Keep Your WordPress Comments Clean

Posted by Jeff

on March 2, 2009

I don’t know about you but I am getting a little tired of what I call Drive-By comments on my WordPress posts. Not to mention those sneaky ones that put affiliate links, or even worse links in URL box.

What exactly is a Drive-By comment? I consider them to be short, one sentence comments that really don’t add to the discussion or post. You know the ones like: “Nice post thanks” “Great blog” and so on. Then there are the ones that make a three word comment and have the gall to put in a link to their. I have started deleting these types of comments. If I can’t tell you’ve read the post by your comment then I delete it. It really isn’t that hard to reference the post in a short comment so take the time to leave a clue to the author that you actual have read the post.

So what do you do about them? Well I have yet to find a perfect automated solution or a plugin to reduce this type of comment spam. I was at one time using the Spam Karma plugin and it seemed to do a good job blocking adult content and links in comments but some still got through. Then there are the innocent looking Drive-By comments that have no real spam to filter. You can always use your spam plugin or the discussions menu to block certain content. But how do you filter out the laziness of a Drive-By comment?

I do have my blogs setup to get email notifications with all new comments. I check every link to make sure they are not for, what I consider to be objectionable content sites or affiliate links. So I just remain vigilant and check the comments almost daily to make sure only what I consider to be good comments and links are showing.

What about you? Do you leave all comments on your blog or are you keeping close tabs on them and not rewarding the lame and lazy?

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Tags: Rant, WordPress Comments

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Sorry but due to the spamming of a few all comments are moderated and will appear when approved and all drive-by comments will be deleted!

Comments

Comment by Remkus on March 2, 2009 @ 7:50 am

I’m agree completely. I’m at the point where I am starting to delete those drive-by comments as well. So pointless.. I do know of a plugin that forces people to use longer comments than x amount of words but I can’t find it right now..

Remkus Replied:
March 2nd, 2009 at 7:51 am

*ahum* edit comment option would be great too, because ‘I agree completely…’

Remkus Replied:
March 6th, 2009 at 5:12 am

Found the plugin I was refering too. It’s by Joost de Valk @yoast.com: http://yoast.com/wordpress/minimum-comment-length/

Jeff Replied:
March 6th, 2009 at 8:56 am

Thanks Remkus, I’ll check it out.

Kampanye Damai Pemilu Indonesia 2009 Replied:
March 11th, 2009 at 8:09 pm

Hi Jeff, I totally agree with you.

Remkus, Thanks for the info, I’ll check it out and try in my blog.

Comment by Kampanye Damai Pemilu Indonesia 2009 on March 2, 2009 @ 9:21 am

yes I agree with you, I start to bored with that three word comment on my every blog. So, i’m so sorry if I’ll dellete that kind comment that I think they are not read my post.

Comment by Mizwar on March 2, 2009 @ 9:46 am

what you call “Drive-By Comments” make me insane… I know that they are not read my article just run a way like they are like chasing something… or maybe they are make a contest lot of drop comment contest? I don’t have idea! What you think?

Comment by tenapril on March 2, 2009 @ 9:51 am

you not the only one person that feel tired of that kind comments… me too man! And thanks for the “technical term” of that kind comments so that is call Drive-By Comments? Sucks for them! Oooops sorry!

Comment by malcolm coles on March 2, 2009 @ 12:35 pm

I added this message to my comments section recently: “Comments that include URLs and which just say ‘Nice post’ or similar won’t be published, but thanks for the sentiment.” Doesn’t seem to have made much difference, though …

Comment by Big and Tall Mens Clothes on March 2, 2009 @ 4:13 pm

I think it really depends, there are defintely posts that deserve longer responses and those that don’t. I mean if you are posting about a milestone or accomplishment i don’t see too much of a debate happening, but a ‘congratz’ wouldn’t be out of line. but if you put a lot into a post you can expect more.

Jeff Replied:
March 3rd, 2009 at 8:52 am

Yes I agree it depends on the context of the comment in relation to the post.

Comment by Eren Mckay on March 2, 2009 @ 5:06 pm

I haven’t used spam karma yet. I only use askimet. Still every day I have to go in and delete 4 to 5 spam comments.
Can we use both spam karma and askimet?
I’ve heard of some plugins “fighting each other”-LOL.
I tried to put in that math thing plugin but it made all my comments go away. I guess it doesn’t work well with the revolution theme that I use.
All the best,
Eren

Comment by Tamal Anwar on March 3, 2009 @ 12:43 am

These are some annoying comments that I hate. Some times its: “Nice post, Great blog or keep up the good work” and sometimes, “Your blog is an Ocean of knowledge.. bla bla bla!”

I don’t reply to them and delete them because they are not posted to add a value, they are just manual spam!

Comment by Jeff on March 3, 2009 @ 8:53 am

Another one that usually gets deleted is when a question is asked based on just the title of the post. Yet the answer is given in the post so you know they didn’t read anything but the title.

