Don’t you love getting comments on your blog? I know I do.
Unfortunately when I last checked, my spam comments outnumbered my real comments by almost three to one (Akismet has caught 14,628 spam comments thus far)
Today’s Lesson
When I first started blogging, I would have welcomed some of these comments.
Here’s a sampling of what Akismet recently caught. They actually sound promising, don’t they?
Thanks for allowing me to comment. I normally don\’t leave them, but I really like what you had to say. This is important stuff!
I didnt find the subscribe button….where can i subscribe? 🙂 🙂
You have excellent analysis. thanks for writting
I\’m pleased that i found this blog today, its a wonderful resource and i will make sure to show to my wife when i get home !
The site’s very professional! Keep up the good work!
Regards to administration of bloggingwithoutablog.com – you made a excellent site in the Internet!
I was able made only several pages of blog
I hope this it is the best topic for my post. If there is no forgive for disturbance please.
several pages of my small blog :
This commenter went on to share links to their X rated posts. No thanks!
Some spammy sites are misleading. I recently had one that was a one page blog. At the bottom of the post was a sentence that said something like, “For serious marketers, click here for additional information”. It was a link to a full page ad. THAT was the extent of the site.
If a comment adds value to a post, I will often approve it even though it links to an “advertising” site. For those, it’s on a case by case basis.
When editing comments, remember, it’s YOUR blog, it’s YOUR call. Delete those you don’t want to be affiliated with.
Today’s Assignment
How are you handling comments that link to advertising or spammy looking sites?
Have you noticed how spammers are getting more creative?
Photo Credit: buggolo’s photostream
Spam. By all accounts a blogger’s nemesis, Barbara.
Obviously, I’ve yet to experience the issue of dealing with spam comments- but Akismet is high on the plugin agenda!
I know that Cath had some problems with some of my recent comments being ‘swallowed’ by Akismet, which is sorted now.
I’m wondering how often a blogger needs to check their spam items for legtimate comments, and other such issues?
I look forward to learning some practical tips from your more experienced readers, Barbara.
Yeah, I noticed … I’m getting whacked daily on two of my blogs. Somehow, they’re a magnet for spam machines.
I know I need to add a widget or something, but I’m still learning the WordPress ropes. Slowly but surely 😉
J.D. Meier’s last blog post..SIGN – The 4 Signs of a Strength
Hi Barbara – I must admit, when I first started blogging, I had trouble working out what was real and what wasn’t. But nowadays, if I catch something Askimet hasn’t picked up, it goes straight in spam.
Some I’ve learned to watch out for are ones that don’t mention your post at all. They usually say something like: “Your site is a wonderful resource. I’ll be back to read more”.
Also, anything that says “great post” goes.
And anyone who I think is deliberately trying to stir trouble to attract people to their own blog gets deleted, if they go too far.
Your post was useful yesterday actually, as you mentioned folk doing that in the comments section. And I had just had someone do that on my blog. They posted about 5 times – first giving their opinion on the shortcomings of folk who bankrupt a business (very clever since I’ve done that).
At first I responded, then I remembered what you said and went back and deleted the whole lot.
Cath Lawson’s last blog post..Grilled Frog On Toast Anyone?
Hey Barbara
Visiting from Lance’s site who is bigging you up, well, big time. Thought I should find out what all the fuss is about!
Most of the comment spam I’ve gotten is pretty straightforward, full of links to insurance and poker sites, mostly. I’ve gotten a few suspect one-liners which I wasn’t sure about, but I hit SPAM or deleted them. When in doubt, toss it out.
One blogger who is not a spammer – but has a blog with a ‘spammy’ sounding name left a few comments on my blog. I suggested that he use his name in comments, though he was free to leave the url to his site. He thanked me, saying he’d not thought of that before posting comments.
What is the typical amount of spam that decently trafficked blogs get in a day?
Blogger Dad’s last blog post..Eight Questions – Interview with Rita from Rita’s Digest
I recently turned off my comment moderation but I may have to turn it back on.
I got a dozen comments yesterday that seemed a bit off. I gave the commenters the benefit of the doubt and responded to them. But then I dragged the mouse over their names and saw that the links lead to spam sites.
