Spam has a lot of problem potential. Dodging spam when you're looking for answers is like jumping in a swimming hole where someone dumped a garbage bag of empty

Spam has a lot of problem potential. Dodging spam when you're looking for answers is like jumping in a swimming hole where someone dumped a garbage bag of empty milk containers, lettuce leaves, coffee grounds, plastic wrap... Frankly, it's just another kind of advertisement, and I think it's much worse than the official kind, whose site-killing power you mention. >Spam is a non-issue here unless spammers model answers like good answers Many people give answers broad latitude as far as "goodness". Users can also be easily confused: http://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/337843/review-audit-failure-and-no-i-dont-understand http://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/337843/review-audit-..., and even moderators are sometimes inclined towards leniency: http://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/333722/how-is-this-question-not-spam/333764 http://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/333722/how-is-this-q... A multi-layered system, starting with some filtering right at the beginning, is, I think, the best way to keep illicit ads under control. Stack Overflow has very high value as a target for spammers and very low amounts of spam compared to that value; I'd really like it to stay that way. I hate having to register at every new site, too, but I don't think it's entirely unreasonable if you're actually trying to post.