They don't care and the ones that don't listen even after repeated warnings either need some sort of punishment or not be allowed to advertise here in such a way and that's another thing we're discussing.
I think it has gone beyond the point of discussing 'whether to punish them or not', to 'how to punish them exactly'. Quite a few campaigns deserved it.
It may be difficult for the moderators though. How can they work out what is spam?
I disagree. I can (usually) easily asses whether you're a spammer or not. Sometimes even based on a singular post (although for a conclusion a deeper analysis is required), and most often based on your last post page. There are certain behavioral habits that can be identified in addition to the linguistic skill of the user in question. Hint: "I'm not native to English but should be allowed to post useless & faulty posts in every section" is not a valid argument.
It's not a question of new staff but making sure everybody is on board and on the same page about what is acceptable or not.
I don't think we're lacking manpower. If anything, the moderation may be imbalanced in times where there may be a lot of unhandled reports. Generally, my report list is empty or quickly emptied (as a patroller & 2 section moderator).
Even a constructive thread can be taken over by shitposters so do we trash that as well?
IMHO: If the thread itself is pointless, then everything should be trashed if it gets flooded by spam. If the thread initially happened to be constructive then either: a) Try to clean it and punish the 'shitposters'. b) Lock and archive it.
Its interesting to notice that the post quality of people in and out of campaigns is very similar to me.
No. You're looking at the wrong place and potentially encountering account farmers without signatures. There's a usually a distinct difference between genuine posts and spammers regardless of whether they have a signature or not.