Dealing with Blogspam
By Brad Schneider
www.blog-hints.com
The term "blogspamming" refers to the act of stuffing a blog comments section with a link or other off-topic and unwelcome advertisement.
When I started blogging roughly a year ago, I would notice that on occasion someone would stick blogspam in my comments, "Nice Blog- Check mine out!" it would say. Normally I would oblige, but over the last year things seem to have escalated quite a bit. This tactic has gone from the eager blogger, anxious for someone, anyone, to read his/her blog to the typical spammer trying to direct readers to their website. Anymore, these aren't even blog sites they are directing to.
In an attempt to combat this, Blogger has come out with word verification. You've seen it, you have to type in the letters and numbers in order to post a comment. This has been somewhat affective, but there are still some die hard blogspammers out there that are willing to go through the trouble to get their link in. So the question is, what can we do? Our options are limited, but here are some initial thoughts:
1. The first knee jerk thought I had was to follow the link then dig on their blog or site until I come up with an email address. After I get their email address, it wouldn't be that difficult to subscribe it to some other spam. I'm really not convinced that this is the right thing to do.
2. If it is a blogger, and they accept comments of their own, you can post in their comments that you don't appreciate it.
3. You can always not allow comments to your postings.
4. Finally, you can just delete the comment altogether, not stress out about it, and move on.
I think the fourth option is the best one. At least until your blog host can figure out a way to deal with this.
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About the Author
Brad Schneider writes blog related articles for his blog, www.bradsblog.net, and his blog directory and forums, www.blog-hints.com.