Comment by Free Xbox 360 on March 3, 2009 @ 10:58 am

thanks great post, your site is very informative about things

ON a serious note, what would you class as sites that objectionable content? Just pornography?

You could use Akismet which I think adds the spammer to their spam list which means they cant post on any blogs running akismet!

Comment by Selly on March 3, 2009 @ 1:40 pm

Many thanks for your article. Very useful and insight me. I’m in trying to build one website about finance and in consider to build blog about this also.

Comment by David de Beer on March 4, 2009 @ 2:44 am

another option to consider is the delink comment plugin:
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/delink-comment-author/

it leaves the comment but removes the url. I decided on this option, since it’s hard to tell sometimes whether comments are legit or just drive by, and I still like to give people the benefit of the doubt. Needless to say, the drive-by’s only aim is to boost their own google rank while a legitimate commenter probably won’t mind so much, being more interested in the conversation.
You score a comment on your blog, and the self-promoter gains nothing. made of win, in my opinion.

Jasper Replied:
February 1st, 2010 at 11:46 am

Cool idea, David. Unfortunately, you’d still be left with dozens of “cool blog; thanks” posts throughout your site, even though you would get the satisfaction of pulling their link juice.

Comment by FunMahoL on March 4, 2009 @ 5:02 am

i was also suffering from same problem when i was using wordpress.There were lot of spammers & unfortunately they won from me & i can’t control them.So i shutdown my site & again started with a new cms which requires registration before posting.
Now i can kick off the spammers who dare to do anything spammy.

Comment by Microspie on March 6, 2009 @ 8:57 am

To be honest I notice a falldown of spammers around the site. This could be for more control of agency done, halt the channel they use.

Comment by Tony Lee on March 9, 2009 @ 12:04 pm

I most certainly watch and monitor comments posted on my sites. Although only some of my sites are dofollow, it’s best when comments engage other readers to add useful, informative and on track comments as well.

You have to ask yourself some questions:

Does it pertain to the post subject?
Does it provide information to my readers?
Will it entice other readers to add to the conversation?
Will it spark a friendly debate?
Does the reader return and continue to add to my site?

A good comment policy posted on a site helps eliminate spam.
Although it may not stop all of it, it does warn users not to waste their time in spamming my site.

The same goes with finding a worthy site to LEAVE comments on. Much, if not all, of what I’ve learned about wordpress and SEO has come from reading posts and comments from others on the internet. Engaging in a site with spammy comments and no dialogue offers nothing for a reader, even if it offers a good back link.

Comment by J Malone on March 12, 2009 @ 11:23 pm

Does your site linking to a questionable site really have a bad impact on you site? I used to have several sites with comments a few years back and never had a problem, but I just built a site an had auto moderation and it got bombarded just a few weeks after I got it up.

Jeff Replied:
March 13th, 2009 at 7:38 am

Yes it has an image impact in my eyes and possibly my visitors. I don’t want my visitors one click away from porn here.

J Malone Replied:
March 13th, 2009 at 10:32 am

Guess you’ve got me there. Wasn’t really thinking on the lines of your visitors click on to their site which even if it was minimal wouldn’t be good. What I meant was would it effect your site’s rankings that much?

Jeff Replied:
March 13th, 2009 at 11:54 am

I really don’t know that much about the site rankings. Back when I cared about 3 years ago, I read that too many out going links hurt a sites rankings. But I have post pages on this site that are pretty old that have a PR2 or PR3 that have a ton of comments and outgoing links on them, so…?

Comment by Yann on April 4, 2009 @ 2:09 pm

Hey, nice post. Interesting.

lol

Anyway, that’s sure a true problem and manual chasing is the most efficient way of. But time consuming.

And do you know what ? My wordpress (updated), i don’t know how, approves sometimes spambots with url links inside the comment and so allows them to be published on my site. EVEN when i specified that ANY comment with more than 0 (i tried 1 too) link won’t be published without my manual approving. Every week, i find such “approved” spams, anyway, that went through the WP default filter. Strange, isn’t it ?

Comment by Rick on April 8, 2009 @ 10:03 am

My favorite are the comments with a couple of words and misspellings. “Thankss for the post!” or “Grate job.” It’s really not that difficult.

I’ve considered adding a “comment screen” into my articles. Something like, …if you’re reading this and you plan to comment, end your comment with a number that is divisible by 3. Obviously if the person read the post they would know what to do.

Comment by Max on April 13, 2009 @ 9:36 pm

The “Nice post thanks” “Great blog” ones are often put there by software which goes out and finds blogs to spam – so in many cases your blog has not even been visited by a human!
People do it either to spam their affiliate links or to build up the backlinks to their site. Obviously spamming is a terrible way to try and promote anything and it’s a short term solution which might backfire on them (kicked off the affiliate program or penalized by search engines) but I am not sure what the best solution is. I guess for affiliate link spam you could report them to the affiliate network.

Jeff Replied:
April 13th, 2009 at 9:43 pm

Funny Max, but I dug this comment out of the spam folder. umm… are you real?

