[nerdponx]

I don't get it. They post all this spam in the hopes that people click on the links therein, thereby boosting the ranking of those sites? Does that actually work at all?

[rudedogg]

It doesn’t actually require anyone clicking on the links. Google sees inbound links and uses that as a factor when calculating the ranking of the linked page.

[IggleSniggle]

I thought that was how it worked like a decade or more ago, but not today.

[technion]

Regardless of whether it works, people still pay for it. I have a Facebook ad right now that says "Get over 500,000 backlinks for $29.99". No doubt it's someone with a bot that spams comment forms.