• Home
  • About Us
  • Advertising opportunities
  • Contact Us

Associate Programs

  • Articles16 Yrs of Expert Advice
    • Advanced Articles
      • Branding
      • Business Partnerships
      • Conversion Rates
      • Datafeeds
      • Employees
      • Geo-Targeting
      • Interactive Websites
      • List Building
      • Membership Sites
      • Outsourcing
      • Super Affiliates
      • Visitor Created Content
      • Web Video
      • Your Own Program
        • Affiliate Program Management
        • Recruiting Affiliates
    • Affiliate Resources
      • Affiliate Blogs
      • Affiliate Networks
      • Affiliate Tools
      • Affiliate Training
      • Books And Courses
      • FREE Marketing Courses
      • Free Software
      • Merchant Resources
      • Recommended Newsletters
      • Research Competitors
      • Residual Commissions
      • Tracking
    • Beginners Articles
      • Affiliate Marketing Success Stories
      • Affiliate Training
      • Building A Website
        • Web Content
        • WordPress Plugins
      • Business Training
      • Getting Started
        • Business Ideas
      • Getting Traffic
        • Link Building
        • PPC Advertising
        • Search Engine Tips
        • Social Media
      • Goal Setting
      • Monetizing A Site
      • Motivation
      • Time Management
      • Writing Tips
    • Intermediate Articles
      • Blogs
      • Buying Advertising
      • Ebook Publishing
      • Ezine Publishing
      • Getting Publicity
      • Improving Sales
      • RSS
      • Squeeze Pages
      • Video
    • News
    • Product Reviews
      • AdSense
      • Affiliate Manuals
      • Autobiographies
      • Blogging
      • Content Packages
      • Keyword Research
      • Link building
      • PPC
      • Product Creation
      • Search Engine Optimization
      • Site Building
      • Traffic generation
      • Useful Newsletters
      • Useful Tools
    • Newsletter Archive
      • 1998 Newsletters
      • 1999 Newsletters
      • 2000 Newsletters
      • 2001 Newsletters
      • 2002 Newsletters
      • 2003 Newsletters
      • 2004 Newsletters
      • 2005 Newsletters
      • 2006 Newsletters
      • 2007 Newsletters
      • 2008 Newsletters
      • 2009 Newsletters
      • 2010 Newsletters
      • 2011 Newsletters
      • 2012 Newsletters
      • 2013 Newsletters
      • 2014 Newsletters
  • Recommended ResourcesThe Actual Tools and Resources I Use
  • Affiliate Program DirectoryFind Affiliate Programs to Promote
Home Plausible Lies Blog Spammers Tell

Plausible Lies Blog Spammers Tell

Some of these devious blighters fooled me. Are they fooling you?

How much disguised comment spam is on YOUR blog?

I was moderating blog comments recently, deleting the usual annoying garbage, when I became suspicious about one comment which looked a bit too heavy on the flattery.

I'll happily accept praise, but the following comment was definitely out of place on one neglected little blog I own:

     “It's a shame you don't have a donate button! I'd most
     certainly donate to this excellent blog! I suppose for
     now i'll settle for book-marking and adding your RSS
     feed to my Google account.”

Excellent blog? You've got to be joking.

Out of curiosity, I did a search in Google (with quotation marks) and was surprised to discover the same over-the-top bit of flattery appears on a staggering 755,000 web pages.

That made be wonder just how many spam comments – churned out by blog commenting services and blog spamming scripts – are fooling bloggers, and are also being automatically accepted on unmoderated blogs.

So for about a month I've been collecting spam comments and checking the results in Google.

I discovered examples that appear on 3 million and 4 million web pages!

As far as I can see, Google's April 2012 Penguin algorithm update, which was apparently partly aimed at dodgy link building tactics, has slowed the flow of comment spam but hasn't stopped it.

[UPDATE April 2013: Some of these garbage comments now appear on 9 MILLION and even 11 MILLION web pages.]

You're probably not fooled by dumb comments such as…

“Thanks for share!”
“What a great blog”
“good idea im gonna try it”
“cool story bro”

…or cunning questions like…

“whats your facebook profile?”

