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Comment Spammers Beware!
Filed Under (Wordpress) by Ian Richardson on 27-03-2009
Do you have a blog?
Do you use commentluv or KeywordLuv?
Have you noticed a new kind of comment spammer trying to take advantage of us with comments that kinda look real, but if you search the Internet you can see there are hundreds of comments exactly the same?
If not I thought I better warn you and also the spammers.
This WILL NOT be tolerated and all comments WILL BE DELETED!
I’ve written about this before and I have tried to let you know the benefits of commenting on my blog, but it looks like I have to do it again.
Let’s first define what comment spam is.
Wikipedia define it as “automatically posting random comments or promoting commercial services to blogs, wikis, guestbooks, or other publicly accessible online discussion boards. Any web application that accepts and displays hyperlinks submitted by visitors may be a target.”
So basically it’s someone or something posting comments onto a blog with NO intention of being part of the conversation and adding zero value. They simply want a link back to their site for free, and I’m not going to tolerate it.
I’m more than happy to approve a GOOD quality comment which is part of the conversation. Add some value, give your REAL opinion, ask REAL questions, get INVOLVED.
Some comment spammers have tried to disguise the fact that it’s spam by making it look like a real comment, but on closer investigation it’s easy to see it’s reallt SPAM.
They try and appeal to your ego by telling you how good you are.
Here’s a common comment I have seen many times now.
“I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.”
Nice hey?
How did I identify this as spam?
I copied the whole paragraph and entered it into Google’s search engine.
Here’s the most current results.
Over 13,500 results so far.
Here’s another example.
“Nice writing style. Looking forward to reading more from you.”
6,890 results and I’m sure this number will increase.
So this is what I am doing from now on to combat spammers and ONLY reward the REAL comments from REAL people.
- In the name field where you leave a comment ENTER YOUR REAL NAME.
- Mention things in the article, give opinions, ask questions, stay on subject.
- Real comments aren’t full of links. commentluv and KeywordLuv will add some links for you. If you have an article on your blog or somewhere else that adds value I’ll allow a link to that as well.
Just remember. I check EVERY comment so SPAM WILL NOT GET APPROVED.
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Spammers will always be spammers
One step ahead…
Rob
Review 2 Bonuss last blog post..Quick Income Blueprint Review
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Ian Reply:
March 27th, 2009 at 10:22 am
Yes that may be true Rob, but they will never get past me
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i noticed it too that in the last time a lot of spammers arround, my idea would be to don’t allow to make comment luv or keywordluv, this would stop the spammers i think.
Privatschülers last blog post..Elektrotechnik – Energiesysteme an der TFH in Berlin
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Ian Reply:
March 27th, 2009 at 10:21 am
There will always be spammers unfortunately.
I like having comments open so I can get people like yourself to leave comments. This allows us to have a conversation of sorts.
I also like to reward people with backlinks to their sites for two reasons. 1. It helps your site get a better rank, 2. It helps my site with content.
I’m not sure if you realise this or not but every comment on a blog counts towards more content for the spiders to find.
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I use KeywordLuv and a dofollow plug-in on one of my blogs and I get a bunch of comment spam too. It is usually pretty easy to tell if someone actually read your post or not, but it is still annoying to have to delete them. It is kind of hard because on one hand you want to get blog comments, but on the other hand you don’t want a spammers free for all happening on your pride and joy.
Good luck with it
Ryan Martins last blog post..Real Estate Bellingham Washington
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There is one comment-spam trend, which is really disgusting: Only repeating the post more or less with different sentences but the same meaning. Of course added with “I totally agree…” or “I can´t understand why…”. Really a big “added value”…
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Most of the time the spam ones start off really pleasant with something like “nice blog, keep posting”. My perspective is that if someone has taken the time to write an informative article the least you can do is leave a reasonably structured and helpful response.
Jonathans last blog post..How To Talk About Debt Problems With Family Members
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I get the same comments. I’ve a blog in the dog niche which ranks very well in the search engines for many keywords and on a “busy” day I receive more than 50 spam comments. The most are the same as you described above.
