What counts as "spam" on Answers?

Spam is when someone posts a question duplicate times in the same category, types a general response with a web link on All their answers, or solicits a website without Ever answering a question. There's More, but these are seen the Most.

The 'dfdf' would be considered a 'point gaming' violation so Your guess is correct - they are only posting for points. So when You find such 'non answers' - go to the right of the answer & click the purple flag. The 1st option has the Most common types of violations - spam, rant, chat, etc. fails into that option. In the white box You can put 'spamming illegible non answers/point gaming.' Then click the submit button. Depending on your Own TR, these types of vios drop pretty fast - when CM is working.

There's a bit of a semantic difference between 'spam' (noun) and 'spamming' (verb).

Spam is generally an attempt to direct your attention elsewhere, to drive traffic to another site, or to entice users to look at and/or buy something -- usually with a link to another commercial site. Spamming is more a practice of posting the same or very similar, usually unhelpful or off-topic, information over and over again.

'dfdf' is a non-answer/pointgaming violation. Posting that same answer over and over again is 'spamming' the answer, but not technically a 'spam' violation. Really, it doesn't matter -- non-answer, pointgaming, and spam/ming are all community guidelines violations, and all should be reported.

I think of "spam" as someone trying to sell you something, and I'm fairly consistent in reporting it. Maybe that definition is old school now, though. What you're encountering is something I'd call point gaming. As for point gaming...enh, I don't get my underwear bunched up about it. It's annoying, it should be discouraged, it's against the Community Guidelines...but aside from getting to Level 7 and having the power to nefariously switch categories on questions, what real difference does it make if someone is getting a lot of points? Look at the leaderboards on just about every category at the people who have 60% or 70% or 99% Best Answers, and you're also looking at point gamers. And ironically, some of them are the biggest squawkers about point gaming.

Those are Non Answer violations and yes you can report them or send them to the YAT

Spams are repeat of advertising, trying to sell something, I have found some in very old questions also. You report them or send them over to the Spam Battle Thread in the "

Suggestion" tab

It is not spam. It is a non-answer. However, I have seen some accounts where 100 percent of their answers are garbled text. I post a link to their profile on the spam battle thread. I know it is misuse, but if I see 200 answers of random keyboard characters, I want others to see it and report.

It's spam and also a "non-answer" for "point gaming".

Report them using the little flag to the right.

flag them or report them