It’s a little sad to see because I’m a big supporter of the do-follow movement. Unfortunately the temptation to spam seems to be too appealing/profitable to ignore for many. Akismet is continuing to do a standup job of filtering spam, but it simply can’t keep up with people employed to spam.
At this point I can either give up and go back to a no-follow blog which I would hate to do and probably wouldn’t stop the spam, only minimize it or I can keep fighting to keep this blog clean-ish. Though my darker hat suggests that it might be a reasonable idea to invest some money in some of the cheap options for link building in this way.
TigerTom // Jul 11, 2008 at 6:26 pm
How about this?:
When you write a new post, turn off comments for the previous one.
Bloggin and WordPress, Made Easy // Jul 11, 2008 at 7:44 pm
What type of non-automated spam do you get? People advertising products? or hundreds of identical comments with the same link?
Ling // Jul 12, 2008 at 1:33 am
There’s lots of new wordpress plugins which will help you moderate comments. For example, there’s this plugin (I don’t remember the name), which enables do-follow on comment links only after you have approved 10 comments from the same commentator. That way, people have to put in some work and be a member of your community, before they start getting do-follow links.
Asuka_Aki // Jul 12, 2008 at 10:05 am
I was under the impression that Akismet used with WP Spam Free plugin solved everything.
Danu // Jul 12, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Spam to famous blogger
Breezy // Jul 12, 2008 at 4:07 pm
As long as there is a dollar to be made…….
I used to wonder why I continued to get viagra emails up 50 or more a day despite my spam filters if I was on a list of purchasers – Hah! If you come up with an answer to truly solve the problem be sure and market it before the spammers get ahold of it.
We do our best to avoid the spam and consider it a cost of doing business. Some days are better than others. Lings idea is a good one but I doubt that will work as the spammers will surely do more than 10 a week, if not in a day.
Nextiva // Jul 12, 2008 at 6:58 pm
It’s quite sad but there are many spammers out there. Undoubtedly I would say that there are even more people with good intentions and don’t mean to spam. I am quite impressed that you choose to use dofollow and hope that many more people follow your style – dofollow is right and fair. But at the same time, people should not be taking advantage of it toooo much.
Schlüsselanhänger // Jul 13, 2008 at 5:28 am
I like TigerTom’s idea. You may do this. All dofollow bloggers are suffering from this SPAM problem. If you go back to a no-follow blog then it will bring great harm for real commenter.
Andrew. Fredericksburg Attorney. // Jul 13, 2008 at 8:16 pm
The comments that drive me nuts are the ones that simply say “thanks” or something similar. They don’t even try to join the conversation or truly thank the author for the information.
I’ve got to admit that paid commenting is a tempting way to build some links quickly. But I think that also gives the site a bad reputation. It’s a mistake, in my opinion.
Susan // Jul 14, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Well..that sucks. Are you getting spam comments or spam “trackbacks”?
Peter // Jul 14, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Well I see it as a 2 way thing. As well as giving a link out you’re also getting some new content on your page for Google to slurp up, and that’s good for the site as well.
The trick is to make sure the comments approved add content, and to delete those that don’t. Make sure the comment is relevant and worthwhile and not just there for the link.
Bluetooth GPS // Jul 15, 2008 at 5:17 am
Yes it’s quite sad that spamming has increased tremendously on blogs. You are very right when you say that Akismet continues to do a standup job of filtering spam, but it simply can’t keep up with people employed to spam. And yes no-follow tag will not do much better either. I think this one is a Catch 22 situation!!!
Julia // Jul 15, 2008 at 11:30 am
I think you should just moderate it… maybe it will work!
Mike Davies // Jul 15, 2008 at 12:43 pm
This is also true of social networks. Take Squidoo…nearly every lens created there is a waste of space. It’s full of those SEO types who we all know, spam their way to the top then wonder why their side slips down the rankings 3 months after!
SomeAudioGuy // Jul 15, 2008 at 10:18 pm
I’m glad I caught this. I just went Do Follow, and was already getting a lot of spam. We’ll see how it goes. I do want to reward those that comment for me though.
I’ve seen on other blogs where comments are only open for a week or two weeks from the post date, before being deactivated. Would something like that be appropriate here?
Kurt PrintSmart // Jul 17, 2008 at 5:41 am
I think its completely up to the moderator, spam ruins the blog and makes it trashy
JB // Jul 17, 2008 at 12:06 pm
I think Nextiva makes some good points. I like Do-Follow but many people do take extreme advantage of it — which gets pretty annoying!
Peter // Jul 19, 2008 at 11:37 am
I do what TigerTom does and -
When you write a new post, turn off comments for the previous one.
Spammers usually go for older posts from my reckoning.
Newfoundland Business Directory // Jul 19, 2008 at 2:24 pm
It is a difficult balance indeed to control spam and valuable comments. I personally love the dofollow movement, and have no complaints when it comes to moderating the posts. What bothers me however, is the posts that are not anywhere close to the topic being talked about.
I certainly hope that you don’t turn off the dofollow option.
Leicester Web // Jul 21, 2008 at 10:06 am
TigerTom’s suggestion is the best, simply turn off comments for the previous post when starting new one.
datemonthyear // Jul 22, 2008 at 4:18 am
I am new to do-follow, and it seems to me to be “spamming with approval” because we are doing it for a reason. I think moderation really is the only response and also is a logical consequence of the
whole process.
Gareth - Creare Design // Jul 22, 2008 at 4:19 am
I can understand all points of view here. As each of us is posting we are all leaving links to our sites. Maybe the best thing is to turn off older comments.
How does it affect Peter?
Sheila Sultani // Jul 24, 2008 at 9:11 am
i get so much spam but I just delete it. I really don’t understand what spammers get out of spamming.
Mike US // Jul 24, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Forbid keyword Name for commentators. It filter out some spammers for sure.
video indir // Jul 25, 2008 at 11:16 am
I recommend you to moderate comments. actually I really don’t understand people not doing this.
Sharepoint Training Course // Aug 4, 2008 at 11:17 am
To follow or not to follow, that’s the question…
Moderate your comments by all means. It’s give or take situation. If people want to leave their keywords, then they have to work for it. If bloggers want ppl to comment on their blogs, then they need to work for it too with moderated comments.
I just hate it when blog owners get too uppity. Not everyone is an A-lister and not everyone will subscribe to your RSS hanging on your every post. By leaving comments, we add value to your blog by adding to the conversation, we leave you more content for search engine results regarding combating spam in blogging.
It’s a give and take situation that both commentators and blog owners need to realize.
MT Web Design // Jan 29, 2009 at 9:54 am
Surely all you need to fix this problem is someone to actually watch their own blogs for people using it to Spam. Maybe they could speak to their web designer to see if they could monitor it?
Cazare in Bucuresti // Mar 24, 2009 at 6:34 pm
The problem with do-follow is people will spam. If a blog is good enough then the blog owner won’t need to have do-follow because people will comment to put their point of view accross, not to gain a back link.
The BBC is a perfect example of this. There are no links in the forums and blogs, yet they have many users.
However, when a blog is starting and it wants to get a upper hand, their is no harm in attracting people who want do-follow links, because some will become hooked, so even if you change to no-follow, people will still comment.
consultant // Apr 13, 2009 at 5:57 pm
my blogs generally get way too much spam. I wonder how this stuff helps anybody’s website. I can’t see a reason for it.:(