Wow, oh, wow. Everywhere we go, spammers will be right there! I mean, it’s part of daily life, it seems. Junk mail, spam e-mails, telemarketers, comment spammers… wait, “comment spammers?!” Yup! It seems people have just found a new (it’s actually old) way of spamming. And get this: These comment spammers are just regular bloggers!
First, What is Spam?
“Spam is flooding the Internet with many copies of the same message, in an attempt to force the message on people who would not otherwise choose to receive it.”
Now, as for comment spamming, a lot of people seem to use the drop-and-go method, sort of like Entrecard droppers. Instead, they copy and paste a generic message that seems legit so it gets past the spam filter(s). Here’s an example:
“The ideas and insights are very worth reading. You really gave me valuable information. Thanks for sharing it!”
So, it looks like a regular comment, right? But if you check out a post it was commented on, they didn’t mention anything on the actual article. So, I was curious and decided to use a simple technique I remember Maki of Doshdosh.com mentioning – Google that exact comment with quotes around it.
And looky, looky, guess what I found? As you can see from the screenshot below, there are quite a few results. So, I decided to go to these blogs and “oh look!” it’s the same exact person who spammed me with that generic comment.
So, of course if you clicked on the screenshot (or Googled it for yourself), you’ll see that this person put the same exact message in quite a few comments on peoples blogs.
Now, is this right or wrong? Well, given the fact that I highly doubt they even read the article post(s), then they’re just abusing the commenting area to get backlinks or some traffic?
And if you need to be aware of this comment spammer, it’s Aurelius Tjin. And I was thinking, should I give this person a backlink? Sure, why not. I mean, he’s comment spamming for a reason, right? So, I guess that’s what he’s looking for.
In my next example, it was a person who happened to leave the same message on two of my blogs.
The message:
“I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you.”
Now, I highly doubt that this person found me on Technorati for both of my blogs he left a message on. And that makes me think if he really added me to his Google News Reader. But wow, if you read that for the first time, you would think “Wow, I got another RSS Feed subscriber, that makes me feel happy!” And he would’ve gotten away with it if he didn’t leave the same exact comment on two of my blogs.
So, yes, I Googled the quote. But this time I had slightly different results.
What was it?
Well, it seems that quote has been used quite a few times. And I’m not going to lie, I checked out a few sites and the difference from the first instance I gave was the fact that every single blog I went to, it was from a different commentator, a different name, a different site.
My assumptions (even though they say you make an ass out of yourself – too late!): Either people are using this comment because it a low-radar quote and would pass as a regular comment, plus, who doesn’t love hearing that someone subscribed to your RSS Feeds? Either that, or the same person was commenting for others with the same exact quote.
I was thinking, why would someone comment for others? My only conclusion would be the fact that people would possibly pay for people to do that. Believe it or not, you’ll find some interesting ways for people to get paid just a few bucks. I mean, do to DP forums and you’ll see the wide range of things that people offer for a few dollars.
Now, I have to ask, are you a comment spammer?
Honestly, I knew a few of my blogging friends who has used this technique, and don’t think I don’t know who you are. But I’m not going to put you out there because you’ve never really done it to me. (Or at least I don’t know you have 
)
Great post! I will keep this in mind.
Nah only joking.
(Wait, I didn’t mean it was rubbish or anything, just tried to inject a little humour)
What I am trying to say is that I DETEST comment spammers. I call them out, make good on their promises (the best is one who said “I’m going to blog about your new website – http://www.shagablogger.com – and tell all my friends about your great service”, so, three days later, I went to his website, saw there was no post and wrote “I thought you were blogging about my site! You lied to me. Lies make Jesus cry etc.”.
There are worse though, so far in the past 24 hours I’ve had:-
- Commenters who take the name of other commenters to get past the filters.
- Commenters who use the email address spammywebsitesubmissions.gospelrhys@gmail.com, so any email would go into spam or worse some harvester for comment subscriptions
- Commenters who comment on all my pageranked posts.
I hate them, I truly do.
Rhys’s last blog post..Questions From The Weekend, Stuck Buses & The Premiership
one of the comments was left by aurelius tjin, who’s a real marketer, from Australia.
Hey Jay
I sure hope you don’t think that I am spamming your blog?? LOL
All I can say is thank goodness for Aksimet. Constantly deleting comments like this one
FREE COOL PORN. This dude/dudette has been everywhere
Results 1 – 10 of about 65,600 for mysexmovies.info/go.html
Like don’t the jerks know by now that I won’t allow that kind of trash on my blog. You would think they would give it up after a time.
You can spam my blog anytime. LOL
I like my Spam with mustard and relish thanks
Wendy’s last blog post..Live and Learn
Great topic. I just started blogging and haven’t been hit with a wave of posers, spammers and or plain ol’ morons, but you know, it’s the price of public forums, and it sucks. Every counter-measure finds hackers. Blech.
John
John Painz’s last blog post..Soapier’s first contest
Rhys – when I wrote this post, I was thinking of you and a post I read on your blog a while back about a blogger I know who did the same thing with the copy and paste method… lol eh, it happens and it’s just going to continue.
