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The microsoft tag is like something from a sci-fi horror movie. This manufacturer meta tag was cleaned out in March of this year, but people keep using it. I just fixed the third question in the last few days, alone, where the tag was re-used.

To be clear, my impression is that the problem is not people recreating it. Rather, I think the system won't remove it, which is supposed to happen 24 hours after no questions are associated with a tag. As a result, it remains in the tag list, people see it or it's suggested when they start to type, and the tag gets reused. Each time it's resurrected, the tag summary shows the 1 question and something like 22 followers, which suggests it isn't a new tag.

Is there a way to drive a stake through its heart or something?

bwDraco has suggested blacklisting the tag. That's the FedEx solution (when it absolutely, positively, has to be unusable). We should keep that option on the table. It does require jumping through some hoops. I'm hoping, though, that there are moderator tools that can be used to force deletion of the tag. If it ceases to exist, that may be enough.

Update 1/18/2019: This tag has been cleaned up several times. Since October, it has had a steady stream of new questions. There are now 42 questions tagged again with microsoft. If we don't blacklist the seriously problematic tags (i.e., this one and google, see also Blacklist Google?), we're just wasting our time doing any cleanup.

The microsoft tag is like something from a sci-fi horror movie. This manufacturer meta tag was cleaned out in March of this year, but people keep using it. I just fixed the third question in the last few days, alone, where the tag was re-used.

To be clear, my impression is that the problem is not people recreating it. Rather, I think the system won't remove it, which is supposed to happen 24 hours after no questions are associated with a tag. As a result, it remains in the tag list, people see it or it's suggested when they start to type, and the tag gets reused. Each time it's resurrected, the tag summary shows the 1 question and something like 22 followers, which suggests it isn't a new tag.

Is there a way to drive a stake through its heart or something?

bwDraco has suggested blacklisting the tag. That's the FedEx solution (when it absolutely, positively, has to be unusable). We should keep that option on the table. It does require jumping through some hoops. I'm hoping, though, that there are moderator tools that can be used to force deletion of the tag. If it ceases to exist, that may be enough.

Update 1/18/2019: This tag has been cleaned up several times. Since October, it has had a steady stream of new questions. There are now 42 questions tagged again with microsoft. If we don't blacklist the seriously problematic tags (i.e., this one and google, see also Blacklist Google?), we're just wasting our time doing any cleanup.

The microsoft tag is like something from a sci-fi horror movie. This manufacturer meta tag was cleaned out in March of this year, but people keep using it. I just fixed the third question in the last few days, alone, where the tag was re-used.

To be clear, my impression is that the problem is not people recreating it. Rather, I think the system won't remove it, which is supposed to happen 24 hours after no questions are associated with a tag. As a result, it remains in the tag list, people see it or it's suggested when they start to type, and the tag gets reused. Each time it's resurrected, the tag summary shows the 1 question and something like 22 followers, which suggests it isn't a new tag.

Is there a way to drive a stake through its heart or something?

bwDraco has suggested blacklisting the tag. That's the FedEx solution (when it absolutely, positively, has to be unusable). We should keep that option on the table. It does require jumping through some hoops. I'm hoping, though, that there are moderator tools that can be used to force deletion of the tag. If it ceases to exist, that may be enough.

The microsoft tag is like something from a sci-fi horror movie. This manufacturer meta tag was cleaned out in March of this year, but people keep using it. I just fixed the third question in the last few days, alone, where the tag was re-used.

To be clear, my impression is that the problem is not people recreating it. Rather, I think the system won't remove it, which is supposed to happen 24 hours after no questions are associated with a tag. As a result, it remains in the tag list, people see it or it's suggested when they start to type, and the tag gets reused. Each time it's resurrected, the tag summary shows the 1 question and something like 22 followers, which suggests it isn't a new tag.

Is there a way to drive a stake through its heart or something?

bwDraco has suggested blacklisting the tag. That's the FedEx solution (when it absolutely, positively, has to be unusable). We should keep that option on the table. It does require jumping through some hoops. I'm hoping, though, that there are moderator tools that can be used to force deletion of the tag. If it ceases to exist, that may be enough.

Update 1/18/2019: This tag has been cleaned up several times. Since October, it has had a steady stream of new questions. There are now 42 questions tagged again with microsoft. If we don't blacklist the seriously problematic tags (i.e., this one and google, see also Blacklist Google?), we're just wasting our time doing any cleanup.