However, a LOT of blog owners apparently ARE being fooled by disguised spam comments.

Here are some multiple fake comments I discovered, with the number of search results in Google:

FLATTERY

4,190,000 results in Google
“I really appreciate this post. I've been looking all over for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing.”

[UPDATE April 2013: Now on 11.4 MILLION pages.]

3,420,000
“I wanted to thank you for this great read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post.”

3,330,000
“I like the valuable information you provide in your articles.
I will bookmark your blog and check again here frequently.”

3,300,000 (slight variation)
“I like the valuable information you provide in your articles.
I will bookmark your weblog and check again here frequently.”

2,400,000
“This is really interesting, You are a very skilled blogger. I've joined your feed and look forward to seeking more of your magnificent post. Also, I have shared your website in my…”

480,000
“Hello! This post couldn't be written any better! Reading through this post reminds me of my good old room mate! He always kept talking about this. I will forward this post…”

INNOCENT SOUNDING, GENERIC FLUFF

3,250,000
“I'm not sure where you're getting your info, but good topic. I needs to spend some time learning more or understanding more.“

[UPDATE April 2013: Now on 9.5 MILLION pages.]

2,600,000
“Hello there, just became aware of your blog through Google, and found that it's truly informative. I am going to watch out for brussels.”

[UPDATE April 2013: Now on 7.5 MILLION pages.]

PLAUSIBLE QUESTIONS

2,040,000
“…It's a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more pleasant for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a developer to create your theme?”

[UPDATE April 2013: Now on 8.7 MILLION pages.]

1,610,000
“Wow, awesome blog layout! How long have you ever been blogging for? you made blogging look easy.”

1,350,000
“Hi there! Do you know if they make any plugins to help with SEO? I'm trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I'm not seeing…”

570,000
“Do you mind if I quote a few of your articles as long as I provide credit and sources back to your webpage? My website is in the
exact same niche as…”

539,000
“Howdy, i read your blog occasionally and i own a similar one and i was just wondering if you get a lot of spam remarks? If so how do you protect against…”

505,000
“Neat blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere? A theme like yours with a few simple adjustements would really make my blog shine.”

344,000
“Good post however I was wanting to know if you could write a litte more on this subject? I'd be very thankful if you could elaborate a little bit more. Kudos!”

332,000
“Have you ever considered writing an e-book or guest authoring on other websites? I have a blog based on the same subjects you discuss and would love to have you share some…”

322,000
“My partner and I absolutely love your blog and find nearly all of your post's to be precisely what I'm looking for. Do you offer guest writers to write content for…”

295,000
“Would you make a list of the complete urls of all your social community sites like your Facebook page, twitter feed, or linkedin profile?”

188,000
“Hey, really like the blog, wordpress?”

134,000
“…I loved that bit. Will there be a part 2?”

FAKE PROBLEMS

592,000
“I'm not sure exactly why but this blog is loading extremely slow for me. Is anyone else having this problem or is it a problem on my end? I'll…”

382,000
“Oh my goodness! a tremendous article dude. Thanks Nonetheless I am experiencing problem with ur rss . Don't know why Unable to subscribe to it.”

575,000
“I'll immediately snatch your rss as I can not find your e-mail subscription hyperlink or e-newsletter service. Do you have any?”

519,000
“Hey just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The text in your article seem to be running off the screen in Ie”

NEGATIVE

1,030,000
“Hello, you used to write great, but the last several posts have been kinda boring. I miss your tremendous writings. Past several posts are just a little out of track!” (Ouch! That one hurt.)

[UPDATE April 2013: Now on 2.9 MILLION pages.]

PLAUSIBLE LIES

1,430,000
“I have recently started a website, the information you provide on this web site has helped me tremendously. Thanks for all of your time & work.”

1,310,000
“I was recommended this website by my cousin. I'm not sure whether this post is written by him as no one else know such detailed about my…”

627,000
“Greetings! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a group of volunteers and starting a new initiative in a community in the same niche. Your blog provided us…”

192,000
“What's up, how's it going? Just shared this post with a colleague, we had a good laugh.”

