Cheap signs scattered on lawns and along the corners of busy intersections are hard to miss. To city officials, the signs are costly litter that requires city workers to pick them up.

Putting them up is deemed a crime as well, albeit a relatively minor offense that carries a fine of up to $250 in Hollywood, Fla.

While stopping for a red light a few months ago, Hollywood Mayor Peter Bober studied the ghastly signs and came to a realization that would help him stop them from spreading: The criminals had left their calling cards in the form of business phone numbers.

"These people want us to call them, so let's call them so often util it makes their heads spin," said Bober, who bought a $300 software program in March that robocalls the businesses. The number of the calls has gone up as high as 20 calls per program, made to 90 businesses per day.

In 2009, Bober held a citywide contest, offering $500 in non-public funds to whoever collected the most signs. The signs disappeared overnight, with the winning resident collecting nearly 500 of them. Yet over time, the city was again plagued by signs cluttering the sights.

"For two whole years, I was asking myself what to do," the mayor said. The robocalls, which leave pre-recorded messages, have been so successful that city officials say certain areas have seen a 90 percent reduction in signs .

(China.org.cn May 14, 2012)

那些散落在草地上和繁忙路口的廉价小广告让人很难错过。对于城市官员来说，这些小广告都是“价值不菲”的垃圾，因为需要清洁工去把它们捡起来。

在美国佛罗里达州的好莱坞市，贴小广告是犯法的，虽然罪行较轻，但罚款可达250美元。

几个月前，该市的市长彼得·鲍勃在一次等红灯时，看到这些难看的小广告，突然想出一招防止它们扩散的方法，因为他看到罪犯们把电话号码留在小广告上。

鲍勃说：“这些人想让我们给他们打电话，那我们就使劲打，打到他们头昏眼花。”他今年3月花了300美元买了一套软件，给这些人自动拨打电话。这套软件可以每天给90多个发帖者每人拨打20次电话。

在2009年，鲍勃举行了一次全市范围的竞赛，收捡小广告最多者奖励500美元。一夜之间，街上的小广告全不见了，获奖的市民收捡了大约500副小广告。但不久之后，小广告又遍布全城。

“过去两年我一直在考虑到底该怎么做，”鲍勃说。这些播放预录信息的机器拨号非常成功，一些地方小广告减少率达90%。