If this continues to happen, I may turn moderation back on. So far, I’ve only ever denied a couple of spam comments on my blog. I hope this isn’t the start of a trend.
Chase March’s last blog post..Conjuction Junction What’s Your Function?
Spam – I see it at work, at home, on my blog… it’s everywhere! The spam comments you listed above – some of them really do look legitimate.
For me, if it’s someone new, I’ll go to their site and get a “feel” for what they are about. A quick glance. If I question it, then I usually delete it. This is especially true if it’s something in the “spam” folder.
I love comments, but I hate spam…
Oh, and Tara — glad to see you over here!!
Lance’s last blog post..The Impact We Have On Others
Akismet is a beautiful thang – and a really beautiful thing about it is that if you ban a spammer, they get banned from everyone else too (don’t they?) – until they change their details.
I’ve been caught our accepting spam a couple of times – after a day or two I’d work out one way or another that it was spam.
Robin’s last blog post..Insects Versus Mother Theresa
Currently, because of the type of posts I write and my personal preference, I don’t have any comments at all on my blog. This saves me from the spam comments, but I do display my email address, so eventually I’ll probably get a lot of spam email!
Spam is the graffiti of the internet – thank goodness for Askimet
I have noticed the spammers are getting smarter. eg Great post would you like to guest post on my site? or this one This is an important issue for me too can we discuss further? Please send me your email address.
They sure are getting creative, aren’t they?
I had one where a fake comment was from a guy with “Cerebral Palsy” and he mentioned how much he appreciated my site. I checked the link to his site and it linked to a Cerebral Palsy help forum.
Ok, great. So I approved it.
In my next post he commented again. For some reason it seemed suspicious so I checked out his link again and yep! Porn.
I don’t mind if people leave a link to an article they wrote on their blog. I mean hey, that’s why we’re here, right? To make connections and network. Of course I don’t want to see them linking every time they comment. But if they are a friend of my site, links are welcomed if they add value.
Of course I use Akismet but I also use the Math Test question which usually limits and reduced the amount that I have to moderate.
There’s also a plugin which I have installed called Wp-Ban. It allows you to ban people from a specific IP address so they can no longer access your blog.
I used it for this Palsy guy but then removed it after a while because most likely that was on a shared IP address which could mean you might not be able to access my blog as well.
John Hoff – eVentureBiz’s last blog post..An Internet Scam, When To Listen To Your Emotions, and Africa
I’m joining the heartfest for Akismet! I couldn’t understand how or why I was getting comments from antique and bike shops — it’s that powerful Internet! I’m going to be famous! — but then the cherry on my spam sundae was the bride’s makeup site from Russia. Very creepy.
Being such a noob, my first thought was any comment is a good comment, right? So, before I descended further into neediness-fueled Stockholm Syndrome, Akismet installed and presto – back to “normal.” We’ll build community like Smith Barney’s old fashioned way — by earning it.
What you have written is very true.Spams are everywhere.Even a very smalltime blogger like myself am getting very large number of spam comments.Are there any automated systems to leave comments in blogs?There must be otherwise how do you explain so much spam comments on my blog which hardly has any traffic.
Hi Barbara,
It comes in waves for me and it makes me wonder if I am inadvertenly using a word in a post that accidently attracks them. Or if it is random. All of the sudden it’s like they smell blood and poof out they come. I can’t figure it out.
But I click on every name and every link. Mostly because I want to go visit the people who come and visit me and get to know them, but also I want to know if people are real. So if they aren’t, out they go. I’m not shy about saying goodbye.
I feel its my job to maintain the integrity of my site.
I use Askimet, and it works well. I also have my blog set to allow only previously approved commenters to bypass moderation. When a “please moderate” comment comes up, I check their URL and decide from what I see. I still check Askimet’s caught spam folder for legitimate comments that might have been snagged as spam before deleting all the spam once or twice a week. Most of the spam I receive is about gambling, insurance, or the ones that look like alien-speak: “bteos wuynappp zjoy gtrjs bvbg rbkenjmfw eeghtmt”
SpaceAgeSage’s last blog post..Does life really have an Easy Button?