Jansie – I know, that’s what makes it worse. He (or someone) bounces blog to blog copying and pasting the same messages to get some minor traffic or backlinks? That’s not even right.
Wendy – I’m excluding ALL the porn stuff. The post had to do with actual bloggers or marketers who copy and paste into blogs. For instance, if I copied and pasted a generic message on your blog that I left on 20 other blogs, that’s just not right.
John – Well, soon enough. And if you ever switch over to WP, then it’ll be sooner than later lol!
Jay
Jay’s last blog post..Comment Spammers… Are You One?!
I get it too. With my comment section on WP…again, thanks 4 Aksimet. On Blogger, I just go in and trash the commment. That Aurelis Tjin name sounds familiar. I think he may have stopped by my place too.
Good to see you called out the spammer that is Aurelius Tjin. I’ve seen a couple similar (generic) comments by him on other blogs, never on TUK though thankfully
The reason that so many of them have similar comments is that you can buy certain commenting software that have already set answers in them – most of these kinds of people are too lazy to change them so you get 100,000+ of the similar comments left on various blogs.
That’s not the worst part. I have ppl coming to my blog and commented on one of my post about something that I stole his ideas and articles bla bla bullshit.
GradeMoney,com’s last blog post..Content is King, Branding is Queen
Just last week I got that exact same comment about someone supposedly finding me on technorati and subscribing to my blog. It’s a cheap tactic to try to gain some traffic/online visibility. You should never comment unless you have something worthwhile to add.
Eric Brantner’s last blog post..Controversy may be King, but Moderation is Still the Diplomat
I guess my blog is not popular enough yet to have the spammer problem. I forget how I found your site, so I cannot copy the spam comment, well I can copy and paste if you like
)
I almost wish I had the spammer problem, it would mean I have a popular enough site. Maybe if I place in your contest …
And just because I lead the commenters doesn’t mean I spam
Barry’s last blog post..Surveillance Tip – Moving Surveillance
that there is just bull.
every one wants to get useful comments.
I haven’t gotten that many comment spams but I delete them as soon as they are posted – they do nothing for me.
so, with they way I dont like them I can say I am not one of them.
Are you or have you ever been one?
gerris last blog post..Webmaster-Talk and EarnersForum Merger and $25,000
Luckily I haven’t had to deal with this yet, and Akismet is quite ruthless with the spam it has picked up, but I’ve never understood why some people make these stupid comments. Its probably taken me as long to type this as pasting some irrelevant junk in and I’m sure my comment is appreciated.
Matts last blog post..The Latest Irn-Bru Commercial,
The ideas and insights are very worth reading. You really gave me valuable information. Thanks for sharing it!
lol! this isnt a spam jay! haha! but i meant what i typed. this happened to me and to many, so thanks..this is a heads up
Great post, I really like the pictures they helped me to understand the complex content. Since I find your blog of such a great value I can extend my family discount to you on our wide inventory of male enhancement drugs.
Jay, your spam filter does not filter that much. I left the above comment (unless you deleted it). I would of assumed that “discount + RX”, the word “spam”, “enhancement drugs” or “RU” would set off red flags.
Maybe it will pick this one up as spam since I am using a different name, e-mail and website.
Green Projectss last blog post..A larger Green Home, Think Down
Teasa – Aksimet isn’t that accurate besides all the extra porn stuff. Matter of fact, I always double check because some real comments get picked up in there.
Jason – I figured you’d like me calling out people lol. But damn, I also figured it would potentially be some sort of bot/software. We might all have to invest in that, huh?
Grademoney – I don’t know why they would, I mean, unless a lot of your words are VERY similar to theirs. But we all will eventually blog about the same things so I don’t know man…
Eric – I agree with you man. Those are just cheap tricks to get attention from other readers or blog owners. And the attention may not be good. But I got some search engine traffic from that comment, so should I REALLY complain? lol
Barry – Trust me man, you DON’T want spam comments. It gets very annoying, but yeah, I guess the bigger you get, you have to take all the bad with the good.
Gerri – How have I been one? And how do you know if they are TRULY spam comments if they aren’t porn or something? Like the examples I gave? But no, I am NOT one. If I don’t have anything to say about the post, I don’t comment. Simple as that!
Matt – Of course your comment(s) are always appreciated here. But always double check Aksimet filter because they do filter some REAL comments as well.
Catea – LOL! How did I know you was going to be the one to do that! LOL!
Green Projects – It’s not that it doesn’t pick it up but I assumed you manually typed that message in? But also, you didn’t include any links, most spam include at least a link or two.
Jay
Jays last blog post..Seriously, What the Hell is Up with Feedburner?
Jay you’re absolutely right.
If we get a reader to our blog who commented with a URL going back to his website or blog, it is not a problem as long as that person provides some value to online community. But it should not be done just for the sake of link popularity.
Michael Taylor
Michael Taylors last blog post..Free Website Promotion…Why Not?
I get a ton of em too. Some I let in, some I don’t. Depends on my mood.
Yep, I do agree. As long as comments are adequate I allow visitors to add their URL. That’s not bad. I give’em links, they give me comments. There always has to be benefit for both parties))
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