Comments on: Are You Torturing Your Blog Commenters? Help Stop Comment Spam

By: Does Your Blog Comments Strip HTML and Links? : The Blog Herald

Does Your Blog Comments Strip HTML and Links? : The Blog Herald — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 21:15:01 +0000

[...] form process asks me repeatedly for CAPTCHAs or torture tests, I’m gone. If it’s too much hassle to comment, I won’t comment, and I probably won’t come [...]

By: Weekly Digest: Blog Silence Day, Comment Spam Brainstorming « Lorelle on WordPress

Sat, 21 Apr 2007 03:48:54 +0000

[...] Comment Spam Brainstorming: In an attempt to tap the brilliant minds of the blogosphere, I announced a brainstorming attempt asking bloggers to come up with ideas on how to stop comment spammers from spamming in Are You Torturing Your Blog Commenters? Help Stop Comment Spam and Can We Work Together to Stop Comment Spam. Unfortunately, the timing of more interesting news in the world overshadowed my attempt. The idea is still valid as comment spam impacts every blogger in the world. I think with a little creativity and united energy, we can come up with some original methods to take the income out of spammers. [...]

By: Alister Cameron, Blogologist

Alister Cameron, Blogologist — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 00:06:30 +0000

I made a relatively simple change to my comment form that has reduced my spam to a trickly. For non-A-list bloggers this will be all they need, for sure.

There is otherwise no simple solution to comment spam, for the same reason there is no simple solution to email spam. Spammers are commercially motivated (and well paid) to be one step ahead of the latest counter-measures.

Unfortunately the simplicity of IP communications is something we both love and hate. It has democratized communication, levelled the playing field for bloggers and everyone else, but it has also made it very hard for us to root out the spammers, hackers and other malfaisants.

You can’t have all that good without some bad. The virtual world mirrors the real :)

-Alister

By: Chris Cree

Chris Cree — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 17:10:19 +0000

Luis is right. The only thing that will discourage spammers is to come up with some way to hit them in their bank account. As long as the cost to the spammers stays so incredibly low they will keep filling up the available bandwidth at a profit.

I’m loathe to have governments get in the mix because they tend toward heavy handed solutions that have negative consequences for the innocent too.

Until we can come up with a market way to increase spammer’s cost the best approach I can think if is to play defense like we are doing with programs like Akismet.

By: SOBCon 07: Prizes and Gifts from Generous Folks - Liz Strauss at Successful Blog - Thinking, writing, business ideas . . . You’re only a stranger once.

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 14:48:36 +0000

[...] Rumor has it that the famous Lorelle, that’s right Lorelle VanFossen of Lorelle on WordPress and The Blog Herald, will not only be at SOBCon, but will also introduce her brand new book for bloggers and will be providing a copy to every attendee courtesy of The Blog Herald, a SOBCon 07 Sponsor. Until then, the book title and contents are a secret. [...]

By: suzi-k

suzi-k — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 07:33:47 +0000

In South Africa, as well as around the world, mass action has been an effective tool for change. Just as memes like Thinking Blogger Awards can start small, and snowball around the blogging world amazingly fast, so could a similar setup to expose spammers, and boycott their products. If the company or link is listed and publicised, and bloggers agree to actively boycott any such supplier, and pass on the list to as many of their contacts as possible, wouldn’t that hit spammers in the pocket, which is the only place they seem to hurt?

By: Luis

Luis — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 02:57:13 +0000

Unless we can find a way to penalize spammers instead of just hinder them, I really don’t know how we can stop comment spam. Spamming is obviously very profitable, so why stop?

If we could find a way to eat into their profits, then maybe they’ll get discouraged. I’m not very hopeful about that though.

By: Captchas: eu não tenho que provar que sou humano no BlogueIsso!

Captchas: eu não tenho que provar que sou humano no BlogueIsso! — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 23:47:04 +0000

[...] Mas não existe lugar em que o captcha torre mais a paciência que nos comentários de blogs. Eu desisto, é ver o costumeiro “por favor, digite: TdjTy8(4″, em letras muitas vezes impossíveis de ler, para me demover da idéia de comentar. Não importa a relevância, um captcha é o método mais eficiente para destruir meu ímpeto de interação. Como diz o The Blog Herald em artigo de hoje, onde cita a decisão do TechCrunch de não usar o método, captchas são uma tortura ao impor aos leitores uma prova de humanidade. [...]

By: Darnell Clayton

Darnell Clayton — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 17:47:27 +0000

I disagree with the anti-CAPTCHA’s movement.

Tech Crunch is right about the “questionaire” solution. Bots are becoming smarter all the time, and I’ve had them crack through virtually any question I put out.

Also, the CAPTCHA’s (aka Word Verification) prevents not only bot spammers, but also hinders human spammers (basically people paid to spam your blog).

Human spammers have become a larger problem recently, and having the CAPTCHA’s actually has kept more of them at bay as it takes more energy to comment on the post. (thus discouraging them to repost the entry)

Word Verification may be more annoying, but it does (IMHO) ensure that those who comment on your post, really have something worthwhile to say.