This is a good question. I’ve felt too guilty about the couple of spammy sounding one liners I’ve caught, and I just let them go. i need to get over that.
great post- I’ve also noticed that people who tend to spam will often try to leave comments on much older posts as well. It also helps to look at their email address. Sometimes the email address they use will have the word “junk” in it, which is definitely a red flag in my mind!
I get the same “person” leaving three comments all saying the same thing (great post, thanks for sharing), link farms (yes, of course I’m going to approve a comment with 150 links), comments describing “X” rated activity, as well as the “smarter” spammers. Do you know of a place where they can be reported? Sometimes I feel like sending them an e-mail: “Stop spamming me, loser!”
Marelisa’s last blog post..Success – On Your Own Terms
I had to ban an IP address the other day. All of a sudden I got whacked with tons of daily spam. Mostly it’s not a problem, though.
I haven’t received any spam comments. What am I doing wrong? *grin*
Urban Panther’s last blog post..Half light
The strangest thing I’ve seen (this was on one bag nation) was comments in Russian. This has happened a few times, and maybe they’re nice comments; unfortunately I’ll never know!
I’m feeling more annoyed by Twitter spam these days . . .
Feel like I should knock on wood before I type this, but it hasn’t been a problem for us – yet. However, I keep comment moderation turned on so that is likely why I am lucking out.
I’ve gotten those and I’ve let them go! They are so tricky. I had a couple last week that I asked a friend about. They looked like spam but I hate to delete a real comment even if they do put a little plug in for themself. If it’s minor, I’d rather not hurt feelings and let it go. She said it looked like spam to her, too, so I deleted them. I don’t really want to do that word thing on my comment section, but I have gone back to comment moderation. I didn’t really do it for spam, but it will help control it some.
Debbie Yost’s last blog post..Special Exposure Wednesday – Choosing Battles
I haven’t had much spam . . . yet.
I have to learn not to feel badly if a comment gets caught via Akismet for me to decide ‘yea or nay’ on and I decide to zap it.
Barbara, your words of wisdom about it being MY blog and MY call really help.
Hi J.D.,
For some reason, some blogs seem to be more prone to spam. It makes me wonder what that could be. I’m assuming you have Akismet activated on your new WordPress blog.
Hi Catherine,
Yes, we can have actual bloggers “spamming” us, just to (try to) get readers over to their blogs. Although commenting is a great way to get found, spamming another blog is totally unethical.
Hi Scott,
You’re right, Akismet will sometimes mark a real comment as spam, but fortunately we can fish them out and eventually the problem gets resolved.
I check my spam folder almost daily. If I don’t a real comment could easily get lost in the sea of dozens or hundreds of spam comments.
Hi Tarra,
Welcome to the BWAB community. It’s good to see you here and I hope to see you again soon.
Hi Blogger Dad,
Re: the amount of spam a blog can get? For me, I’ve had days where I’ve gotten upwards of 160 spam comments, but other days I’m seeing a few dozen. Ironically, on my other blog (which is the same age as this one), I only get one or two spam comments a day.
Hi Lance,
You’re right. We do see it everywhere. Email accounts are another favorite target of spammers.
Hi Chase,
The best thing to do is just watch the trend. It’s more time consuming when we have to moderate every comment, but may be worth it. If you switch over to WordPress, it’s a lot easier as you only have to approve a commenter once, and then their comments don’t have to be moderated anymore.
Hi Robin,
Yes, if a comment is marked “spam” (with Akismet) it will be “remembered”. It seems like I read they have a database of the spammers, and that helps to protect everyone who uses Akismet.
Hi John,
Your cerebal palsy commenter reminds me of one I had on Down syndrome. They hit both of my blogs. It’s pretty sad when they play on our “soft side”, then they turn out to be porn sites.
I’ve only had to ban one IP address, and that was for plagiarism.
Hi Betsy,
Welcome to the BWAB community.
Well put, we do build our communities by earning them. One REAL reader at a time.
Hi Ryan,
Yes, I did notice you have comments turned off (hence the email). I guess my only question is, do you feel a blog community can be built via emails?
Hi Leanne,
LOL, I’m guessing you didn’t send them your email address or accept the invite for a guest posts.
