I’m noticing a trend with my spam comments lately (you never see them because I have a plugin that catches them, and lets me delete the day’s batch with one click). Begging and desperation.
Let me elaborate.
Generally, the person says that linkbacks are getting difficult to get these days, but they’re poor and need the comment approved to improve their web site’s Google ranking and get more business. One I got last night even said, “And I know this comment has nothing to do with this post.”
Yes, it’s not easy to get people to link to your content. I’ve been doing this for more than 11 years, have more than 2,000 entries, and I may only get one or two new incoming links per month.
But it’s hard to feel sorry for these guys since they are hawking certain anatomical enlargements. (And I’m not talking about high-fructose corn syrup supplements to enlarge your gut, if you’re wondering.)
I deleted the messages.
Here’s what I would say to them, if they were actually here (more likely, the messages were posted by bots.)
If links are what you want, here’s how to get them. Write some good content. Write it, don’t steal it. Then do a Google search for similar content, and if you have something of value to say in response to it, post comments on that content, with a link to your own related content. The other person may or may not approve it and frankly is under no obligation to, but if the content is related and of good value, they probably will. Especially if you return the favor and link to them.
If what you want is a product that will sell, try making something that 1) people want and will look for, and 2) that does what it says. Easier said than done? Oh yeah, absolutely. Otherwise, everybody would be running a business out of their spare bedroom.
But begging me to approve a comment full of links to supposed anatomical enhancements of questionable effectiveness and legality? All that might do is make me pause a half-second longer before hitting the delete button.
Of course, if you have a comment that actually adds to what I say in any given post, those are always welcome.
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.
I’ve started getting these too. Prior to these, my spam comments could be narrowed down into just a few categories: Russian spam, male enhancement products, and giant lists (like, 50 or more) of links. I also get what I call “testing the water” responses, those weird ones that don’t really make sense, but that don’t seem to advertise anything in particular. I have a couple of theories about those. One is, I know a lot of blogs allow carte blanch comments from users who have already had one approved comment, so maybe they are trying for that. My other theory is that they are just testing to see if their comments will be approved at all, and if so, they’ll start hammering you.
I’m running Akismet and for a while I had a second one running, and if it weren’t for those products I would either force all my readers to register, or simply (and sadly) disable comments.
What a strange business model that is, trying to sell your products through electronic graffiti.
I don’t think they actually expect very many, if any of the blog’s readers to click on those links. I think they’re trying to get a ton of links so they can improve their Google search ranking. At least that’s what clues in some of the e-mail spam I get suggests.
I see all of the other things you mention, too.
Yes, Akismet is really something else. I required registration for a few years, and, well, this place turned into a ghost town. Being able to just catch spam makes blogs a much better place to be.