Is it Possible to Tell Which Spam is Harmful via WordPress, Etc.?
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Hello,
I’m wondering if it is possible to see specifically which spam is harmful or negatively impacts a blog’s Google ranking via the WordPress Akismet Stat feature? I’m also wondering if it is possible for “false positives” to be rectified or properly recognized as legitimate comments? Could you also tell me exactly what “missed spam” is? Could you additionally explain to me what specifically makes a comment spam? Would it be any links within the comment itself directing to a commercial entity or business, or is it both that and the individual rendering the comment simply having a web address directing to a website or blog exhibited beneath their names, the latter of which would seem to be inappropriate, seeing that there is a slot there for a website or blog? Or is a comment considered spam if it is coming from someone who lists a company name instead of a person as the author? Also, how is it possible to tell if your blog is listed as spam, and how can that be corrected?
Could you also give me contact information for Akismet?Thanks in advance for your response.
Sincerely,
Yolanda Michelle Martin
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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Hi Yolanda,
I think that your questions might be best answered by our staff over in Akismet anyway, so allow me to provide their contact information:
They should be able to answer all of your questions for you. Sorry that I can’t be of more help!
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Thank you. Below is a copy of the revised message that I just sent to Akismet. After sending the message I got a notice stating that I am not “subscribed.” Do I have to pay for responses to my Akismet questions? My blog is commercial or for business, but having to pay to simply have questions answered would be a bit awkward. Is there a way that I can log in and see my question and Akismet’s response without having to pay for a subscription that I wouldn’t otherwise need?
Thanks in advance for your reply.
Sincerely,
YM
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Hello,
I’m wondering if it is possible to see specifically which spam is harmful or negatively impacts a blog’s Google ranking via the WordPress Akismet Stat feature? I’m also wondering if it is possible for “false positives” to be rectified or properly recognized as legitimate comments? Could you also tell me exactly what “missed spam” is?
Could you additionally explain to me what specifically makes a comment spam? Would it be any links within the comment itself directing to a commercial or business website, and/or is a comment considered spam if it is coming from someone who lists a company or other name instead of a person as the author, and there is no photograph of the individual on his or her profile, or is it that the websites or blogs of the individuals rendering comments are listed as spam sites? Also, how is it possible to tell if your blog is listed as a spam site, and how can that be corrected?I’d also like to know definitively whether or not spammed comments count as blog hits? I noticed that when I previously un-spammed comments that appeared to be legitimate my blog hit stats would accordingly increase, though more recently that didn’t appear to be the case. I’m leery about un-spamming comments, however, since I’ve learned about risks associated with comments that are spammed. I’m still trying to get approved for WordAds after now 107 posts and way over 100,000 visits/comments to my blog, as less than 4,000 of those visits/comments are recognized as blog hits.
I’m also wondering if it is possible to block especially annoying spammers, or is there an agency that these spammers can be reported to that would stop them from flooding one’s blog, website, etc. with spam? If so, could you provide that information to me?
Thanks in advance for your response…Sincerely,
Yolanda Michelle Martin
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No, you absolutely do not need to pay for anything with akismet. You do however have to fill out the form which appears when you go to the address which I provided. You may want to include the original blog address (yolandamichellemartin.wordpress.com) rather than your custom domain (yolandamichellemartin.org). You also need to make sure you fill out the verification field, etc.
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Thank you. I’ll resend the query utilizing my original blog address (yolandamichellemartin.wordpress.com) rather than my custom domain (yolandamichellemartin.org).
What exactly is the “verification field”? And is it possible to log into Akismet to see my queries and Akismet’s responses, or will they be sending me a responsive email. Lastly, do I need to subscribe to Akismet at all to correspond with them?
Thanks.
YM
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The verification field is the first field where it asks you a math question. You have to correctly fill that out in order for it to be submitted.
No, there is not a way for you to log in an review Akismet queries and responses. They will email you back with their response at the email address which is on file.
Finally, you do not need to subscribe. Anyone with a WordPress.com or Akismet account may submit a query to them.
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For your information and anyone else who’s interested, this is what Akismet had to say in response to my query, and my reply to that response that is awaiting a response:
Hi Yolanda,
> I’m wondering if it is possible to see specifically which spam is harmful
> or negatively impacts a blog’s Google ranking via the WordPress Akismet
> Stat feature?The Akismet stats show how Akismet has classified comments left on your site, we don’t have any sort of SEO integration to do what you’re asking.
> I’m also wondering if it is possible for “false positives”
> to be rectified or properly recognized as legitimate comments?Sure, just unspam the comment. Akismet learns from your actions.
> Could you also tell me exactly what “missed spam” is?
Missed spam is just that, messages that Akismet cleared that were later marked as spam by you.
> Could you additionally explain to me what specifically makes a comment spam?
