Spam Control

Where do you see problems? Why specifically with directories? Akismet is about the power of one. Individuals flagging submissions they don't like and adding a filter to the submit process. Indiviual directory owners would also have the option to switch the filter on an off.

 

I just don't know of a single case where it is being used yet by a directory. I'm not saying it isn't, but would love more information. Certainly, we will get around to testing, but I haven't heard of any specific URLs of directories that are using it (so please, clue me in!)

 

Neither have I and I was wondering why. It is such a useful tool. We would use it without giving it a second thought. Even if this meant losing borderline business. Spam is a creeping cancer that we should be doing everything we possibly can to cauterize.

 

There are two essential tools for blocking spam:

1) Akismet: This API accesses a database of known spammers as identified by the worldwide WordPress community. The way WordPress implements this feature is that it kicks all offending submissions to a Spam Queue. Administrators can allow and trash all submissions on the Spam queue. The downside of this approach is that bots can quickly overwhelm the queue. To handle the bot problem there is Bad Behavior.

2) Bad Behavior has an open architecture that can be integrated into scripts. I have successfully used Bad Behavior on some custom scripts that I designed but programmed by others. BB's algorithms identify bots and stops them dead in their tracks. They also are a member of the worldwide honeypot organization that also has a database of known spammers that is used by BB.

Rich

 

I don't think there are any. As far as I can tell, even the WordPress-based directories haven't been modified to correctly integrate Akismet and Bad Behavior.

Sbddirectory has its own proprietary database that it uses but because their user base is relatively small, I doubt that it has the stopping power of Akismet. Plus they do not have a Bad Behavior interface.

 

Thanks for the replies everyone. We will be looking at Askimet for phpLD. We also have been developing a proprietary shared database as well that is well underway. It just isn't publicly available (yet).

 

Glad you are looking into it. It would go a long way to addressing any spam issues. I have used it successfully on my blogs as well as my applications with tremendous success.

Implementing Bad Behavior is easier than Akismet and essential to block bots on highly visible directories. I've done it with not much effort. Akismet is a bit trickier because it needs a queue, there are performance elements involved, and for there is a charge for commercial use (e.g. lots of hits against their database). I highly recommend a combination of Bad Behavior and Akismet, otherwise any bot can easily overwhelm Akismet and create giant size queues.

 

I was going to ask why php directory can't have just a "simple' language filter.i added a notice regarding non English submits but that was joke since these links are submitted with xrunner type set ups.I feel this one simple filter [if it is simple]would eliminate 70% of my spams.It would seem that Cyrillic and Chinese characters would be easy to recognize and block.So I am stuck deleting 10s of thousands of spam posts and repairing the inevitable database crashes that result from stuffing the description box with 2344 links to pharma sites [typical].

 

I've been looking at directory scripts for some time since I am the owner of Links.com. I have come to the conclusion that the reason that blog scripts such as WordPress are so much more successful than directory scripts is because of the attention that is paid to spam control. There are numerous ways to control and eliminate spam with WordPress, e.g. Bad Behavior to block bots, Akismet to block known spammers (the database is updated in real-time), word filters, administration facilities, etc. As a result, the blogs are clean and usable. Unfortunately, directories require a massive amount of manual editing to control spam which make them far more expensive to maintain than they are worth. Why have directory designers ignored the most important aspect of a directory, i.e. clean listings, has always perplexed me.