Hi Writer Dad,
It’s tough. Sometimes guilt does come into play as the comment isn’t TOO bad, nor is the site, but yet we KNOW it looks spammy.
Hi Janelle,
Great point. They often hit old posts. And yes, the email address is often a huge clue.
Hi Marelisa,
As for reporting these sites, I believe Akismet keeps a database and reports them, and Google has a “service” where these sites can be reported to. I think it’s under Google’s webmaster tools.
I hear you about wanting to email them back, however, a lot of the spam comments are automated.
Hi Mark,
I wonder about that. Why some days spam is so prominent, and other days it’s not. I also wonder if I will get hit hard again, just writing about it.
Hi Venu K.
Welcome to the BWAB community.
Yes, a lot of the spam comes from automated systems. I’m not sure how they “find us”. I’ll do more research on that and let you all know.
Hi Urban Panther,
LOL, count your blessings if you’ve received no spam.
Hi Wendi,
I agree, it is up to us to maintain the integrity of our sites. If we let the spam come through, our sites could not only lose readers, but lose page rank as well.
Hi SpaceAgeSage,
Don’t you just love those alien looking ones? Now I’m also getting a lot that are a bunch of question marks. What’s that all about?
Hi Ann,
Yes, the ones written in a foreign language are tough to decipher. Unfortunately not knowing what they’re saying, we mark them as spam.
I didn’t realize Twitter was getting spammed, too, but I guess it’s inevitable.
Hi Debbie,
I’ve never minded a real commenter plugging their own site or a favorite post of theirs (via a link), but if the rest of the comment is spammy, I delete it.
Hi Linda Abbit,
Be happy you’re not getting inundated with spam. Once you do, it starts eating into your blogging time.
Yes, it is YOUR blog, thus you have every right to keep or delete what you choose.
Hi Theresa,
Yes, “knock on wood” (it’s been a while since I’ve heard that saying. 🙂 ). Having comment moderation turned on will stop any spam from making its way into your comment section.
Most places these days have the option of monitoring comments, for blogs, but also YouTube. I am always amazed at how many foul and obscene comments are left on YouTube videos when the owner of the vid has the option of approving comments.
I always like to have the right to approve or disapprove, agreeing with your statement: it is MY blog.
peace,
mike
livelife365
“If a comment adds value to a post, I will often approve it even though it links to an “advertising” site. For those, it’s on a case by case basis.” I do the same. I make sure these sites don’t appear on my Top Commentators list, though, by editing the plugin and adding their URLs to the “black list”.
I guess if it’s a sincere comment I allow it, even if the site is an advertisement site. Certainly though, I don’t allow automated comments created by spam bots to be published. Though, I don’t really have to for the most part, as akismet takes care of that for me.
Bamboo Forest’s last blog post..A Little About Me
Ah, You know… Heh – my e-mail has been messed up for a while so my avatar wasn’t showing! I fixed it now.
Bamboo Forest’s last blog post..A Little About Me
I have one of those spam filters and I have a quick look through there every few days to see if it picked up a real commenter accidentally, but usually I just press DELETE. I can’t believe how much spam it picks up though. Sometimes 30 in a day.
Yes, spammers are getting more creative and some make the effort now to look authentic, but the URL usually shows me they’re not. I always give them the benefit of the doubt and click through, and if they’re not offensive, but they’re a nothing site, I might approve them, depending on my mood. If they’re offensive, no matter what they write, I will delete them. I don’t care to have commenters who want me to link to porn or offensive materials.
I also don’t approve comments which attack myself or my readers. I am not a puritan on language, but the tone and intent of the comment is what I look for. I have never had hate mail or cyber stalkers or anything like that, but my http://she-power.com/2008/02/21/25-fast-facts-about-women/ post did bring in a couple of weirdos who thought they cold have an anti-women rant on my blog. As if.
Hello, my site is called SHE-POWER!
Some people have chicken feed for brains.
Cheers.