8,920
“My daughter gave me the link to this site and she is totally right keep up all the terrific work”

MORE FLATTERY

392,000 (with hyphen in book-marking)
“Hey! Someone in my Myspace group shared this site with us so I came to take a look.
I'm definitely enjoying the information. I'm book-marking…”

396,000 (without hyphen)
“Hey! Someone in my Myspace group shared this site with us so I came to take a look.
I'm definitely enjoying the information. I'm bookmarking…”

411,000
“I really like your writing style, wonderful information, regards for posting : D.”

276,000 (slight variation)
“I really like your writing style, fantastic information, thankyou for posting : D.”

271,000
“I like your article so that I read all of your articles in a day. Please continue and keep on writing excellent posts.”

765,000
“Just wish to say your article is as amazing. The clarity in your post is simply cool and i could assume you are an expert on this subject.”


EVEN MORE FLATTERY

817,000
“You could certainly see your skills within the work you write. The arena hopes for even more passionate writers such as you who are not afraid…”

182,000
“You must take part in a contest for top-of-the-line blogs on the web. I'll suggest this web site!”

173,000
“Good post, well put together. Thanks. I will be back soon to check out for updates. Cheers”

49,500
“Very good article! We will be linking to this great content on our site. Keep up the good writing.”

29,000
“Nice post. This is a great blog and I have to congratulate you on the content.”

SPINNABLE COMMENTS

You've probably heard of “spun” articles. Now we have “spinnable” comments…

539,000 (plus variations!)
“I'm looking ahead for your next submit”
“I'm looking ahead for your next submit, I'll attempt to get the cling of it!”
“I'm looking ahead for your next submit, I'll try to get the hang of it!”
“I'm looking ahead for your next submit, I will try to get the cling of it!”
“I'm looking ahead for your next submit, I will attempt to get the hold of it!”
“I'm looking ahead for your next submit, I'll try to get the grasp of it!”

(I've just re-checked all these blog spam examples in Google and updated the search results numbers. Several have decreased slightly since I began this research, but most have increased significantly and several have increased by 100,000 or even 200,000 in about a month. The deluge continues.)

Cookie-cutter comments

Chances are, a few of the examples on my list above were made by genuine, nice people. Perhaps YOU even made one or two of them?

If so, remember that if you visit a blog you like and make a quick, facile comment, such as, “Informative article, totally what I needed,” don't be surprised if the blog owner decides it's a cookie-cutter comment and deletes it. These days, you really do need to clearly indicate that you have read an article before placing a comment.

One blog commenting service is selling 500 supposedly “logically relevant” comments for about 16 cents each. To compete with the blog spammers and automated blog commenting software, before you make a comment, you need to contribute in a way that adds value to the discussion.

In the past, I've allowed a few dumb comments to slip through. Now I've toughened up. I expect an indication that commenters have read what I wrote and thought about it. If you just say, “Nice post,” I assume you're a robot.

The “steal and change” trick

You've probably seen comments copied from another blog and re-posted on yours. Here's a variation of this trick. The spammer pinches a genuine comment from a related-topic blog and inserts a TYPING MISTAKE. If you fix the typing mistake and do a search in Google, sometimes you'll find the comment on thousands of blogs.

DON'T leave comments unmoderated

Heaps of idiotic comment spam piles up on unmoderated blogs. If you don't have time to moderate comments, please switch off the darn comments! All those garbage auto-generated comments aren't helping to make your new blog “busy”. They're scaring away your visitors because they make your blog look abandoned.

Is allowing spam comments on your site bad for search engine rankings? Of course it is!

Google says that turning on comment moderation “can really help to improve the user experience for your visitors”. However, Google doesn't merely give you a gentle clue. It provides a whole page of advice on how to combat spammy user-generated content. Why would Google bother to help you like that if comment spam wasn't important?

WordPress, too, has a page on how to combat comment spam.

