Boy do we love comments. We read ‘em all. Unfortunately, the spam comments outweigh the real comments by a huge margin. We’re talkin’, 3900 real approved comments, for 62,000 spam comments we flushed down the drain. I decided to up the ante a little. Threw down the gauntlet. Made a stand. Bit the hand that fed me spam. After the hack attack we received recently, I’m gonna be more vigilant all around.
So commenters, welcome! Here are our new comment rules. They are a little stringent, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles.
Here’s the basics, just in case for some reason you haven’t followed the link above.
- Comment moderation is gonna be on full time. If you leave a comment and you can’t see it yet, that’s because we haven’t approved it yet. And since we might be busy running our bar or saving the world or running for Prime Minister of Canada, we might not approve it for a few hours. Sorry bout that, I don’t like it either.
- Comments should be funny or thoughtful or further the discussion. Feel free to make your comment all three things. I mean it, I am really done with comments like “nice post” or “good article”. If you have nothing to say, say nothing.
- Keywords are allowed. We’ve got this handy dandy Keyword Luv plugin and we want you to go nuts with it. Use it right and you get a link with your keyword. I want to see your name, and then your keyword, like this: Sandy@Cement Flooring or James@Handy Widgets. If your name isn’t first, then you’re outa here! Delete!
- If for some reason there is a link in your comment, then delete! We are already giving away a link to your site. Don’t be a jacka$$. Putting links in comments is lowlife behavior, unless somehow it will further the conversation with a relevant link to something which will not profit you in any way. No one has ever bothered including a link like that in one of the comments on this site, so I’m not expecting one in the future, but we might spot it in moderation and let one like that through.
- Sucking up might help. Treat us nice and you might get by even if you aren’t clever, funny or relevant.
- If something about a comment seems off, like it was made by a script or robot, theen we will dump it just in case. Sorry about that. Try not to act like a robot and you should be fine.
- If you are one of our Beer Buddies, then you will get a free “in”. Everyone else has to follow the rules.
You might notice, if you have ever visited the Trade Show Guru, that his comment policy is a lot like this. You might guess that I copied Steve’s comment rules, and you would be right. Thanks, Steve!
Hey Tim,
I fully agree with your new comment policy!
And yes, it did sound a little familiar.
BTW, just to show I read your fancy new official comment page, you wrote “at leat” when I think you meant “at least”.
Anyway, I’ve always thought that commenting should be a two way street, and if you are “giving away a valuable link” then a commenter should have to “earn it” by adding something of value. So I raise a glass of Blue Beaver to your new comment policy and say, Here, Here!
~ Steve, the crotchety old trade show displays guru
trade show displays guru´s last blog ..Are Trade Shows Obsolete?
Hey Steve,
I fixed my “leat”. Thanks for the proofreading
I made a list of DoFollow blogs a few weeks ago and over 1/2 of them have already either turned back to nofollow or they flag everything as spam.
Can’t say that I blame them because my blog gets hundreds of porn, casino, and drug spam messages a day now.
Not the new blog yet, but the old blog. I recently switched to WPMU and am still configuring it the way I want it before opening comments there.
I’ve seen some really high PR blogs just cut and run because of the mass amounts of drug spam they get. I know 75% of what I get on my blogs is automated drug spam.
Elvenrunelord´s last blog ..Survey Basket Panel Scam
So let me get tis right. You want to discourage spam and you don’t think by me having to type your anti spam word “tintinabulation” qualifies me for your link love. Look it 9am I’m tailgating outside the New Orleans Superdome Searching great Bars of the world and stumble upon you guys. I found a acne site that has a Milk of Magnesia post and am just looking for the perfect mixer for the MoM … it’s going to be a long day.
Tuesday@Get Rid of Acne´s last blog ..Acne Home Remedy Milk of Magnesia
One of my blogs was under spam attack for days. Took up all the bandwidth. My personal blog also attracts all kinds of spam comments. One I remember had this Christian message about prayers and rosary beads but click on the link, you will find ads for porn at the site. Didn’t know prayers and porn can be related…
Jen@Signs Of Cheating´s last blog ..Cheating Signs Must Be Followed By Evidence
Right on! I might incorporate these rules for our blogs! We own around half a dozen blogs and have had the same experience as you, receiving way way more spam entries than real entries (eg. “Nice Post” by Cheap Weddings). It gets to be a real pain the neck. Like you we’re happy to provide links back for comments, but want the comments to actually contribute. I like the Keyword Luv thing, might incorporate that too. Hope you don’t mind if we pinch the idea. Ta.
First off, thank you for using keywordluv and allowing me the opportunity to get a link back when I comment. I truly enjoy reading your blog and I don’t blame you for trying to control the spam. It’s annoying for the readers and I’m sure even more so for you as the moderator. Thanks again.
I would also like to thank you for using keywordluv and commentluv. Your site is great. I like your description “beer, friends, food.” My site has also been getting some spam also. It is reall starting to get old. Thanks again.
OK, I learned a lot here reading your list of comment rules. I say…TWO THUMBS WAY UP! For this move! I have just put a rule on both of my blogs. But I think I will take some of those rules you have and post them on my blog as well.
I have two blogs and they are both getting tons of comments that akismet labels as spam. One blog is getting a ratio of 24-to-1 in spam to legit comments. I have just started deleting all comments that akismet labels as spam because who has the time to sort through all the bad ones just to find a good one!
Oh, another thing I will do is put a CAPTCHA word up there as well.
Good move guys! I am going to follow your lead because spam sucks!
Kevin@Reliable Affordable Web Site Hosting´s last blog ..Cheap Web Hosting Plan
Spam has become a right pain in the neck so delighted that you have moved to curb potential spammers with your Anti-Spam word and also appreciate you making your comment policy clear.
