My apologies to my regular readers and commenters, but I've had enough. Since the beginning of this year, I've banned 55 distinct IP addresses for comment or trackback spam: 28 since the beginning of June, and nine so far in July--six of them yesterday. I'm sick and tired of this blog being used to Googlewhore other sites, and often sites that are little more than money-making scams.
I have therefore just changed the settings on this blog such that all comments will now be held for moderation, as I did some time ago for trackbacks. Neither comments nor trackbacks will appear on the site until I have reviewed and approved them. I considered requiring TypeKey verification instead, but decided against it on the grounds both that it represents an imposition on people of goodwill who want to comment here and also that there was nothing to stop the spammers from signing up for TypeKey and continuing to abuse this site.
It is not my intention to use this moderation hold to censor comments with which I disagree: merely to filter out those that have as their only purpose scams, Googlewhoring, and dubious enterprises. Nevertheless, as the owner of this blog and the guy that pays the annual fees to keep it running, I do reserve the right to determine what constitutes acceptable content here, and I will, if necessary, ban individuals or refuse to publish their comments if they demonstrate a pattern of abuse or if they insist on mindlessly spouting the same tired old talking points rather than engaging in actual discourse.
I hope at some point in the not-too-distant future to be able to remove the moderation hold, once the spammers figure out that they can no longer have their way with my blog. Until then, I hope my readers will be patient.
I had to use "first post moderation", comments closed after 30 days, word filters, and IP bans to bring it down to a manageable level at my little slice of blogtopia. I have no idea what it's like for the "big guys."
Posted by: Bryan | Wednesday, 04 July 2007 at 21:32
AFAIK, I don't have anything like first post moderation, and while I can close comments manually, I don't believe I have the ability to do so after a set period of time. I have noticed that the spammers tend to comment on older posts, so that might help somewhat. I'm not going to bother trying to set up word filters, both because the spammers will get around them and authentic comments will be blocked, but also because it would be a constant battle to keep updating the lists. And I banned my fourth IP address today earlier this evening, after I posted about turning on comments moderation.
The shits are turning the internets into a much less friendly place than they used to be. Considering all the work they put in, the return on the investment has got to be minuscule: to the point where it would probably be less work to make an honest living.
Posted by: Michael | Wednesday, 04 July 2007 at 21:51
After seeing what Melissa went through at Shakesville, I can believe just about anything.
Posted by: Mustang Bobby | Thursday, 05 July 2007 at 06:26