As well as using anti-spam plugins such as…

  • Akismet
  • Defensio Anti-Spam
  • Bad Behavior
  • NoSpamNX
  • GASP
  • AntispamBee
  • Disqus
  • reCAPTCHA (from Google)

…WordPress users can also use the Comment Blacklist to block various words, such as [email protected], other pharmaceuticals, casino games, mortgage, etc.

Some bloggers go another step and block all URLs in comments. I don't do that, because some links in comments are useful. If you want to block URLs in WordPress, here's how:

Go to Settings >> Discussion >> Comment Blacklist.

(It says: “When a comment contains any of
these words in its content, name, URL, e-mail,
or IP, it will be held in the moderation queue.
One word or IP per line. It will match inside
words, so ‘press' will match ‘WordPress'.”)

In the field, type “www” in the first line and “http” in the second line. Click “Save”.

Security expert Regina Smola recommends you make sure you check the box that says: “Comment author must fill out name and email”.

What's next?

Some bloggers say the only way to defeat the comment spammers is to disallow ALL comments. What! Let the auto-generating blighters win? I'm not doing that. I like including you in the conversation. I like seeing your feedback, and I appreciate helpful comments when you add them.

Whatever anti-spam steps you take, nothing beats human moderation.

Have you been fooled by the spammers? Even if you do moderate blog comments manually, how much plausible junk and auto-generated, “spinnable” garbage is sitting on YOUR blog?

I'd be very interested in your comments. Real ones, that is.

UPDATED: April 4, 2013
Jul 13, 2012Allan Gardyne
Teenage website owner to report on OlympicsThe devilishly slippery slope
Comments: 45
  1. Haroun Kola
    10 years ago

    I get loads of comment spam but with GASP plugin for WordPress most has stopped and my moderation is much less.

    ReplyCancel
  2. Andy
    10 years ago

    Howdy Allan, you provided a nice listing above. As I've had lots of experience with the spammers I have installed the AntispamBee which is always free and is connected to the Honeypot-Project - since that everything works on autopilot, Comments can still be moderated and if one is approved all will be approved. If already known in the honeypot they are sorted out automatically.
    Another useful Plugin is Andy Baileys GASP which adds a checkbox that must be checked by hand - and so sorts out the robots. So, with WordPress and the right Plugins installed, you're all set. (without the need of Captcha's) ;) 

    ReplyCancel
  3. Ruth
    10 years ago

    If a comment does not specifically, and very obviously relate to my content, I don't post it. I have done that for years already.  It's really too bad that so much spam exists.  Yet, it is in our quest for traffic that spam is created in the first place.  How many marketers, who hate spam comments, have, at one time, sold or used spam software.  How many marketers, who hate reading (even the good ones) spinned articles, have used or sold the article spinners?   

    ReplyCancel
  4. Richard
    10 years ago

    I agree with your point - if it is not obvious that they read my post, delete! I also usually make sure the link points to a worthwhile website. I use Askimet but so far I have not blacklisted any words.

    ReplyCancel
  5. Simon
    10 years ago

    Hi Allan

    To answer your questions, yes I have most certainly let some of the more plausible spam comments through and live to regret it as the blog was then bombarded with the plainly more obvious spam comments from the same site/person.  And I am guilty of posting genuine comments of praise that match those that you have highlighted, mainly along the lines of thanking the writer for the information and not much else.

    ReplyCancel
  6. Jack
    10 years ago

    Hi Allan,

    What an amazing discovery !

    I have been a subscriber ever since I read about you in the SBI blurbs in May 2009. Always enjoyed your articles.

    Allan, everyone says you must have your own product to really succeed on the internet. They also say "don't ask for a JV partnership before establishing a rapport with the prospective partner".

    Well, I never had the need for writing to you before, especially since it is not in my nature to submit spammy sounding comments anyway.

    I am writing to you now because I have completed my e-book but I do not have a list and I am a newbie.

    Would you be kind enough to help me market my e-book ? I would propose a 50/50 split of the profit.

    If you would help me I shall be eternally grateful.

