Comments on: Blogging peeve: Smarter s-p-a-m

By: Samar

Samar — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:09:49 +0000

@ Spike – The new comment you posted about is scary! Barricade your blogs everyone and set up a secret password to let in genuine commenters. (Not exactly sure how to do that yet )

@ BloggerDad – You have the head of a spammer my friend But I have to say its nice to only get a few spam comments now instead hundreds.

@ Barbara – You’re smart. I was just so sure the lone comment caught by Akismet was a genuine one

@ Marc – Lol! @ oxymoron. Just wait till you start getting it too.

By: Marc - WelshScribe

Marc - WelshScribe — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:08:21 +0000

I don’t think there’s is such a thing as smart spam, surely it’s an oxymoron?

I just let Akismet do it’s thing and much like Barbara I don’t check it anymore
Marc – WelshScribe´s last blog ..Weekend Reading | Link Love Friday

By: Comment Spam « ScrawlBug

Comment Spam « ScrawlBug — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:53:27 +0000

[...] form of comment spam: after the bot-created spam and human-created spam (for details of the latter, Samar has a wonderful post here), we now have copy/paste spam. This just happened to [...]

By: Barbara Swafford

Barbara Swafford — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:31:49 +0000

Hi Samar,

Fortunately I use Akismet and don’t have to worry about too many spam making it through. Even though a legitimate comment gets picked up by accident from time to time, I can only hope the person who left the comment will contact me as I no longer check the spam folder as I get so much.

I have read spam is automated. How they find the blogs to target is uncertain, but I’m guessing they are using keyword searches.
Barbara Swafford´s last blog ..The Squeaky Wheel Gets The Grease

By: Blogger Dad

Blogger Dad — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:50:54 +0000

I get that same first spam comment you posted a lot.

I especially love when I get it reference to a post which nobody in their right mind has been thinking about “this issue” like where I rant about my evil cat or ironically enough, how certain marketing tactics annoy me.

Oddly, there is one truly genius way for these people to spread their spam. I would never do it but it seems so obvious, I can’t believe they don’t utilize it.

I would post it, but I’d hate to give them any ideas they haven’t already thought of.

By: SpikeTheLobster

SpikeTheLobster — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:48:28 +0000

Heads-up for you: I just received a new style of spam comment. It reads (paraphrased) “This is really great content. Is it copyrighted?” or something similar.

Very sneaky – an attempt to get you to let it through to clarify, or email them and answer. Either way, you’ve been spam-suckered. *sigh*

By: Samar

Samar — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:43:05 +0000

@ David – You’re welcome. Now let’s just hope I don’t get a ‘I’ve been wondering about this topic’ comment for this post

Honestly, it’s still a lot better than those insanely long, url filled comments that used to pass through the filter some how. At least, the readers won’t be turned off if they see it before we get a chance to delete them. (unless they click on it)

@ Joely – Hehe, If only they were genuine compliments. Imagine receiving flattering comments from readers daily. Oh the ego trip!

By: Joely Black

Joely Black — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 17:35:50 +0000

Yes, me too. I’ve had a lot of these, mostly saying they think the site is brilliant, or that I have the most amazing domain name, and wanting to know how I chose it. Well, it’s my name. Duh.
Joely Black´s last blog ..Feeling the pressure, just a little bit

By: David Garcia

David Garcia — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 16:25:40 +0000

I was just wanting to gripe about those comments, so thank you!

My favorite is that I get these comments on my one non-post post, where I explain that my blogging schedule was delayed. In response? “Thank you for posting about this issue. I had been wondering about that topic.” – I posted that almost a year ago, so I’m pretty sure no one’s been concerned about it.

The key with these comments is that they look innocuous and they compliment the blogger. Who wouldn’t want to approve some simple, kind praise? I’ve become increasingly suspicious of any comment that doesn’t specifically discuss the post’s topic in some depth.

Good luck keeping the spammers at bay! We’re all in this together.
David Garcia´s last blog ..Tools & Tech: Are you approaching video backward?

By: Samar

Samar — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 12:15:11 +0000

@ Mel – Thankfully, I’ve had a few of those too so the problem is easy to monitor and handle.

I use Akismet because it comes with WP and haven’t yet felt the need to use another spam filter.

@ Spike – Whoa. That’s a new one. As long as they’re getting caught by my spam filter, I don’t mind anyone making money from it.

What a waste of money though…
Samar´s last blog ..Blogging peeve: Smarter s-p-a-m