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I've been using Askismet for eons and it has worked well. Over the past month or so, I've been getting an increase in the amount of spam, hidden under "comments" to be approved. I don't approve comments - I let people post right away. I'm wondering, do I need to renew something with Askimet? Is there something else going on? I just delete it, but wonder why the influx lately. Thanks.
The blog I need help with is slworrell.wordpress.com.
*akismet* oops :)
Please be aware that in excess of 80% of all so-called comments submitted to the WordPress.com domain are spam. Also note that spam is not only generated by bots it's also generated by human beings who are paid to submit bogus comments.
I would never open my blog up to auto posting of anonymous comments as I'm aware that everything posted to my blog contributes either positively or negatively to its brand, and I have read what Matt Cutts Head of of Google's spam section has said. Posting spam can and will negatively impact your blog's page rank. If you aren't doing so now I suggest you moderate your comments and be vigilant about marking all spam comments as such.
slworrell.wordpress.com is the blog in question. Sorry for the multiple posts... (wish there was a way to edit when we forget to add something!).
I'm wondering, do I need to renew something with Askimet? Is there something else going on? I just delete it, but wonder why the influx lately.
There are periodic flare-ups and influxes of spam comments. All our blogs are equipped with Akismet and it learns when we mark spam as spam. It cannot learn what is spam if we simply delete it. It needs to be marked as spam so if you have not been doing that then please do so now.
On another note I notice the blog linked to your username is "private". If that's the blog receiving spam then know that the weakest link when it comes to privacy are those you share the URL with. If they post a URL to your blog or any post and page int it anywhere on the internet then you blog private or not will become a spam target.
OOPS! We were typing simultaneously. :)
The spam I get seems to come and go in cycles. Different kinds of attempts to disguise it, originating from different countries, sometimes none for a day, sometimes dozens.
The more I post, the more they try. It's like trying to get rid of all the germs in a dirty world. Just a fact of life I guess.
Askimet works well for me too.
Spammers have been working overtime for over a month now and all my clients are getting hit hard. On my personal site I've been seeing anywhere from 100 to a peak of 1000 per day. Normally when this happens it only extends for about a week and then drops back under 100 per day, but they seem to be mainlining energy drinks or something right now. About all you can do is to "spam" any that Akismet does not catch and check your spam folder several times a day for innocents getting caught in the crossfire. Do know though that if Akismet grabs a comment, there is a very, very high likelihood that it is spam. Most times it will be more than 98% accurate.
(I hadn't been to one of my client sites in a week and their spam filter had over 12,000 spams in it. I'm now checking and clearing it three times a day.)
Thank you all for your comments. I've just been curious about this. Guess it's just the nature of the beast.
The spam for the most part, has been going to the spam folder, not much to the actual comments on my posts.
I have noticed alot of comments coming from friends with Google blogs are also going to the spam folder. This never happened before. That's actually when I started noticing the increase in spam. They told me they commented, but it wouldn't show up on the respective post.
I have to laugh about the type of spam -- most relate to SEO and increasing my visibility, with a little porn thrown in (the website titles are a giveaway).
As an aside, Timethief - great minds re: posting at the same time! Thanks for pointing out that my picture link is private. I didn't realize it still had my old website attached. I've changed that. Also, I absolutely love your blog, it has been immensely helpful to me in the past week or so. Would love to know how you do a few things that you have in your sidebar.
@starrygirl1
Thanks for the blog compliment. I appreciate it. :)
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invisiblemikey