Kelly 🙂
Kelly@SHE-POWER’s last blog post..Note To Self: 28 Ways To Love Your Day
when i got my first comment i was so happy, turned out to be spam.
it is getting difficult to tell which ones are spam..i will do a click through to their blog, if its a website, i will delete it..if it’s a blog and has been updated and has comments, i will leave a “simple” comment like thanks..sometimes i do “know” the blogger.
i also send an email to the email that they have left asking them a question or something, if it gets bounced back, i delete. some people use real looking emails as well with their comment. some emails i know are fake though…the obvious ones.
i really hate to delete even a simple comment, it may not have as much worth or value..but everybody gets once chance…now if you keep coming back with that same thanks, i will delete it.
i just left a comment on a blog that said: how cute. that was it. all i had to say.
i am a regular there, so she knows me…but when you don’t know, i use my above guidelines. people get mad when you delete and send nasty emails too…i don’t feel like being bothered with that…some things crush your spirit and you start to question….am i or did i do the right thing and why is this comment so long, i need therapy.
bye barbara
Natural’s last blog post..EntreCard Therapy
Barbara,
Another great learning for me today – I do thank you for keeping me posted and learning.
I get about 100 spam to each comment and a zillion to one when I used that “ab—rt–n” word in one of my posts.
I have had so much spam in my life I think I have a good spam detector built in and I am attempting to just dump it out right away – show me the delete button – click
I was fooled by the “this is interesting” ones…but I have not posted them so far, except for one which was connected to information about Celiac Disease
thank you so much Wow and still so much to learn…:)
Patricia’s last blog post..PTSD Part 3: Who Do You Trust? Let’s Revive The Old Game Show
I particularly like this one –
I’m pleased that i found this blog today, its a wonderful resource and i will make sure to show to my wife when i get home !
I wish my blogs received more comments but people searching on a real estate site generally are looking at property and not writing comments. I get a couple of spam comments a week.
A friend of mine referred me here. So far this is pretty cool. Now, I have to figure out how to change that photo in the upper right hand corner. 😉
Hi Mike,
I agree. Why would an owner or a blog, video, or whatever allow obscene comments. It’s a direct reflection on them, and in a sense is their online resume.
Hi Vered,
That’s a good idea. You certainly wouldn’t want a “spammy” site showing as a top commenter.
Hi Bamboo,
Yes, Akismet does a great job of catching the real spam.
Glad to see you got your avatar fixed.
Hi Natural,
LOL, “…why is this comment so long”
You’re taking a lot more time monitoring your comments than I do. I click on the site and make a determination. I never thought of sending an email, too.
Hi Patricia,
You’re welcome. From what you’ve written, it makes me wonder if certain words trigger more spam. It will be interesting to see what happens here on BWAB, just writing about it. If I see a huge increase, I’ll have to find a new word for unwanted comments. 🙂
Hi Kelly,
That’s a great idea to delete comments that attack you or your readers. Negative comments can change the tone of your comment section and often gets the discussion completely off topic. That would be a good clause to put into a comment policy.
Hi Marc,
Welcome to the BWAB community.
Thank you for your kind words. If you’re looking to add a “picture” (avatar/gravatar) to your comment, I wrote about that earlier. Here’s a link to the article. HOw To Get and/or Add A Gravatar To Your Post Comments It’s a pretty easy process. If you need help or have questions, please feel free to ask.
Hi Evelyn,
That’s a good point. We certainly wouldn’t want to sound like we’re in competition with the owner of the site. It goes back to being respectful, doesn’t it?
Hi Ajith,
I’m hoping that as the spammers get more creative, so will the spam blocking software. So far I’m happy with Akismet even though I’ve had a few real comments get caught. Remember when yours kept going in there? I’m glad you got that ironed out.
I have been getting a lot of spam comments. Nowadays, due to lack of time, I’d just delete the whole lot in one go. Unfortunately, I do not have the time to plough through my folder to weed out the one or two comments that may potentially be genuine. Most certainly, I would not want to link to X-rated or gambling sites.
Spam is annoying. I’m not sure if more could be done to eradicate them.
I also think it is important that a commentator respects the blog’s owner. If the owner to a site recommends a certain product, the commentator should avoid recommending an alternative and place his or her link there to advertise.
Evelyn Lim’s last blog post..Blessings For Healing
Barbara,
The last couple of weeks have been so bad in terms of spam comments. Somehow, I have been getting 25-30 spam comments as against 7 or 8 in the past. Since I want to make the commenting process easier for genuine readers, I am not putting any captcha or similar technologies to combat spam further.
