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When flagging a question, the "spam" radio button has the following explanation:

Exists only to promote a product or service, does not disclose the author's affiliation.

There are posts like https://superuser.com/q/1668391/105002 that clearly don't promote anything, but they are suspected to be "spam seeds", i.e. spam is expected to appear in the comments or replies. If flagging such posts as spam is correct (which I guess it is, as the linked question has been flagged as such), shouldn't we update the explanation?

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  • This is yet another example of SE ambiguity. What does the comma in the non-sentence description mean? Specifically, does the question have to meet both criteria, or only one?
    – Ray Butterworth
    Commented Aug 9, 2021 at 12:44
  • @RayButterworth: It's not related to my question, but true also :-)
    – choroba
    Commented Aug 9, 2021 at 13:25
  • @Ray - The tag description is proper English other than missing "It's" at the beginning of the sentence.
    – Ramhound
    Commented Aug 9, 2021 at 21:12
  • @Ramhound, it's still ambiguous as to whether the "," means "or" or "and". SE seems to like vague rules that are known only to those at the top. Arcane knowledge is part of the gamification of the site.
    – Ray Butterworth
    Commented Aug 9, 2021 at 22:21
  • @RayButterworth - I just thought I would point out, although it might be confusing to some, it actually is proper english.
    – Ramhound
    Commented Aug 9, 2021 at 22:23
  • It's a bit journalese, but I see no ambiguity. You could put a semi-colon in there if you wanted it to look slightly more authoritative, but the comma signifies either a break between ideas or a list; the end result being the same in either case.
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Sep 13, 2022 at 6:56

1 Answer 1

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"Exists only to promote a product or service" is not equivalent to "promotes a product or service".

A spam seed does not promote by itself, it's a prelude to an answer that promotes. Still the ultimate purpose is to promote. The seed exists only to promote a product or service, ultimately.

If I believe some post is a spam seed then I believe it exists only to promote a product or service, even if it doesn't promote by itself. The description applies and I flag.

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