That’s right it’s another post about the wide world of spam. Now, I know what you’re thinking; man, he must be completely out of any new ideas at all if he’s going to this well again spam is such a complex topic that I’m certain he has something fresh to say about it.
Back in July, last year, I noted that we felt we had achieved a major goal when we hit the 1000 spam mark. Little did I know how much we would take off in the time since then. Just a couple of days ago (okay I’ve been procrastinating battling the weasel flu, it’s been almost two weeks) we surpassed 50 000 spam comments.
I have to hand it to the spammers out there, they are definitely getting more creative. Some of them take quotes right out of the post, some of them steal our Beer Buddies’ names to try and slip the spam in that way and some of them are even going so far as to steal our Beer Buddies comments and try to pass them off as their own. That last one I’ve noticed on two separate occasions (coincidentally both times it was a comment by Steve-The Trade Show Guru that got stolen, and his title has been stolen a few times as well [congratulations Steve the spammers like you, they really like you]). Unfortunately, sometimes when moderating the comments I’m a bit hung-over from too many Blue Beaver Beers tired from working so hard, so I may have let some thieves slip by thinking that they were being witty all on their own.
There has been one unfortunate side effect from all of these spam related shenanigans (spananigans?) Sometimes people will leave what seems to be a legitimate clever/witty comment but when I click on the link back to their site it will be in some foreign language. Now I don’t want to seem prejudiced and I’m sorry that I can’t read Esperanto but I just don’t know what your web-site is saying. It could be inciting everyone to spread total anarchy throughout the world by leaving cupboard doors ajar. I simply cannot condone such behavior.
And Now a Couple Comments That We Deleted
Not that long ago, I put out our new Comment Rules for the Redneck Bar and Grill. I didn’t really expect spammers to read them, but it made me feel a little better just to put it into words. Following all the hassle with our site being hacked, I decided that the time had come to clean up the joint. Lame comments and spam have no place here. (Read this post if you need to know why you should upgrade your WordPress installation.)
I figure other bloggers will understand where I was coming from. Most of our readers do. Even if they aren’t “real” bloggers and are just in it for whatever money they can scrounge up by leaving lame comments in an attempt at gaining links for their “niche” sites.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve visited quite a few Dofollow blogs myself in order to promote my other sites. The thing is, I always tried to find posts on which I had a real comment to give, which involved reading. I also followed the rules, if they were visible, such as using a first name or not using any keywords. I would end up reading a lot more than commenting, which takes a lot of time but was very interesting.
We deleted several hundred comments this week, a lot of them actual out and out drug spam. I kinda miss the sex spam, it was more interesting to read before deleting. All of these stupid Tamiflu spams are borriinngg! Then we deleted a few that completely broke our rules for this site but seemed like they might be written by actual bloggers. For instance, here is one left by a person named Folders Printing:
I do not agree with this clause you put above
“Keywords are allowed. We have the handy dandy Keyword Luv plugin and we encourage it’s use. However, you need to use this tool properly. I want to see your name, and then your keyword, like this: Johnny@Truck Nuts or Suzanne@Scrap Book Stickers. If your name isn’t first, then forget it! Delete!”
As i have seen so many commenters not following this, they use only their keywords as their name, what about that, you should consider all equally.
Well, Folders, sorry you don’t agree with our rules. Guess what? Too bad. Not only do I not find your comment funny or clever, but you’re parents gave you a really lousy name. Mr. and Mrs. Printing really dropped the ball. I bet with a name like Folders, grade school was hell. But that’s nothing compared to the handle on this next commenter. Lets see what Gestational Diabetes had to say for him (her?)self:
“I like this posting! It helps a lot of people especially those who are suffering from gestational diabetes. Aside from the details mentioned above, are there any other information you can share?”
Gestational, I can’t help but come to the conclusion that your comment was not quite fully developed. It needs to go back into the oven. Your premature typing needs a little more research. For instance, were you aware that virtually the entire post you commented on was pure fiction, conceived by us? It might surprise you to know that a lot of our details “mentioned above” are illegitimate. I suggest you abort your attempts to spam us. Also, there are no any other information we can share.
There were a few others, but Folders Printing and Gestational Diabetes sure took it this week. I’m sure there will be a few more in the spam folder before long.