Avoid comment spam, Google urges
Tuesday, 30, Sep 2008 09:49
There are a number of ways in which marketers can deal with comment spam on their online resources, according to Google.
In a post on the search engine giant's Webmaster Central blog, Jason Morrison from the company's search quality team notes CAPTCHAs can be used to ensure forum or blog commenters are real people.
"CAPTCHAs require users to read a bit of obfuscated text and type it back in to prove they're a human being and not an automated script... CAPTCHAs are not foolproof but they make life a little more difficult for spammers," he explains.
In addition, Mr Morrison suggests placing time limits between forum posts and blocking IP numbers which are responsible for suspicious behaviour.
Concluding, the expert recommends considering requiring users to register an account with a site before they can leave a comment. He notes this adds steps to the user experience, but that it can also help keep the "signal-to-noise ratio" higher.
Mr Morrison's comments follow the advice of Graham Charlton, who recently wrote on E-consultancy that "unique" and "compelling" content is essential for successful blogs.