So the Harbour Master checks out the list of referrers to his site every now and then. These days its a hive of activity. Lots and lots of random sites he has never heard of have apparently referred a web surfer to his site... but just the once.

None of these sites, of course, seem to carry any sort of real link. And he is aware that referral lists can often be used as an alternative channel for spam.

What he does not understand is that some of these sites that are apparently pinging his site have been dead for a couple of years or so and do not appear to be advertising anything.

What giveth?

Interesting marketing tactic. It's probably a very good way to sell vanity publishing, mirrors, or SEO consulting.

The goal of spammers isn't to sell products, it's to completely ruin the internet.

They wouldn't do it if they couldn't turn a profit.

I honestly think destroying the internet is a higher priotity than turning a profit, whether they realize it or not.

People usually do it for privacy reasons. If they searched on "how to jack off" and your site appeared in the list, and despite not really matching their search, intriguing them enough to follow the link, then maybe they'll put a fake or misleading referral in.