    With kind regards,

    Joachim ( "Jack" )

    ReplyCancel
  7. Geoff Currey
    10 years ago

    Do you notice what most blog spam comments have in common? They make no direct reference to the topic they are commenting on. Even the longer comments are very general.

    ReplyCancel
  8. Allan Gardyne
    10 years ago

    Hi Joachim, Try using the Contact form. That's what it's for.

    Everyone else, Thanks for the comments and tips. I really appreciate them.

    ReplyCancel
  9. Barbara
    10 years ago

    I saw an interesting tactic a couple of weeks ago, but haven't seen it since... The spammer goes to a forum or blog, copies a real (usually long) comment, then spams related blogs and forums with it. This makes it seem quite real and relevant. Clever, but probably takes a bit more work, which is why I've only seen it a couple of times. Fortunately, the first time I encountered it, there was something towards the end of the comment that tipped me off, so I know to watch for it now. Depending on how careful you want to be, you might want to google all incoming comments to be sure they don't already exist out there.

    ReplyCancel
  10. Chris
    10 years ago

    I get about five of those a day. Even smarter, a lot of them don't even have websites associated with them. I think that's so you approve the comments, which means that profile and email address would be approved for future comments (using some settings). Then they can start sending spam comments with unwittingly automatic approval - so beware of that!

    Chris

    ReplyCancel
  11. Martin
    10 years ago

    Reality check.

    What if someone fires up his comment spam software and gives it a run for www.associateprograms.com, on 150000 sites?

    Do you think that would hurt your website?

    In the long run, at once, when?

    Later

    ReplyCancel
  12. Jesse
    10 years ago

    I really have a hard time with the blog spam. I basically threw in the towel a while back because it seemed like the blog spammers were always finding ways around the spam filters. And I didn't feel like I had time to personally moderate each comment. Do the anti-spam programs work well enough to rely on them?

    ReplyCancel
  13. Jon
    10 years ago

    Fortunately AntispamBee has pretty harsh screening. Usually before doing a bulk delete I quickly scan through the pages because the occasional genuine comment/trackback winds up there. Must admit I see precious few of the comments you quoted and 99% of SPAM is obvious for two reasons. 1. It's usually gibberish that's virtually indecipherable; and 2. Most regular people don't leave comments on irrelevant pages like TOS. The more SPAM I see the more I'm glad I studiously avoided all link building schemes.      

    ReplyCancel
  14. Joe
    10 years ago

    Allan,

    Question: where did you get this great comment box? I'd love to have it for my site! does it come with a spell checker?

    As for spammers, I've noticed something unique. I don't allow people who sell vitamins /supplements to leave their links on my site. Recently I've noticed comments that say "where can I get supplement x" and later in the day, somebody else replies with a link to a supplement web site. It's just got me wondering if all these questions are legit.

    ReplyCancel
  15. Lee
    10 years ago

    WOW Allan! I never though about comments being canned spam. Thank you for the insight. Maybe you should put a donate button on your blog. You do have a lot of REALLY professional information that people can read for free. Hey, it worked for George Zimmerman.

    ReplyCancel
  16. Dan
    10 years ago

    Besides Askimet, I just look for specific reference to the post topic or at least the site's niche.  If the comment contains neither, my "Spidey spam sensor" goes off and the comment is given no further consideration. 

    After all, they are supposed to be adding something to the conversation, aren't they?  And a compliment, no matter how well intentioned, doesn't achieve this.  It just clutters up blogs.

    ReplyCancel
  17. Derek
    10 years ago

    Thanks for the informative update and analysis Allan. I find comment spam both annoying and amusing at times. I often wondered if someone was actually manually posting the comments or systematically generating them. The spelling errors are so obvious that I'm assuming it's done on purpose. I once turned the comments off but have since turned them back on.

    ReplyCancel
  18. Liz
    10 years ago

    Hey Allan,

    The spammers are definitely hoping that flattery will get them everywhere and for many of them, it has.  

    My strategy now is that I don't allow any comments that don't at least indicate the commenter read my post and the comment has to offer some useful input.  If the comment can be applied to anything, it's obviously SPAM.

