Comment Spam Fighting Technique
Comment Spam when looked from slightly different perspective can be an indicator of your blog popularity! So I guess we all should rejoice when our SPAM queue filled with dozens of comments from spam-bots. Luckily that is easily killed by simply taking advantage of the options provided by Akismet. But what do you do with Manually Submitted Comment Spam?
In this post I want to share strategy I use for last 2.5 month and found to be very effective – just see the decline of SPAM in the image below:
Akismet stats for comment spam
So how do I manage to cut in a half amount of SPAM that even gets into my queue? read on to learn!
I guess as perhaps the main point I need to make here is that I subscribe and follow idea of You Comment – I Follow! Meaning that I give commenters on my blog a full DoFollow link after 3 approved comments. And since my main blog rank PR5 with many internal pages having PR4 or PR3 I think it proves beneficial to everyone. Who doesn’t like incoming one way link from well ranked page?
But it also creates an issue where spammers come as well as regular people, which is why the 3 approved comments rule for DoFollow. Here is another way to represent the Yummy pie by Akismet (yeah, I love stats!):
Akismet stats for accuracy
Only 13.94% of the comments are actual Good Comments!
So how do you fight the battle where you are running uphill?
I use several techniques on my blog that combined produce the effect of reducing number of comments that ever gets to my queue in half.
1. Akismet
Don’t be caught without it! It is the most supported plugin for the spam fighting and since it is created by Matt – it is guaranteed to be continue supported for all future versions of WordPress. Stability and Piece Of Mind!
And lets not forget all the pretty stats they give us! 
2. Blacklist Filters
This one is ever changing because as I see some persistent Spammers – they get added to the list. If I see someone being an idiot on my blog more then 3 times – his domain or IP gets promptly added to this list. It is added in Settings->Discussion into Comments Blacklist section. Here is what I currently have – be warned – its not short:
*leadsware.com* *gamble-index.com* *thepowerstocks.com* *2stocktrading.com* *.ru .acnemedicinetreatment .telenetblog .twinstatesnetwork .yours-insurance 1031-exchange-properties 1website 401k-com 4best-health 4u.us 4x2 ace-decoy-anchors acidrefluxhelp acnetreatment adipex agentmanhoodragged allauctions4u allegra alprazolam ambien amitriptyline amortizationloantips anal anthurium antispywarehints apexautoloan ativan atkins available-credit available-credit-report bablishko baccarat balder bankruptcyinformationadvice bannbaba bee.pl bestweblinks big-boobs-or-what-zm6c billinghints bitches blackjack blog.de blogomonster blogsdiet blogspot.com blogstudio blow blow-ebony-job boat-loans bondage bontril booty broadwayticketreservation bulk-credit-report butthole buy-levitra-online buy-phentermine buy-porn-movie-online buyvaliumonlinet2z0 buy-viagra buy-xanax caclbca. carisoprodol cashplay.info cash-services. casino casino-games celexa cephalexin cheapcarleasehire cheapdisneyvacationspackagesandtickets cheapestlifeinsurancequotes check-credit-card chiropractic-association cialis cleftmusic closetandroomorganizer cock college-knowledge company-si constructionandexcavation contentattack.com copulationformmeet copyrighthints countrywide coz.in craps creditcard credit-cards credit-dreams credit-report-support cricketblog cunt currency-site data recovery dating dawsonanddadrealty debt-consolidation-agent debt-consolidation-opportunities denver-hotels depressioninformation.net diabservis didrex diet-pill diet-pills disney-magic-pictures disneyworldvacationticket dissimilarly distanceeducation domination ebony eu.tt euu facial favorites-hotels fe.pl finalsearch finance-always finance-here fioricet fire-safe flamingosandfriends floristspecials flower4us forex free-cumshot-gallery free-music-download free-online-poker free-poker free-ringtones fucking fxonlinetrading gambling generic-viagra golf-training-aid.co.nr h1.ripway hawaiiresortblog hilton-head holdem home-loans-inc homemade_sedatives hometown.aol hometown.aol.de hotels-options hydrocodone hydrocortisone hypersearcher idealpaydayloans ifinancialzone illcom in2.pl incrediblesearch individual-health-insurance inforeal07 investment-loans ipodvideosyab8 irs-problems jackpot-slot jbakerstudios jo.pl jot.com jrcreations. kasino kenwoodexcelon land.ru laserhairremovalhints lasvegashints lawyerhints legal-attorney-lawyer lesbian levitra levitra. lifeinsurancehints life-insurance-quote lisinopril livecricketsite loan-rates lung-cancer luxury-linen lyndawyllie m2mvc. madesukadana manicsearch maryknollogc.org mayopr.com mightyslumlords.com mohegan sun mortgage-certificates mortgage-plans mortgagerefinancingtoday movingservicescompany music34free musicfastfinder mycolorcontacts mydivx. nemasoft netfast netfirms newlasikvision nexium nipple nonprofit-debt-consolidation notlong nysm online casino online casino guide online poker online slots online-casino online-casinos online-debt-consolidation online-gambling online-masters-degree-jcqg online-pharmacy order-vicodin org.ua orgasm overseasmoneytransferexchange pacific-poker parmacy party-poker payday-loan payday-loans paymentonlinehints payroll-processing-services percocet-without-prescription personal-loans petinsurancehints pharmacy phentermine phentermine