At the moment, it’s a ‘Delete All’ after quickly scanning through the page for any genuine comments.
Yes, spammers are getting smarter. I guess, we need to switch to better anti-spam plugins/technologies. Recently, one of the guys on my blog had commented about typepad’s new spam project. Should try it out instead of the timetested akismet.
Ajith
Ajith Edassery’s last blog post..Backlinks.com – Make money out of your blogroll and site links
Hi Alex,
Taking out the link is another great idea. It leaves the content on your blog, but doesn’t give the potential spammer any link love.
I’ve so far had only one iffy comment and I left it but took out the link. Normally the spammy stuff is really obvious.
Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome’s last blog post..Relying on Memory
You know, as I was reading those comments I had this really suspicious feeling come over me…something just didn’t feel write. Then again, maybe it’s because you warned us ahead of time that those were spam comments that I felt that way. 😛
What do I do with spam? [delete] and I have become very good friends. It just doesn’t work for me, ya know? I blog on a social network (I’ve been writing there for about a year now). When someone leaves a comment that’s nothing more than blatant self-promotion I try to be courteous and email the person asking them to edit their comment and remove all the marketing/sales fluff. If they do a new friendship has developed. If they don’t, I press the [delete] button.
Ricardo Bueno’s last blog post..It Takes More Than Just Great Content!
Hi Barbara,
I found you site through Ellen Wilson’s recent post at Wilson’s Words and Pictures. The first time someone comments on my site it is held in moderation until I approve it. After that the comment is posted immediately.
Earlier today, before discovering this article, I had a new comment that I held in moderation all afternoon while trying to decide if what spam or not. It was so iffy that I decided to giver the individual the benefit of the doubt and approve it. I didn’t want to make the person feel bad by deleting it but it was also obvious that she was promoting her own questionable site while acting like it wasn’t her resource. After approving it, I left a less friendly reply than I usually do and simply said “Thank you for sharing your link.”
I’m not sure if I did the right thing – at least the link was pertinent to the subject of the post.
This looks like a great site! I’ve got a lot of exploring to do 🙂
Kim
Kim Woodbridge’s last blog post..WordPress – How to Find the Best Free Themes
Hi Ricardo,
Isn’t is amazing how creative the spammers have gotten?
I like how you put that, “Delete and I have become very good friends”.
Hi Kim,
Welcome to the BWAB community.
I know what you’re saying. Some comments are borderline spam, but yet we want the visitor to feel welcome, too. Like you, I usually give them the benefit of the doubt. If for some reason they turn out to be a “spammer”, we can always delete their future comments/mark them as spam.
Have fun exploring. I’ll be over to check out your blog, too.
I forgot to mention this – hahaha
When I first glanced at the title of this article, I immediately thought of Vered’s Mona Lisa photos on Wednesday and thought the title was referring to something completely different 😉
Hi Kim,
That’s TOO funny as when I wrote the title, I was thinking of how it could be misconstrued, as well. 😆
That was a great post Vered did, wasn’t it?
Hi Gert – It’s great to see you again. Sounds like life is keeping you busy. I agree, sometimes we are uncertain if a comment is real or not. It’s easy to be confused.
LOL – Yes, the title could take on a different meaning. I’m glad you clicked through and left a comment.
This list of comments is so long! If it was not for Kim referring to having the same emm… thought and I would have totally forgot about it. Shame on me anyways, but I must confess that the title raised my curiosity into a click 🙂
Its been a while since I commented on your blog Barbara. Since then I have been rather busy mostly with everthing but blogging!
I can not remember my first comment I received but somehow I very much remember the feeling you get when trying to decide whether they are real on fake… 🙂
Gert Hough´s last blog post..Content is King
🙂 So far I have had it quite easy. The Akismet anti spam works great for me. I have set up my commenting system to hold all comments containing a link automatically untill I can check them out. Mostly these are only posts with links from the commentluv plugin and since I do not get that much comments yet, Akismet is curently more than adequite for my needs.
Gert Hough´s last blog post..Content is King