Comments on: Re-evaluating Comment Spam

By: Frank C

Frank C — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:41:41 +0000

I have absolutely no problem with people using an anchored keyword instead of a person’s name in my comments on OpTempo. All I ask is that they comment that they leave be on topic so that it adds to the discussion at hand and of reasonable length. I’ve seen two advantages to do this.

First, it increases the amount of relevant content on a post. That means more content for Google and more long tail search terms I’ll snag. That means more money making search traffic.

Second, it increases the activity level on the site which not only makes it exciting to Google but to referral visitors as well. Many people love to jump in on active and interesting discussions so my referral visitors and RSS subscribers have gone up too. And, while my primary monetization depends on search traffic, I’ve found that I also get sales to regular visitors/subscribers too.

It is true that I get the typical “Great Post” auto-spam comments. Akismet usually nails them though. I also moderate all new commentators which allows me to screen those that get through. I rarely Akismet spam these commentators though. What I do is remove their link and put a few words in their digital mouth.

By: Angela

Angela — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:49:31 +0000

I have a post from 200-flipping-6 about Halloween costumes that has all of sudden become the target of some idiot(s?) at a costume shop in Rhode Island. Unlike usual comment spam, they were relevant comments and each seemed different but all were about this one shop. I wrote a warning for them to stop. After the 15th comment in three days, I marked ‘em all as spam.

By: Jem

Jem — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:58:48 +0000

I get absolutely shitloads, since being featured on a bucket of dofollow lists, and I delete every single one of them. I don’t care how long they are, how sincere they are, how well thought out they are.. if you’re not using a real name or an equivalent nickname (and no “used cars” is not a nickname) it will be deleted.

By: Fern

Fern — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 08:32:20 +0000

WP ate my comment damnit!

I delete them unless the comment is actually constructive and shows that they may have even taken the time to read the post, the responses like “This is very interesting” or “what an informative read!” get bahleeted

By: Fern

Fern — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 08:30:23 +0000

If they get through then they get deleted as soon as I spot them, they’re just as spammy as actual spam IMO If the comment is constructive then I’ll usually leave it up but a “thanks for this post” or “this was very interesting to read” get bahleeted sharpish.