pills-best. pills-home pizzareviewblog poker poker-games poker-hands poker-online pornstar pornstars poweredmusic proboards proboards28 proboards3 proboards32 proboards33 proboards35 proboards46 prohosting. propecia psl.lt psychologyguidance pussy rakeback readourthoughts realtorlist realtorx2 refinance-san-diego reflux restaurantandbarclub ringtone Rmcinfo romanedirisinghe roulette searchingrobot secured-credit-report seethishome servegame servehttp servepics shaffelrecords sightstickysubmit skank slotmachine slots socceronlinelive sportsbook.more-betting spyceagency spyware sritis student-loans stuffmusic summer-dresses summer-dresses-for-teens t35. take-loans take-our-money teen-nudist televisionhints tenuate texas holdem texas hold'em texas-hold-em texas-hold-em-rules thememoryfoammattress tigerspice top-franchise tramadol trancetechno transexual transsexual turbo-tax ugly.as ultram united24 unusual-baby-names-qfnv us.tc valonline.coz varied-poker vcats viagra viagra-online vioxx vmasterpiece vneighbor voyeurism vpawnshop vselling vsymphony weblogpage websamba. whore winstrol.3l.pl wiu.edu world-series-of-poker wowad xanax xrated xt.pl xtmed.info xxx ycba yours-debt-consolidation z41 94.102.60.150 94.102.60.151 94.102.60.152 94.102.60.153
This helps me stop quite a bit of crap from ever reaching the Comments Queue for evaluation. If you find your domain name or IP on this list and think that I made a mistake by adding it- let me know, I’ll do my best to re-evaluate.
3. TanTanNoodles Simple Spam Filter Plugin
Great plugin added to my blog couple month or so ago and helped me tremendously reduce the number of spam comments. It works great with WP-Super-Cache, which i can’t say about great many others I have tried and does all its evaluation BEFORE the comment passed to Akismet. You can download it here.
Just see how much crap it killed in in last 10 weeks or so:
TanTanNoodles Spam Comments Filer
That is 10560 Spam Comments that NEVER even made it to Akismet to be reflected in the stats I initially showed to you! Plugin uses several techniques for evaluation and works like a charm but what I like perhaps the most about it:
- It Allows Me To Train It
- It Provides A Recovery Option For Real Commenter
First on the Recovery option I have mentioned. Plugin integrates with reCAPTCHA and anyone who leave comment on your blog and for some reason triggers one of the filters – gets presented with a chance to enter reCAPTCHA and prove they are real person. This helps reduce false positives and prevents valid messages from been deleted.
Second – on training the plugin. Its beauty is in its simplicity. It has several simple rules built into it for proper comment spam identification but also relies heavily on Filters that you provide.
In image above I use stock regex patterns provided by the plugin author. And don’t worry – list is available via link right below the list of patterns I provide in image above. This is very effective in killing the Forum Backlinks Spam.
Its second list is dynamically generated by you and can grow as much as you like:
I know its hard to see but what is underlined is an option that tells you to simply Click The Words plugin has identify as possible spam patterns from Current Spam Queue to add them to filter. Then simply save options and Voila! That crap will never make it to your queue again!
I apologize for not providing the list I have there but I try to keep my blog family friendly and that list simply doesn’t fit to be published.
I don’t know how you fight the SPAM but the combination of Akismet and TanTanNoodles Simple Spam Filter helps me provide good commenters with backlinks while reducing administrative load. And also this one combination that at the moment seem to be most compatible with all other plugins used on this blog and I have tried many!
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About The Blog Author
Alex Sysoef is an IT Consultant, Internet Marketer and ProBlogger who shares his passion and knowledge of WordPress, SEO, Social Media and traffic strategies on his blog WordPress Howto Spotter. Connect on Twitter or Facebook
40 Responses to “Comment Spam Fighting Technique”
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[...] Alex Sysoef is telling about a Comment Spam Fighting Technique [...]
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RT @TheSpotter Cindy, for me its never ending battle, if interested, here’s what works Better than Akismet alone http://is.gd/fw4x – ta!
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RT @TheSpotter Cindy, for me its never ending battle, if interested, here’s what works Better than Akismet alone http://is.gd/fw4x – ta!
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RT @TheSpotter Cindy, for me its never ending battle, if interested, here’s what works Better than Akismet alone http://is.gd/fw4x – ta!
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[...] a primitive form of hack attack and I treat it as such! I have described my own fights against comment spam multiple times on this blog but now I use following plugins for [...]
Wow Alex,
i never realized you had to put up with so much c**p when you have a do follow blog like this. It makes me appreciate even more the service you are offering. Not only are you giving great content but you are putting up with all that work just to help us out.
Thanks you for your efforts to help me and other people trying to learn about IM.