Dave@Short Best Man Speeches´s last blog ..7 Tips For Short Best Man Speeches
I don’t blame you for being careful. I do love the blog by the way. keep up the fine work.
Your new comment policy make me little fear to comment this article. But I need backlink! lol
Reinhard@weddings video´s last blog ..Cheap Wedding Ideas
I had to leave a comment if only to say thank you for brightening up my day. The “Come on in, grab a beaver” tagline at the top of the page really made me smile. Yes, I know. I’m easily amused, but there’s certainly something of the “Beavis and Butthead” about it.
Yes, we really need strict policies for blocking spam comments.
i think this are some good comment policy u have made as we all have win win situation.for example people like me can post relevant comments links with their site link in Ur site also Ur getting good response for Ur blog post which put a smile on Ur face.as a blooger i know how important it is to see some feedback from Ur readers.so thank u Tim for letting us post comments with links & hopefully U will keep my post without throwing it in the garbage.
i have done link building for my site couple of months ago & i know how hard it is to find do follow blogs.so i think this are some good comment policy u made & those who post comment links just like me should respect Ur policy & leave some comments relevant to Ur post.
Hey, thanks for using KeywordLuv. I know it can consume HOURS of valuable time deleting spam comments. A lot of hardcore bloggers will even delete a worthy, well-written, ‘contributive’ comment if they find a keyword slipped in on the name. So again, thank you.
BTW, the captcha word for this comment is ‘ground pound’…!? That’s too funny! Are you able to set the captcha phrases yourself? It’s kinda old-school, the kids might not recognize the humor. Thought I’d mention it.
Mike @ HDTV Cable Box´s last blog ..KeywordLuv, CommentLuv, DoFollow Friendly Site
You would think that over time people (spamheads) would get a clue. I truly value sites that use the KeywordLuv plugin; its good for everyone provided that people don’t abuse it. Thank you for the link back to my site; I for one really appreciate your time and effort.
Kind regards,
Lee
You forgot rule number 8 where we give up our first born child for sacrifice so we can get our comment posted. Luckily for me, I drink enough beer where I don’t think I’ll be able to have kids.
i have done link building for my site couple of months ago & i know how hard it is to find do follow blogs.so i think this are some good comment policy u made & those who post comment links just like me should respect Ur policy & leave some comments relevant to Ur post.
Though keywordLuv and CommentLuv increases the readers activity it also act as spammer magnet, with those who are hungry just only with the dofollow and doesn’t care much on what they are saying. These plugins are meant to help each other in the blogosphere and not to annoy fellow bloggers.
i think its really necessary to comment on the comment of the commentors since then only people can came to know that there comments are thoroughly moderated and get the proper response. keep it up
I like beaver too…
Is that a good enough comment?
In all seriousness, adding a decent comment for a good keyword link back isn’t all that hard as long as the blog owners are fair with their comment policy,as well as smart enough to realize that all the new original content can help their site too.
Their really is no need to spam as long as there’s an understanding between both parties.
I believe this type of clear rules are basic to avoid getting 100% bashed by spam and understand that any blog needs proper content… proper comments, clear rules, etc.
gab @ tax lawyers´s last blog ..Hiring a tax lawyer in cases of Tax evation
Its about time someone finally spoke out about spammers. All of us out there who write their own blogs know how frequent spamming is, Alot of the problem though is the fact that most blog owners fail to outline their posting rules clearly. This would probably scare more spammers off in itself.
Thanks for finally challenging the spamming community.
Spammers are everywhere! The thing is that all are after getting as many backlinks as they can but problem is the way we follow. As a blogger i will give a linkback to someone who gives some value content to my blog. But in this there are many people who donot understand this and follow spammy methods, I just pity on them.
All that we can do is, moderate throughly to save our blogs.
There should be more safe guards built into blog software – I seem to spend half my blogging life moderating comments !!! Long live the BLOG …
Ya I can understand why would would implement this policy. I also enjoy the commentluv plugin/widget too that way you can actually put your name AND proper anchor text for your website, theirs really no excuse to make it a real post. On most of my websites I don’t have to deal with spam because I just put pages instead of posts… I guess I could put it no follow but a lot of backlinking to my own site was done with blog owners letting me comment and refer my website so I think I’ll just use the same policy as you guys from now on.
Decent policy however this is the first time I’ve seen someone point out that you put name@anchortext i always thought you put anchor text in the name bit so if this post isnt deleted I’ll know where Ive been going wrong! Duh – bit of a newbie as you can see lol – thanks for the heads up though.
Nice policy, I think you have got it right. The use of keyword luv or comment luv with human moderation is a step forward, you are generously rewarding people with an anchor text link for a valued contribution to the conversation. That was every body is happy, if feel you have made the right move, although your capture could do with been a little more accessible – perhaps and audio option also would be good?
Many thanks due to this excellent plugin – this is truly useful for all those bloggers like me. Seems like you’ve got a really good blog full of details too. Thanks.
Do you think that will help you fight spammers? Also, actually, I think all those spammer people should be getting some awards, for finding a way out to still do their job and put the link no matter how strict the rules are. Still, wish you luck with the plugin and all the work you do.
terry@sex toys´s last blog ..Pretty and powerful
Only you guys could write such a great article on spamming, even that made me smile! Good luck with your new policy, should really help.
Sorry to hear that you guys site got hacked but there is a lot of that stuff going on. I agree with the new rules that ya’ll have about spamming. There is a whole lot of folks out there like me that just rather copy and paste their way to getting backlinks with comments like “great article”. However sites like this with these kinds of rules is going to make me the kind of man my wife has always wanted. HONEST!! I think that I spelled everything right.
Chales@Cost Of Hardwood Flooring´s last blog ..When You Should Think About Installing A Floating Floor.