    Liz :-)

    ReplyCancel
  19. Tim
    10 years ago

    I'm glad somebody addressed this spam commenting issue. I run Akismet on my blog, and that filters out 99.9% of the spam. Of the remaining, it's pretty easy to see what is spam and what isn't. If a comment is written in broken English (meaning it's spun) or if it doesn't address the topic of the post, I know it's spam. That filters out 99% of the rest.

    ReplyCancel
  20. Allan Gardyne
    10 years ago

    Hi Barbara, Now THAT definitely should be be illegal. It's plagiarism for commercial purposes.

    ReplyCancel
  21. Allan Gardyne
    10 years ago

    Hi Haroun and Andy, Thanks for recommending GASP. I've added it to the article.

    ReplyCancel
  22. Allan Gardyne
    10 years ago

    Hi Martin, That's a really scary thought.

    It reminds me of the early days of affiliate marketing. I gave a bad review of one particular affiliate program, and soon afterwards my main page disappeared from the server. When I mentioned the program again, my affiliate forum was hacked, "adult" stuff was posted on it, and I was locked out. My username and password wouldn't work.

    I know you run a risk if you expose bad guys, but someone has to.

    ReplyCancel
  23. Allan Gardyne
    10 years ago

    Hi Jesse, No, you can't rely totally on anti-spam plugins, because the comment spammers are devious enough to keep introducing new versions of spam that the software doesn't know is spam. You need human eyeballs, and even then you can be tricked. Anti-spam plugins will catch most of it.

    ReplyCancel
  24. Allan Gardyne
    10 years ago

    Hi Jon, Thanks. Sounds good. I've added AntispamBee to the list of anti-spam plugins.

    ReplyCancel
  25. Allan Gardyne
    10 years ago

    Hi Joe, If your instincts are telling you that something is fishy, they're probably right.

    Our comment box is part of a content management system called Website Publisher made by Interspire. Unfortunately, I don't recommend it. The last time we updated the CMS, some important features were broken. Instead of fixing the problems, Interspire is discontinuing Website Publisher. A year after the upgrade, I'm STILL trying to get one serious problem fixed.

    Robert Blackstone has a really good script you can use to add a comment box to your articles. I wrote about it here: Easy ways to get user-generated content.

    ReplyCancel
  26. Allan Gardyne
    10 years ago

    Hi Lee, Thank you! Instead of a donation, I'd really appreciate a link to this article. :)

    ReplyCancel
  27. Michael J Ming
    10 years ago

    This is spam comment - oops! not really! Great information, Allan. I have been allowing "borderline" comments but it looks as the vast majority of those were qualified for the trash as well after seeing your article. That cousin has been busy on my spammy comments and one that wasn't mentioned was (...haha) that seems to bob up a lot in my spammy ones. I don't allow comments on the homepage but they keep on acomin' to the the secondary pages. I think if I become more selective at "non-approving" comments my blogs will have zero comments.

    I also notice the spammy links go to broken or crappy sites and the emails are fake as well.

    ReplyCancel
  28. Linda
    10 years ago

    Hi Allan.

    Interesting post on blog spam. It really is a full time job fighting the spammers. It has become the scourge of the internet and blogs. I recognize a lot of these comments as they have appeared over and over (with variations) on my site. I moderate every single comment on my sites and cleaning them out is a part of my workday. I have noticed several spam comments recently that incorporate the title of the blog. Google should use your research to penalize the websites that are attached to these comments.

    Linda

    ReplyCancel
  29. Cat Lover
    10 years ago

    Allan, Thanks so much for this massive research project. I have just been through my cat blog which gets lots of comments and deleted many of them that I previously approved.

    Have installed GASP so thanks for that too.

    I also discovered a newer form of cheating using curation. There must be a plugin for grabbing other people's work - just enough so it could be seen as "fair use" and then wrapping a whole lot of bland general  text around the quote you grabbed.

    I noticed I get a ping back immediately I posted which I thought a bit fishy. Sure enough the link led to a blog with nothing much on it except ads and quotes from other people's blogs. Would love to prevent this as I don't want a link on that sort of environment but how could this ever be prevented?