Andys last blog post..Make Money With A Christian Home Based Business
Andy,
As I mentioned – its not that bad when all my strategies in place
Woah… Alex! This one is going to take a long time to digest! Question for you. I have askimet now. As I understand it, it’s ok to load up TanTan, too? Will put it to use and see how it works.
Can you provide a little bit of info on how we can properly use Super Cache?
Kevin Sandridges last blog post..You Florida Mortgage Broker May Have Just Cost You Plenty!
Kevin,
Yes, that plugin works in addition to the Akismet and actually does its filtering BEFORE it is ever sent to akismet, hence the effectiveness.
Hi Alex
I haven’t used TanTan before, Akismet has been really good at catching spam for me.
Running two plugins gives you that extra level of protection, but I wonder, if you weren’t using TanTan, how many of those 10K spam messages would actually get flagged by Akismet?
Mikes last blog post..Square Root Watch | Fun Gadgets
Mike,
Honestly I don’t know but reason that plugin was implemented is because Akismet on its own wasn’t holding up. I get a LOT of spam comments here and implementing combination outlined in this post helps me concentrate on more important things – like answering to your valid question instead of fishing it out of hundreds spam comments.
What do you think?
Your reasoning makes total sense. I’ll have to give it a try and see how it goes for me.
I also use Bad Behaviour. Have you tried that Alex? It’s quite good at stopping horrible bots and auto spamming software,,,
AndyWs last blog post..Review of DoFollow Search Tool
oke, this is a good explanation by you alex and if you don’t mine i’ve a question, (sorry if out of topics) my comment is always caught by akismet, i always using same comment structure (name, email and URL), why this could be happen, i never use bot or software to mass commenting
thanks
ianimarus last blog post..Coffee City anyone?
I apologize for that. Perhaps something in your name triggers it and I appreciate the persistent comments and willingness ot put up with it.
While I understand that some people might be inconvenienced by the filters I use – I have no choice if I don’t want to wate hours on comment moderation each day.
For me, Akismet is a life saver. Otherwise, I would go nuts about the sheer truckload of Spam delivered to my blog everyday. I always wonder what the ‘stick rate’ of such a Spam campaign is. I’ll try some of your other tools too. Thanks.
Arno Lenens last blog post..zakelijk lenen
Alex my man, you don’t mind if I just quick swipe that little list and plug it into my filter do ya?
Dennis Edells last blog post..Free Permanent BackLinks: Are You A Subscriber Or Follow Me On Twitter?
Dennis,
That is why I have provided the list in “preformated” – so people could use it if they like it. I hope it helps your blog as much as it does mine.
I figured that, thanks buddy. Now watch my friends try to comment about Saturday night “hold-em” games. LOL
Alex,
Thanks for the help with my blog. You guys saved me from dumping my blog twice, 2 months of work would have been down the drain.
Question: When you see an unknown wrote is that an indicator that it is apam. where do the spam come from, is it automated by some software.
Thanks again, you guys rock..
Until next time,
Kim Dion
Blogger Love
Kim,
Unfortunately spammer are creative and while not sure I understand what are you asking – I can only say, if you use recommendations provided above – you will save yourself a lot of time
Alex,
How do I change my communt luv to 3 post or more. Not sure if I can afford to be picky don’t have a pr nothing yet.
Until next time,
Kim Dion
Blogger Love
Kim, you need to register with commentluv.com – then you have ability to pick which post will be shown with your comment.
Is this a custom setting of commentluv? Most sites have an option to choose title of the post to be shown.
Thanks for the tip. I’m thinking of starting a blog so it should help a lot.
Blogs you find where the commentluv is not showing the drop down option, are using an older version of the plugin.
Kim – you may be confusing commentluv with the do follow plugin.
Using LuciasLinkyLove do follow plugin, you can set the # of comments before the poster gets a do follow link….commentluv has nothing to do with that.
Dennis Edells last blog post..UPDATE: Free Permanent BackLinks: Are You A Subscriber Or Following Me On Twitter?
Do follow blogs are a great way to increase discussion on your blog, unfortunately it usually also comes with an increase in spamming from people just trying to get free backlinks. It is good to see people trying to fight spammers when the people who actually contribute are the one’s that deserved to be rewarded.
First time visitor,
Quick question if I may. What do you think about the Trackbacks /Pinks in comments? Keep them or delete them? I’ve been deleting them just to clean up my comments section, advantage or disadvantages?
Thanks
Jerry
Jerry Lindenburgers last blog post..Improve Your Pagerank-Get Free Keyword Anchored Backlinks
Alex, thanks for sharing a list of blacklisted sites – I added them right away into my list of spam sites. Also thank you for an amazing year of delivering high-quality content about WP and internet marketing.
Wish you huge success in 2009, you well deserve it!
Maxs last blog post..How To Build Blog Making $100+ a Month on Autopilot Under 3 Weeks – Final Chapter
I will try TanTanNoodles Simple Spam Filter, it's seem good plugin.
I’ve just activate Akisment on the blog above after reading this article, but it asks for some key. What is that all about? I though wordpress is free? Where do I get one?
Tudors last blog post..How to find cheap and quality software development