> Would it be any links within the comment itself directing to a commercial or business
> website, and/or is a comment considered spam if it is coming from someone
> who lists a company or other name instead of a person as the author, and
> there is no photograph of the individual on his or her profile, or is it
> that the websites or blogs of the individuals rendering comments are
> listed as spam sites?Aside from saying that Akismet looks at many aspects of a comment and runs dozens of tests for each one, I’m not at liberty to discuss how Akismet works to catch spam.
> Also, how is it possible to tell if your blog is listed as a spam site, and how can that be corrected?
Akismet is not a blacklist, we examine each comment individually and make a determination.
> I’d also like to know definitively whether or not spammed comments count as blog hits?
Since a spammer has to visit your site in order to leave a comment, there would be a hit.
> I noticed that when I previously un-spammed comments that appeared to be
> legitimate my blog hit stats would accordingly increase, though more
> recently that didn’t appear to be the case.Unspamming a comment would not cause your visitor stats to increase.
> I’m leery about un-spamming comments, however, since I’ve learned about risks associated
> with comments that are spammed. I’m still trying to get approved for
> WordAds after now 107 posts and way over 100,000 visits/comments to my
> blog, as less than 4,000 of those visits/comments are recognized as blog
> hits. I’m also wondering if it is possible to block especially annoying
> spammers, or is there an agency that these spammers can be reported to
> that would stop them from flooding one’s blog, website, etc. with spam?You should be able to add email addresses, IP addresses and names to your comment blacklist in your WordPress Dashboard > Settings > Discussion.
Cheers,
Greg—
Greg StewartMe
To
support@akismet.com
Today at 3:12 PM
Does un-spamming comments or allowing the public to freely comment on my blog pose any threat of harm to my blog, or does it negatively affect my Google ranking or blog visibility in search engines? I’m asking because of a notice that I received from “Dynamic Search SEO SEM Solution Company” with the attached report… The notice states that links on my blog are significantly responsible for my low website score (56.7 on a 100-point scale).I’m also wondering if your definition of blocking certain comments on a blog is simply spamming the comments? My comment blacklist is rather lengthy, and I’m still receiving spammed comments from many of the sources of those comments. It is very tedious to sort through the masses of those comments that are clearly spam (i.e. Michael Kors, Michael Jordan, etc.) to give attention to spammed comments that are or appear to be legitimate comments.
Since spammers’ comments do count as blog hits, per your admission here, however, how is it that I’ve had 163,233 spammed comments, but my blog stats are only showing 3,969 hits? Something is clearly wrong. Shouldn’t Akismet change my blog stats to reflect all of the 167, 202 blog hits that I’ve had, plus any additional stats that my blog since incurs?
Thanks in advance for your reply and any and all due corrections.Sincerely,
Yolanda Michelle Martin
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This is Akismet’s response to my latter query, and my response to that response, which is awaiting a reply.
On Tuesday, October 7, 2014 3:44 PM, Greg Stewart <support@akismet.com> wrote:
Hi Yolanda,
> Does un-spamming comments or allowing the public to freely comment on my
> blog pose any threat of harm to my blog, or does it negatively affect my
> Google ranking or blog visibility in search engines? I’m asking because of
> a notice that I received from “Dynamic Search SEO SEM Solution Company”
> with the attached report… The notice states that links on my blog are
> significantly responsible for my low website score (56.7 on a 100-point
> scale).If you approve spammy comments, then certainly, that could cause you some issues. We’re not SEO experts though, you may want to consult with one if you’re concerned about the impact of comments on your site.
> I’m also wondering if your definition of blocking certain comments on a
> blog is simply spamming the comments? My comment blacklist is rather
> lengthy, and I’m still receiving spammed comments from many of the sources
> of those comments. It is very tedious to sort through the masses of those
> comments that are clearly spam (i.e. Michael Kors, Michael Jordan, etc.)
> to give attention to spammed comments that are or appear to be legitimate
> comments.Akismet will return a true (spam) or false (not spam) response when a message is checked. From there it’s up to WordPress to either leave the comment in pending if it isn’t spam, or move it to the spam folder if it is. Comments are automatically deleted after fifteen days if they sit in the spam folder.
> Since spammers’ comments do count as blog hits, per your admission here,
> however, how is it that I’ve had 163,233 spammed comments, but my blog
> stats are only showing 3,969 hits? Something is clearly wrong. Shouldn’t
> Akismet change my blog stats to reflect all of the 167, 202 blog hits that
> I’ve had, plus any additional stats that my blog since incurs?Thanks in
> advance for your reply and any and all due corrections.The 163,233 figure should reflect spam caught on your site over the lifetime of the key. Akismet doesn’t have anything to do with your site stats, and would not increment any sort of hit counter for visits. This is controlled completely through core WordPress. Also, since your site is hosted on WordPress.com, comments can be left through the reader which would not increase your site views. Additionally, trackbacks leave a comment with a link, but don’t require a page visit.