I think we just have to life with that
Daniel
Daniels last blog post..Affiliate Funnel System, Review & Bonus
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That’s just being lazy and rude. I’ve said it before too…but if you’re going to leave a comment, make it relevant to the post! There’s no need for such generic comments just to get a link. And I’ve seen it before too. Saw one blog that had something like “Hey, I’m just testing this to see if it works, thanks.” and I was surprised that even got approved!
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once an spammer forever an spammer, you can’t stop spammer and i think spammer spam not because they are bored they spam because they need to do this.
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The only problem with the Wiki definition is many of them are not automated. The cheap labor that is found in other countries are actually doing this by hand for companies willing to hire them.
They give a half hearted highly misspelled reply that kind of fits the post.
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As Tracy says its not all auto. If you have a look there are a lot of Indian companies in particular that offer a comment spamming service.
It’s strange. I’ve not got keyword or comment luv on my blog (I don’t use WP either) and most of the comments are nofollow. However, I am still getting comment spams from “Mr. Web Design”. These people should know better.
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[...] I wrote “Comment Spammers Beware” where I highlighted the growing amount of sneaky comments being posted on blogs. I also outlined a [...]
Ha ha ha, you are right about these recent generic types of comments; they are quite difficult to delete as you would think they are really valuable. I see them in lots of blogs and have even approved them in some of my blogs without realizing they are spam. Anyway, thanks for sharing and yes – I like your idea of ensuring the comments related to the post in question before approving.
Johns last blog post..Do You Know The Importance Of Prostate Cancer Biopsy?
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great site this ezyas123.com terrific to see you have what I am actually looking for here and this this post is exactly what I am interested in. I shall be pleased to become a regular visitor
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I’ve gone a similar route as you have with posting a blog stating that I will NOT tolerate spamming in my blogs. I spend a lot of time creating something that I think will be informative and helpful to my readers. I don’t want someone mooching off my hard work. If you want your share, CONTRIBUTE SOMETHING OF SUBSTANCE!
I’ve seen a slight decrease in spamming since my post. Has this post helped your spam problem any?
-Caroline
Carolines last blog post..Harley Sunglasses: The New Mens Favorite
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the sad thing is that you can’t stop spammers no matter how many plugins you use or not because those plugins even assume good comments as spam and might think the spam comment is a decent one and these spammers will always be at large whether it be ad spamming, email spamming, article spamming,blog spamming,forum spamming and finally comment spamming theres no way to ending it because many take advantage of it
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It looks like a real war with spam. Can you specify what is the amount of spam comments you get each day (in percents)?
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Ian Reply:
April 24th, 2009 at 8:07 am
I just had a look at my Akismet Stats and I average about 7% of all comments I have to approve or delete are SPAM that has been missed.
On the other side though are the comments which have been marked as SPAM but are actually acceptable. Not sure what the % on that is.
I think 7% is manageable, but like all of us, I would prefer to have none and for ALL people who do leave a comment to follow the guidelines.
I’d also like to see some people taking advantage of the Video and Audio comments plugin. It’s real easy to use and it could be a lot more fun watching or hearing what you have to say. We all know I’ve come out from behind the screen and exposed my face on here, anyone else game?
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They make it REALLY obvious when they post the EXACT same comment on multiple posts on your blog within seconds.
It’d kind of a bummer when you think you’ve gotten a new comment and it ends up just being spam.
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Great post! I will make sure to subscribe
….
Ok I’m just kidding I actually read the host and I am a real person he he
I find that most of my comment spam comes from Russia and has a lot of Viagra links in it
Do you get those Ian?
Jack
JackBastides last blog post..Network Marketing Team – 5 Ways to Keep Your Team in Network Marketing Buzzing
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Ian Reply:
May 26th, 2009 at 12:12 am
I do get a lot of comments from Russia but they always display as ???? ??????? ???? ?????? ?? so I have to delete them.
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Well, i agree to it that along with good feedbacks and compliments, one who has properly read our blog must have written some informative part. It is very hard to filter spammers when we really need comments on our blogs.
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