsletters with top threads and these are mostly lurkers who have returned often but never plucked up the courage to hit that registration button. Increased work welcoming is an exceptionally nice problem to have, when many forums on the internet are decaying due to social media sopping up the users and sapping their brains.
Let us know what you guys have started seeing? We'll keep a sharp eye this end as well!
-JP
