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I did a search and didn't see anything about this. Last week I was Freshly Pressed - while I greatly enjoyed the exposure and traffic surge, I have also noticed a spike in spam comments that has continued even though I'm no longer on the Freshly Pressed front page. I've instantly gone from <10 spam comments per day to several hundred! Is there any relation between Freshly Pressed and spam traffic or is it just a coincidence?
The blog I need help with is beetlesinthebush.wordpress.com.
Congratulations on having your blog on Freshly Pressed! The spam may have risen because of word about your blog getting out to other people. Great job again!
Well that's one thing I'm not looking forward to. I just got Freshly Pressed today.
I have also noticed a spike in spam comments that has continued even though I'm no longer on the Freshly Pressed front page.
Spammer are about 7 - 10 days behind when it comes to setting up to git on high traffic blogs. We cannot tel if that's what prompted the attack on your blog or not but I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case. Their aim is to get their link on your blog and they use both robotic programs and human beings to "craft" spammy comments that I see other bloggers approve.
@noirciplume
You can spot spam comments, pingbacks and trackbacks, right?
Also note that being "popular" means the blog will have ads at the bottom of your posts for ad clickers to click, unless you purchase an annually renewable No-Ads upgrade. WordPress.com has been running advertising on our free hosted blogs since 2006. Many bloggers do not know this because despite the fact they ticked the box required to get a free blog, they did not read the ToS. Many also do not read features page, or advertising entry in the support documents after registering their username and blog(s). Also note that as the ads do not display to us when we are logged in, and as many use browsers with ad blockers when logged out, they may not realize they are there at all.
Thank you TT for posting.
I usually don't see ads on WordPress. Ad blockers works most of the time.
Well I shall see what FP brings me during this week.
@noirciplume
You're welcome. We can't say for sure whether or not having a flood of traffic does attract spammers but I think most will agree that in their experience it has. I think they would also say the same when it comes to an increase in phony baloney spam comments, pingbacks and trackbacks too. Be watchful and blog on! :)
Okay thanks for the feedback. Aksimet does a great job catching it all and rarely catches ham, so I guess it's a small price to pay for all the fame! :)
@tcmacrae
I agree! :)
P.S. You may be interested in this blog (it's not mine BTW) http://membracid.wordpress.com/
@timethief
We bug people all know each other! :)
@tcmacrae
Aha! Well, I didn't know your were all connected. Sounds borg-ish to me. ;)
"Small words from a small being, trying to attack what it doesn't understand." :D
The other thing to remember is that the wordpress.com main page and freshly pressed have HUGE search engine juice which means that those sites that get featured there are like flashing neon bait to them.
Short answer: Comes with the territory.
I'm sorry to resurrect an old thread with a non-related question, but there is something wrong with my account. Whenever I try to start a new topic it immediately appears as "Closed" and indicates the topic was started 41 years ago?!!! On the main support page it shows the last poster is "admin" rather than me. What is going on here, and why can I not access the Forum? I have no other option for asking this question than as a reply to old threads.
Below are the threads that I have attempted to start and have been affected in this manner:
Why are my Forum topics closed immediately?
Blacklisted?
Publicize: Twitter
Can't enable "Publicize: Twitter"
Whenever I try to start a new topic it immediately appears as "Closed" and indicates the topic was started 41 years ago?!!! On the main support page it shows the last poster is "admin" rather than me. What is going on here, and why can I not access the Forum? I have no other option for asking this question than as a reply to old threads.
This is a bug and you need to report it to Staff directly. I will also flag this thread for Staff attention. Here’s the link http://en.support.wordpress.com/contact/ After you use the searchbox, under the search results, at the bottom of the page there will be a section that says “Have you found the answer to your question?” You can choose either “Yes I found the answer to my question.” or “No I didn’t find the answer to my question and I would like to contact support for help.” The no option will reveal the contact form.
It looks like you were being held as spam. I have rescued all of your reset posts from spam, but deleted all but the Twitter issue since they were pretty much duplicates of this.
Was it something I said? :)
UPDATE: As suddenly as the spam deluge began it has also abated. Four weeks ago I went from a handful of spam comments each day to several hundred. Last weekend I changed by comments settings so that anoymous comments were no longer allowed - this didn't seem to have any immediate effect, but two days ago they suddenly stopped, and I've gotten only a handful since. I'm not sure whether to continue banning anonymous comments or not.
No follow up needed, I just thought others who have also experienced this sudden spam outbreak might be interested.
Still would like to hear thoughts on why
This topic has been closed to new replies.
tcmacrae