    Liz

    ReplyCancel
  30. Allan Gardyne
    10 years ago

    Hi cyril, Good to know that Akismet is helping. Comment spammers keep changing their methods, so Akismet won't catch every bit of spam.

    I did a google search for little yellows stars when click link and found this WordPress support page:

    http://wordpress.org/support/topic/links-not-addin...

    In that case, the problem was solved by reinstalling WordPress.

    ReplyCancel
  31. cyril
    10 years ago

    The list you provided is very real, I just started my blog about six seven mths. now and i have been getting 14-20 of these per day. I have even approved some that seem real but other i deleted because they seem obvious. They were all been commenting on one specific post. I am now using akismet on my wordpress site and they all go to spam. Now i just go and delete then. I also notice that when i go to my posts and click on some of my affiliates links i just see this yellow star and it don't open. Is this something they did and what can be done?

    ReplyCancel
  32. Allan Gardyne
    10 years ago

    Hi Catherine, Thanks for the tip! Much appreciated. I've updated the article, adding Disqus to the list of anti-spam tools.

    ReplyCancel
  33. Catherine
    10 years ago

    I actually found this post very entertaining. A real " oh yes, I can relate to that" moment. 

    Even though spammers drive us all crazy, this was an enjoyable read.

    I use this free WordPress anti spam plugin called Disqus on my websites. It absolutely stopped spam comments instantly, which Akismet wasn't doing effrciently, (Link will show you how to install and use it)

    Regards

    Catherine

    ReplyCancel
  34. Allan Gardyne
    10 years ago

    You didn't read the article did you?

    Your comment has been published on 591,000 web pages.

    You should be jailed for wasting people's time.

    ReplyCancel
  35. Senad Agovic
    10 years ago

    People keep spamming on the blogs but it’s important for a blogger to remove the spams and keep it genuine and authentic.

    ReplyCancel
  36. Western lamps
    10 years ago

    People keep spamming on the blogs but it’s important for a blogger to remove the spams and keep it genuine and authentic.

    ReplyCancel
  37. Alex
    10 years ago

    This is spy vs spy territory (if anyone is old enough to remember that).

    My approach to preventing spam is to research how spammers do their work. It is quite facinating imho. So first, remove the footprints that let you easily be found. Search on "Powered by Wordpress"... there is your target list. Edit your footer to "Powered by W o r d p r e s s" or just delete it.

    reCAPTCHA. Search deathbyCAPTCHA. reCAPTCHA is dead. Use something atypical. GASP (as mentioned above) seems good. One of the new puzzle CAPTCHAs. I tried sweet CAPTCHA but there are a bunch now.

    I've also found FV Antispam useful and essentially invisible.

    ReplyCancel
  38. Donna White
    10 years ago

    Wow, what an awesome post.  I will bookmark. 

    LOL

    I have had the comments on not being able to subscribe to my rss feed and the ones where they like my theme.  And until I read your post here, I thought they were legit. 

    Doesn't matter because I turned off the comments on all of my sites because of the blatant spam that was coming in. No good comments at all.  I figured I would wait until I had more people coming to my site and/or I would learn how to deal with the comments.

    And that brings me to my last point:  Thank you so much to you and everyone regarding how to deal with the comments.  This really helps me.  I will be turning on the comments soon.

    Take care,
    Donna :)

    ReplyCancel
  39. insurance rate quotes
    10 years ago

    Does your website have a contact page? I'm having a tough time locating it but, I'd like
    to send you an email. I've got some ideas for your blog you might be interested in hearing. Either way, great blog and I look forward to seeing it expand over time.

    ReplyCancel
  40. casino blog
    10 years ago

    This post help me a lot in removing spam links from my blog.

    ReplyCancel
  41. Alex Newell
    10 years ago

    I'm sure that 1 or 2 got past me. I liked the "Will there be a part 2?"