Cheers,
Greg—
Greg StewartDon’t the 3,969 hits also reflect ham to my blog over the course of its existence? In terms of comments being left through “Reader” not counting as site views or blog hits, wouldn’t a reader have to comment via a WordPress blog in all scenarios unless they’re commenting via Twitter or Facebook? And wouldn’t that be the same on a WordPress.org site?
I’m certain that a very insignificant number of comments received to my blog are trackbacks.
In any event, is there a way to tell definitively whether a click or comment is made via “Reader” and the number of such comments and trackbacks? Is this a question that should be directed to WordPress???Thanks in advance for your reply.
Sincerely,
Yolanda Michelle Martin
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Akismet’s most recent response and my reply
Valerie
To
me
Today at 10:10 AMHi Yolanda,
> Don’t the 3,969 hits also reflect ham to my blog over the course of its
> existence?No, this is not the case. That number is the number of views your site had over its entire existence. It’s not directly related to the number of comments that you receive.
> In terms of comments being left through “Reader” not counting
> as site views or blog hits, wouldn’t a reader have to comment via a
> WordPress blog in all scenarios unless they’re commenting via Twitter or
> Facebook?
> And wouldn’t that be the same on a WordPress.org site?A person may comment on a blog post on your site while using the Reader. In that case, the comment would appear on your site, but it would not count as a view on your site.
> In any event, is there a way to tell definitively whether a click or
> comment is made via “Reader” and the number of such comments and
> trackbacks? Is this a question that should be directed to WordPress???Right now, there’s no way to tell where someone commented from – the Reader, or directly on your site. You can find out more about how the visitor stats work here:
http://en.support.wordpress.com/stats/– Valerie
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Valerieme
To
support@akismet.com
Today at 2:11 PM
I have read the information on how visitor stats work, and it is verifiable that I’m the only administrator on my blog, and I’m CERTAIN that my own personal visits to my blog to edit or make new posts account for a very small percentage of views that, understandably, would not count as blog hits…I also understand the difference between views and unique visitors, and, from my personal observation, a majority of both ham (circa 4,000 comments) and “spam” (circa 170,000 comments) to my site are from unique visitors, and that’s not counting visitors who do not comment.
In terms of what is said about why the number of views might be less than the number of likes, it does not say there that comments made via Reader wouldn’t count as visits. In fact, the option to make comments is not presented unless the link to the specific post is actually clicked.
I also wanted to verify that there is a difference between an “uploaded document” and a document that is accessible via an external link. I’m aware that pictures can be uploaded to a blog, but how do you “upload” documents to a blog?
Thanks in advance for your reply…
Sincerely,
Yolanda Michelle Martin
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Akismet’s most recent response to my queries and my responsive queries
Thank you. I’ve previously attempted that, but I couldn’t get it to work. What I assumed, nonetheless, was that an uploaded document would be viewable without clicking on a link, like the picture I uploaded to my About page… In any event, I only recently (within the last week) added the “Forms” and “Presentations” pages/content to my site, and the exhibited stats for the forms that are linked to and viewable from Slideshare reflect figures that have accrued over a more extensive period of time. Accordingly, only a very small percentage of visits to my blog have been made to those forms and presentations…
I would like to know definitively, however, if the forms and presentations that I’ve linked from Slideshare and Google Drive are considered “uploaded” documents, though they are externally linked?
And while I’m on this subject, I wanted to ask about why in some instances I’m unable to insert and display words for active links, like I did in the previous paragraph. For example, when I linked documents to my forms and presentations pages on my WordPress blog, I was/am able to go in and insert the links to the pages and type the names of the documents, and the links appear as the words instead of the actual web address. When I attempt to connect links to words by clicking “Add Media” and “from URL” in some of my posts, however, I’m unable to do it. The box for “Title” disappears when I insert the link, and even when I type the word prior to entering the link it is not reflected in the post, or the link does not conform to the entered words, or any embedded image(s) is/are viewable rather than the linked word(s). In some instances I prefer the image, and in other instances I prefer the linked word, depending upon the content and how either option appears.
I also wanted to verify that though “likes” made in Reader do not count as visits to a blog, the first click to access the blog counts, as do visits and comments made when readers direct from Reader or click on specific blog posts to leave comments??? I do not see where it’s possible to leave comments on a specific blog post without clicking on the link to that specific post…
With regards to browsers who do not “execute Javascript or load images,” that apparently isn’t occurring too frequently with my blog because the numerous comments that I’m receiving, a majority of which are spammed, are reflecting that those visitors have been able to load/view the site. Even those who comment that on some devices images on my blog are too large or appear to be spilling off the page (likely a screen resolution issue on the devices they’re using), they are apparently capable of viewing the site and images…
In terms of Googlebot and search engine spiders, I do not expect that the act of Google and other search engines crawling pages on my blog without a click or clicks on the blog would be reflected in my stats or count as blog “hits.” Is it even possible for Googlebot and search engine spiders to generate spam? I certainly wouldn’t think that Googlebot or search engines could leave comments…
My primary concern is getting my WordAds application approved. I was told that my stats are too low, though I’ve had altogether more than 170,000 views of my blog, and MANY of the comments that have been spammed, rather than hammed and applied towards my blog hits, appear to be legitimate comments from unique visitors.
