Just a quick update about the current state of comment moderation on LFD. I've been receiving more than the usual number of spam comments linking to advertising sites and such, so I have put all posts on comment moderation, not just the usual pre-14-day posts. I'll leave it this way until spammites (not psammites, one of my favorite rock types) taper off. I'm thinking that maybe spammers/bots have ramped up their activity for the holidays.
The Fine Print: Names that link to adverstisements and websites selling things, instead of the more usual profile or blog, are automatically considered spam and will not be published or, if accidentally published, will be deleted mercilessly. Comments that contain links to advertisements and websites selling things are also considered spam, even if the comment seems "friendly." Sign-in names like "Mr. Low Prices" are dead giveaways that you happen to be a spammer. I will not publish any comments under any circumstances that link to sites selling research papers. If you think I should mention your website, blog, or name on this website - AND YOU HAVEN'T EVEN BOTHERED TO LINK TO MINE - uh, WTF??
UPDATE: Comments are back to the usual, with moderation only on posts older than 15 days. This state of affairs is subject to change without warning when I'm traveling or when I have poor or intermittent internet connections.
14 comments:
Well put, Silver. I have also seen an uptick in spam comments, but it's been only one or two a day- not enough for me to implement moderation. Enough for me to think about it, though.
And sometimes, even when it looks like spam, it's so surreal that I can't bring myself to click the trashcan icon. For example, someone last night left the following on one of my cat posts from last spring: "...please where can I buy a unicorn?" No link, anonymous commenter.
Love it.
But I agree, the purpose of my blog is not to provide dubious commercial interests a place to advertise.
One or two a day annoys me, especially if I don't have ready access to my computer and have to delete by phone. Usually when I've gone on full moderation before, I have been able to revert to no moderation or moderation only on older posts after a couple weeks.
If someone wants advertisements, they can offer to pay for the space, at least!
Don't know where anyone can buy a unicorn, though - thought they weren't for sale. :)
I've been getting some of those too. One said something to the effect of "I liked your blog and would like to see more on this subject!". Followed by an ad link, of course. Most irritating. I'm still on a 14 day moderating thing due to someone who went through several dozen of my blog entries and posted spam on each one.
I've seen 1-2 per day of these spam comments in the last couple of days. Was thinking of putting word verification back on.
Darn, I was hoping Lockwood would know where to buy a unicorn so I could reply to the same request.
;-)
Sorry if this shows up twice. Something very weird just happened.
Yeah, I was on the 14-day thing because some of the spammites just go to older posts, not realizing that I get an email every time someone posts. Strange, especially with the Recent Comments widget on the side. I don't think they read the blog at all, but rather they just pick blogs from search words that relate to their product, although sometimes the links seem totally random. I think that some recent spam comments have come via the "Next Blog" thingy on the Blogger toolbar or whatever that upper portion is called.
I think I have word verification on, will have to check that.
I got Lockwood's comment twice, got yours once so far, Gaelyn, so I don't know what might be going on. Maybe just a Blogger thing.
Am going to stick with my idea that it's a holiday thing. I think that about a year ago was when I first used comment moderation. Hope it goes away!
have been getting them almost daily. Since I already had the moderation setting on I am catching them all and just deleting them. It is annoying. I will have to put the effort into actually tracking down their IP sometime and turn it in to google.
I never thought about notifying Blogger/Google with an IP address. How do they stop them? Do they then report them as spam or abuse on their server?
I've seen quite an increase in unknown IP addresses during the last 6 months - which may be a result of getting hits thru twitter, and maybe Sitemeter can't resolve some of those. Or maybe more spammers are using IP anonymizers. I couldn't identify the last couple of addresses - possibly I should try Google Analytics or some other site stat service.
I use stat counter but have not checked yet to see if they are catching the IP address. Maybe just reporting it to google and they can keep an eye out for the "people" who are doing it.
I've noticed the increase myself. I don't get a huge number of comments, so it's especially irritating when it's all spam.
ShortGeo (like me), I'm really hoping it's a holiday thing and will taper. Interestingly, a spammer tried to comment on this post, saying "Thanks 4 sharing." Yeah, right. Delete, delete.
I was getting increasing numbers through last week, and finally put the two-week limit and verification word up on Friday. Not a one since.
I haven't gotten *any* for exactly 4 days. Not a stunning run of spam-free days, really. So will leave total moderation up.
I do have word verification up, I think!
Yup, you do have word verification up. How does the moderation work? Do you get an email with a pending comment and an option to delete?
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