    :-)

    Let's add to your list, "I had difficulty with your RSS Feed"

    I always click through to their website too and even if the comment is OK, if the website is on a topic I find objectionable, then I nuke it. And if the comment is bland but the website is good, I'll probably approve it.

     

    ReplyCancel
  42. Allan Gardyne
    10 years ago

    Hi Michael, If you want to attract genuine comments, the solution is simple - but definitely not easy. 

    I've noticed that some of my articles fall on totally deaf ears and then every now and again I'll post an article that resonates with readers and they respond with lots of interesting feedback and useful tips. You have to talk about something they're interested in talking about.

    For example, look at all the genuine comments that my interview with Rebecca Turner attracted.

    Asking questions can help increase comments, too.

    ReplyCancel
  43. Richard
    10 years ago

    Thanks for your indepth review, Allan. The blog spam, and spammy comments on many of my websites has been so aggravating that I have removed the comment feature from most of my sites, and disabled the comment.php files.

    Monitoring comments in hopes of finding honest legitimate posts to which I might be able to offer help  -  from among the ridiculous comments - has just become a waste of time.

    In this manner, I'm less likely to offend valuable followers and subscribers who feel they are being ignored if I don't respond to their posts.

    ReplyCancel
  44. Mat Davis
    6 years ago

    Hi Allan, I think almost all the webmaster are used to these spammy comments. I use this wp sweep plugin to delete all the spammy comments..

    Recently i have been seeing this one a lot. SEO Companies trying to sell their services to promote your page

    Example

    Hello Web admin, i noticed that your on page seo is missing a few factors blah blah

    ReplyCancel
  45. Maria Khan
    10 months ago

    I like the valuable information you provide in your articles. Spam comments are an everyday occurrence for most webmasters.
    https://www.cloudpages.cloud/blog/amazon-ec2-web-hosting/

    ReplyCancel

Leave a Reply to Jesse Cancel reply

Allan Gardyne

Affiliate marketing veteran, entrepreneur. Founder of AssociatePrograms.

10 years ago 45 Comments BlogsBlogs113
Recent Posts
  • When to Use Black Hat Marketing (Almost Never)
  • How Much Money Do You Need to Start an Online Business?
  • 3 Emails You Need to Send When You Have an Ecommerce Store
  • How to Start an Ecommerce Business 24 Hours
  • Drive Targeted Traffic using The $5 Facebook Ad Strategy
Latest Directory Listings
SG Health

Make money with multiple health affiliate programs and unique offers. This is a two-tier program paying residual commission of 30% on the first tier plus 5% on second tier sales. no minimum payout, unlimited cookies, get paid every 2 weeks. Sign ...

Exotic Nasal Spray

Exotic Nasal Spray is an advanced new technology uses a tried and tested unique blend of 9 herbal ingredients, which work together to help combat erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation. Affiliates earn 50% commission on sales.

Never an Outbreak

Never an Outbreak offers a proven, all natural treatment to prevent cold sores and genital herpes outbreaks caused by HSV 1 and 2. With over 65,000 satisfied customers already, Never an Outbreak's protocol has shown itself to be effective in all...

Audio Book Fest

Thousands of audio book titles across various genres from well known publishers such as BBC, Simon & Schuster, Time Warner and Harper Collins. Instant download after purchase. MP3 format available. Free samples available. No monthly subscription f...

Moonshadow Rainmaker

The Moonshadow Rainmaker is a free book browser with tens of thousands of books. You can plug it in to your website or blog. The Rainmaker will generate referral fees for you by sending customers to Amazon and other vendors. Add a free Rainmaker t...

Other Pages
  • Create an Account
  • Directory Dashboard
    • How to submit an affiliate program
    • Add an Affiliate Program
  • Advertising Opportunities
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Disclosure & Other Legal Stuff
  • Privacy Policy
Proudly hosted by Cloudways

We wanted the fastest WordPress hosting, so after tons of research, we picked Cloudways and couldn’t be happier.

Copyright © 1998 - 2020 AssociatePrograms by Bedrock Co. All rights reserved. View our Privacy and Disclosure policies.
Cleantalk Pixel