WordPress is displaying ads on and generating revenues from my blog, though my WordAds application has not been approved. That is not fair to me, and I’m determined to do whatever it takes to get WordAds approved, decrease actual spam to my blog, and increase my ham and cheese.
Thanks in advance for your reply.
Sincerely,
Yolanda Michelle Martin
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Akismet’s message that I was replying to and neglected to include
Valerie
To
Me
Oct 9 at 7:24 AMHi Yolanda,
> I also wanted to verify that there is a difference between an “uploaded
> document” and a document that is accessible via an external link. I’m
> aware that pictures can be uploaded to a blog, but how do you “upload”
> documents to a blog?It’s possible to upload a variety of things to a blog, not just pictures. For example, you can upload PDF documents. The allowed file types are listed right on the page where you can upload them, as shown here:
http://en.support.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/file_uploader1.pngAll the best,
Valerie—
Valerie
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Akismet’s responseValerie
To
Me
Today at 5:03 AMHi Yolanda,
> I would like to know definitively, however, if theforms and presentations
> that I’ve linked from Slideshare and Google Drive are considered
> “uploaded” documents, though they are externally linked?No, they are not considered uploaded, since they come from external places.
> And while I’m on this subject, I wanted to ask about why in some instances
> I’m unable to insert and display words for active links,Can you try following these instructions to add a link to your posts:
http://en.support.wordpress.com/links/If something does not work as it’s supposed to, please contact WordPress.com support about it here:
http://en.support.wordpress.com/contact/> I also wanted to verify that though “likes” made in Reader do not count as
> visits to a blog,No, likes do not count as visits.
> In terms of Googlebot and search engine spiders, I do not expect that the
> act of Google and other search engines crawling pages on my blog without a
> click or clicks on the blog would be reflected in my stats or count as
> blog “hits.” Is it even possible for Googlebot and search engine spiders
> to generate spam?When bots visit your site (like Googlebot), those visits do not count.
> My primary concern is getting my WordAds application approved. I was told
> that my stats are too low, though I’ve had altogether more than 170,000
> views of my blog, and MANY of the comments that have been spammed, rather
> than hammed and applied towards my blog hits, appear to be legitimate
> comments from unique visitors.Sorry, I’m not familiar with the requirements for WordAds. Please speak to someone from WordAds directly about your application. They can be reached here:
http://wordads.co/contact/Best of luck with getting into the WordAds program :)
– Valerie
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Valerie -
My responsive queries to Akismet’s reply
Me
To
support@akismet.com
Today at 11:53 AM
Thanks for the information about links, etc. You partially answered my questions about Reader, however. Doesn’t the first click to a blog for a reader to peruse content in Reader count as a visit??? And isn’t it impossible for comments to be made from Reader because a reader has to direct from Reader or click on the link to a specific post to comment on it, which would count as a visit???You neither fully responded to my question about Googlebot and other search engine spiders. Isn’t it impossible for Googlebot and search engine spiders to comment (ham or spam) on any post, and, accordingly, none of the nearly 172,000 (now) spammed comments on my blog could have been produced by Googlebot or any other search engine spiders?
Also, wouldn’t it be impossible for readers who have left even spammed comments on my blog to have done so if they were not executing Javascript or loading images? If they couldn’t see it they couldn’t comment on it. “Loading images” couldn’t be referring to any requirement for readers who leave comments on a blog to have an uploaded profile picture, could it?
And thanks. I am getting back into contact with WordAds. The essential reason that I contacted Akismet, however, is for correction of my stats, or specifically to request that you recognize legitimate comments that have been made and that are being made on my blog as ham rather than spam. A lack of that recognition is preventing my WordAds application from being approved, though I personally don’t believe that stats should necessarily be a factor in WordAd approval, as long as there is a sufficient amount of merited content. The blogger should earn from day one their proper share of whatever revenues their posts generate.
Wouldn’t you agree that the number of spammed comments on my blog is unusually high compared to other blogs??? I saw one of your advertisements that quoted a blogger who bragged that Akismet had protected his site from “250” spammed comments… 172,000 spammed comments, compared to that, seems abnormal…
Thanks in advance for your response and corrections…
Sincerely,
Yolanda Michelle Martin
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