Comment by Max on April 13, 2009 @ 10:57 pm

Hi Jeff, Yes, I am real.

Comment by My Love on April 15, 2009 @ 10:50 pm

“Thank you blah blah blah” should be consider as a spam. And if the number of character in the URL text box is less than the no of character in the Your comment text box should be also tag as a spam. Just my $.2 cent.

Comment by Lee - Business Directory on April 16, 2009 @ 5:57 pm

Firstly, yes, I have read your article. And in all honesty, I originally came to this blog in search of a free backlink.

I have been blogging for 2 or 3 weeks now gaining backlinks to my site. I haven’t been spamming the blogs and have made sure I am able to contribute something meaningful to the conversation. However, I find that there are a high percentage of ‘do follow’ blog owners that are over protective of their blogs and they just remove anything with a link in. I have contributed some, what I consider, really useful info opinions/info to blogs which have sometimes taken me 20 to 30 minutes to type, just for it to be trashed as spam. Now it’s not the fact that I didn’t get the link that upsets me, it’s the fact that my contribution with a lot of thought (albeit to get a link) has been trashed.

Earlier today for the first time, I noticed a comment I posted on a blog that had the link removed. Now that, I totally respect the guy for. He didn’t just trash my work, he removed the link but that I don’t mind. The link is a bonus.

So I just wish blog owners would just remove links rather than the whole post all together. It’s just as disrespectful as spamming!

Lee

Jeff Replied:
April 16th, 2009 at 8:46 pm

Lee, the irony of this is that your comment was caught as spam and I pulled it out and approved it.

Lee Replied:
April 16th, 2009 at 9:16 pm

Thanks Jeff…I think )

I guess it’s not just blog owners that are over protective but WordPress is as well!

Comment by Rob from Online Poker Rakeback on May 19, 2009 @ 3:35 pm

I just recently started a blog of my own. I am very particular about the comments I allow. So far, as it is new, I haven’t had to deal with the overwhelming flood of “nice post” comments. I use Aksimet to filter spam, and so far it has caught it all. I wonder though, as my blog gains visibility, is Aksimet an efficient solution for regulating spam or is there a solution that actually works better? If so, in what ways is it more effective?

Comment by Jeff on May 19, 2009 @ 5:18 pm

Rob Akismet does a pretty good job but occasionally spams a good post and lets spam through. That is why I try to check comments on a daily basis.

I used a plugin called Spam Karma that has many more options but in the end got the same results as the much simpler Akismet.

Comment by Ernest on August 31, 2009 @ 12:23 am

For me I use the admin must approve option. Then I can screen out manually. This is the effective way for me.

Comment by Lianne on January 22, 2010 @ 5:51 pm

I didnt realise there was such anger towards posters who commented this way. I regularly say thank you and leave a few lines of comment if something has particularly helped/been interesting just because it seems like good manners to at least acknowledge it was useful. I didnt realise they were frowned upon as spam! I feel bad now. I do feel though there is a difference between a genuine comment or thank you and a brief ‘thanks’ which is more about getting a presence going on the site for advertising rather then actually showing an interest in the blog.

A further point, for those who do delete any praise or thank you comments (genuine or not)as a reader/customer I do read other people comments and praise to get a good indictaion of the overall performance of that website. For example, if a tutorial is supposedly good i like to see that it has actually worked for other people before i follow it myself. Otherwise im wary. So its not a bad thing to have genuine recommendation or praise on show… its far worse to have blatant spam and trash because i think that shows neglect and that suggests the information is possibly out of date.

Well thats my thought on it all anyway.

Comment by Internet Marketing | Net Age on May 12, 2010 @ 7:33 am

The challenge lies in getting good quality comments from bona-fide people who are discussing the topic of your blog post. Surely there can be some sort of comment plugin developed that can check for spammy words in comments, along with other things like amount of words or sentences there are in a comment?

You don’t want to hurt the real contributors, but still eliminate the drive by shooters at the same time

Comment by liny on May 31, 2010 @ 11:44 pm

Thanks your post.
I always leave all comments on my blog, it is not means I was a lazy man, just I didn’t want to spend lots of time in delete those dirve-by comments.

Comment by TiVo Slide on September 22, 2010 @ 6:40 pm

I agree 100%. People that dont add to the discussion are just out to do one thing, spam every dang blog they can get their hands on. The worst is when they have software that does it for them so they barely even know what the articles are about…. Love the site!

Drive-By comments will be deleted! Like "Thanks for sharing", "Nice post", or any other text that doesn't contribute to the discussion. If you ask a very specific question about your particular WordPress theme, it will probably be deleted. I can fix your WordPress site but for a price. If you ask a question like "Why don't my blog work right", it will be deleted. If you ask a question about your WordPress site without a leaving a link to it, it will be deleted. The point is to ask questions and or comment on the the actual content of the post, and to please use some common sense. All comments are moderated and will appear when approved. Thank you.