I’m so sick of spam! I swear, most days, every second comment I get on all of my blogs is either spam or someone just commenting to get a dofollow link and using a SEO user name.
I have the spam bots pretty much under control between the Akismet, Bad Behavior and WP-Spamfree plugins I use, but comment spam from real people is a constant problem.
I’m seriously considering closing comments on my old posts. I don’t really want to do that because I get real comments on older posts all the time, but I also get comment spam on them too.
I mark comments that appear to be spam (don’t make sense or that really don’t add to the post “good post!”) as spam and put them in the Akismet bin quite often. Others that look like they’re from someone commenting just for a link and or using a tacky SEO user name are either marked spam or have their links removed. It all depends upon the comment, how many comments or the number of my blogs they hit that day and the mood I happen to be in when I find the comment.
How do you handle human comment spammers on your blog?
Since I allow comments without moderating, I am very strict on spam. Even those that adds to the post but uses an SEO name gets trashed in the AKISMET bin.
Have you thought of removing your dofollow thing?
hola from Ibiza
well i would usually comment as SEO ibiza or Kev @ SEO ibiza (but I won’t do that here.. 😉 ) ..but that doesn’t make me a bad person?
we run 2 x PR4 dofollow SEO blogs and so know exactly what you mean but you can’t tar all SEO’s with the same brush. (..a majority, well OK)
But spamming off what may be genuine comments seems a bit harsh?
I do agree with you it can be irritating, but we just moderate fairly strictly, and if it’s not adding to the conversation or relevant will just delete it, ..the better the comment, the more they can get away with anchor text wise.
if we know people are genuine we have no problem with them using (sensible) anchors if it will help them. ..why not?
we also run Woopra and so often see live how exactly they got there, and if it was from a “dofollow blogs comments” search they’ve got no chance 🙂
do me favour though, if you don’t like this one, delete rather than spam it? 🙂
kevsta
The best way is to allow commenting only on posts that are fresh. For example you can disallow commenting after 30 days from posting. This way you will cut moderation for sure, as many people and even spam programs are looking for posts that have page rank, and those are old posts.
Hillary I don’t trash comments that add to a post. If the comment is thoughtful and it’s apparent the person actually read the post I’ll usually accept it. However if they are using a SEO name, if their site is spammy or if they’ve hit most of my blogs with comments (those are usually low quality comments when that happens) it’s clear they are following a dofollow list and I’ll remove their links. Likewise any extra links within the comment itself.
Kevsta I don’t mind if someone signs their comment with the name of their site, it’s comments that have really outrageous seo usernames like “running shoes” or “best cosmetic surgery” and fill their comment with seo keywords that really get my goat.
I don’t send comments that add value, or that are from those who make it clear they read the post, to spam. It sounds like the commenter above does, but I rarely do that unless the person has also hit several of my other blogs and left less than valuable comments as they went.
I run the do follow blogroll and several of my blogs are listed on it. As a result I might have an advantage towards picking out true spammers when I see them hitting all my blogs within an hour or two, often with similar comments on each site (even though the sites cover vastly different topics).
I consider each comment carefully before I approve, delete, remove links or send to spam. Each case is unique. As you know do follow blogs tend to get quite a bit of comment abuse. I just wish it weren’t that way. I’m a careful moderator, but as I said, I wish it didn’t have to be that way .. especially on days when every second comment (or more) is spammy or clearly only seeking a do follow link.
Kim I’ve thought of that but I get a lot of valid comments on older posts. If I continue to be extremely frustrated with comment spam I’ll consider using a plugin to close comments. As it is now if I notice one or two older comments getting hit with a lot of really spammy comments I’ll close comments on those posts manually.
Hi again Tricia, firstly cheers for not spamming me off 🙂 ..secondly sorry about the broken italics tag on my previous comment messing up your look, ..amateur mistake.
i do know what you mean about anchor text but it kinda comes with the territory really, why would anyone want a link on a dofollow blog if there were no anchor text benefits to be had? blog comments pass little to no PR anyway, so saying “Im dofollow” is like saying “get links here” and will attract all and sundry for the benefits they can give.
its all about the quality of the comment with us. someone using his name who hasnt read the post and isnt contributing to the subject would get deleted, (but not spammed unless akismet thinks so too) while someone who leaves a relevant (or even insightful?!!) post would get away with “best running shoes” on our site/s.
just be genuine shouldn’t be too much to ask for a helpful link..
I am starting to see spam already and my blog is only over a month or so old. What amazes me is that someone with the name “spermking” who just says “great” with a link to a rubbish viagra type affiliate site would think I would publish it.
It seems odd that people don’t even make an effort when they know the site is dofollow.
I really don’t get it at all.
I’m dealing with the same issues, and I’ve now contemplated adding to the DoFollow movement, even though I know what this will mean for my blog.
I’m just a bit concerned at the massive amount of comments that I may eventually see that are irrelevant or “spammy”.