How to Identify and Control Comment Spam on Your Blog Posts: #1



Quote of the day: 
A nightingale does not stop singing its beautiful song at the intrusion of an annoying woodpecker. -Suzy Kassem


After having spent half an hour sifting through an old blog post, which for some reason is popular with spammers, I couldn't help but be left wondering how devastating these individuals can be. Don't get me wrong I am used to receiving spam in the comments section -as if those that appear in my email aren't enough, and of course with Blogger.com being owned by Google, it should leave little room for spammers having a field day no? Wrong. It gets worse. Asides from bombarding your blog or website with irrelevant comments, they also leave lots of dubious links.

I've read many bloggers complain about the spamming issue -at the last count I've had to delete dozens of such comments from numerous posts. Some blog owners prefer to moderate comments before they appear live on their blogs and I can't blame them, as I've thought of doing the same especially when things get to a frustrating level.



A screen capture from an old post showing spam messages


Why Worry about Spam ?

Spammers are like party crashers who basically invite themselves to a party they are not invited to. They come bearing goodwill, and leave a trail of destruction in their wake. Unfortunately, there is no remote control to block them completely. I'm unsure about Wordpress or other blog platforms, but with Blogger, Google does recommend reporting any offending website and I've seen some blog profiles deleted in that regard.

Although spamming appears to be a never ending battle between good and evil, as these spammers will stop at nothing to enrich themselves, there are a number of steps that you can take to reduce their frequency.

1. Check the spam folder (Blogger)

Spam folder view on Blogger
A snippet of the Spam folder view on Blogger

If you are on Blogger, you can keep an eye on your spam folder -as you can see from the image above, mine stood at over 400 spam messages from both new and old posts. In this way Google helps filter out spam from appearing on the blog, but its not 100% effective as some still find their way -which will have to be deleted manually. Its also good to look at this folder to make sure genuine comments are not being flagged. One of the reasons I have chosen not to turn to moderating comments is due to this spam detection tool.


2. Report Spam
As I said above, you can report any inappropriate and offending URL links via Google's Blogger support page. Asides security, these spammers prevent genuine visitors from easily accessing your blog or website as they slow it down with all the irrelevant visits and links. No one should have to put up with that.

If you are on Wordpress, you may want to have a look at their 'Combating Comment Spam' page

3. Moderate Comments

You can manage who can comment on your blog, and in effect the type of comments that readers can leave. This also includes Google + comments. In case you are wondering how, this Blogger help guide talks about how to go about managing and moderating comments on your blog.

4. Show Word Verification
Another tool that can be turned on is the modern word verification which is popular on most blogs, Its simple, and I think user friendly.

reCAPTCHA










It is known as reCAPTCHA and according to Google it 'protects your website from spam and abuse while letting real people pass through with ease'.

In conclusion, spammers will never go away and the best option for us is to fight back as much as possible. Its enough to ask what's wrong with the internet? and although this post focuses mostly on Blogger, there are online resources and tools that you can use to manage your blog, or website against spammers.

Do you have a problem with spam on your blog? How do you deal with the frustration and what tools if any do you utilize?


Peace. Love. Light* 


Current Listen: Gnarls Barkley -Crazy



Post a Comment

25 Comments

  1. Really interesting . Always I find spam in old post and hate it.
    Thanks so much.

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  2. Really interesting . Always I find spam in old post and hate it.
    Thanks so much.

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  3. Yes, there were. So far these were rare and manageable.

    Hank

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  4. Very useful . I will be sharing this . Thank you .

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  5. Hi Blogoratti - I don't allow anonymous comments - partly helps, and I check comments fairly often to see if any have slipped through the net - otherwise they get taken off immediately - and I don't open. They are just a nuisance - cheers Hilary

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  6. I too don't allow anonymous comments, that gets rid of most of them. I don't really have much problem with spam atmosphere.

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  7. Thank you for this post. Spammers are a waste of time - I rarely go through my blog to get rid of them. I do like to send a link to my book 5 or so times when I can. That USUALLY does it for that particular spammer. Smiles.

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  8. I seldom have spammers and when I do, they are wanting to advertise something. If they have a web site and most of them do, I go over and leave a message that I don't want them to use MY blog for free advertising....and that if I get even ONE more from them, I'll turn them in. (and I've no idea WHO to turn them in)haha
    I usually never hear from them again....

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  9. I have had problems on older post and have gotten around it by requiring that comments left on post that are older than seven days be moderatated--that has taken away most of my problems and if it is within the seven days, then I will delete it myself.

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  10. Your reflections and practical tips re very helpful Blogoratti. Anybody who has been blogging for a while will have had to face issues with these lowlife spammers. Personally, I would have no problem if The Islamic State decided to target them.

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  11. Great tips and a very helpful post! x

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  12. Interesting to read your thoughts and tips here.
    We all have to decide how we 'run' our blog and how we deal with spammers etc.
    It can help to moderate all comments ...

    All the best Jan

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  13. so useful! thanks)
    will be glad to see you in my blog and to be friends on GFC :)

    My blog MsSlivki

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  14. Great tips. I battle that on my Facebook fan page. Some pages respond to every comment as a way of promoting their page. I reported to Facebook cos it was happening at an alarming rate. Sometimes banning them is not an option and that makes it all the more frustrating.

    http://fashionablyidu.blogspot.com/

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  15. Great tips. I battle that on my Facebook fan page. Some pages respond to every comment as a way of promoting their page. I reported to Facebook cos it was happening at an alarming rate. Sometimes banning them is not an option and that makes it all the more frustrating.

    http://fashionablyidu.blogspot.com/

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  16. Great tips, I use comment moderation and delete those pesky things!

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  17. Hi Mr. B,

    Ah, spam is beyond annoying, thanks for sharing this. I use WP though, gotta figure out how to deal with spam over there.

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  18. Great post and tips. I have had a few problems, right now everything is okay, fingers crossed!

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  19. Thankfully I don't get much spam on my blog and since I get an email every time someone leaves a comment on my blog I can see right away where the spam comment was left and go delete it.

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  20. I shudder to see my spam folder. And yes, I moderate my comments.

    Hope you have been well and happy.

    Happy to stop by.

    Best wishes,
    Susan

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  21. I can also understand why some bloggers choose to moderate comments before showing them, though having email notifications/alerts can help on this front too - you can immediately delete the unsavoury comments :)

    aglassofice.com
    x

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  22. Unfortunately I was looking for a secret to ridding them totally for good.
    Spammers are a huge pain in the neck

    www.jbshares.com

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  23. thankfully i have yet to have any mean ones, i know folks who have had that problem. mine are just usually silly comments, ones that don't make any sense or point. ( :

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  24. Interesting post about spam comments. I'm on Wordpress and they do a good job with spammers. Maybe a little too good because I found your comment on my blog anniversary in my spam file with three others that weren't spam along with 19 that were.

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