Guestbook Spam?

Discussion in 'General Marketing' started by namxas, Aug 13, 2005.

  1. #1
    I found my friend's website (alkitab.or.id) with a lot of spam comment (included spammers url), what is the effect of both sites?
     
    namxas, Aug 13, 2005 IP
  2. sarahk

    sarahk iTamer Staff

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    #2
    It's not going to be good. You have outbound links to sites that may be banned or considered a bad neighbourhood and you have content that perverts the true nature of the site. If the site is about cars and you have spam about casinos when googlebox (et al) visit the site what will they really think the site is about - casinos of course.

    Any spam on your site must be dealt with in a timely manner. Leaving it up encourages spammers and the problem gets worse.

    Sarah
     
    sarahk, Aug 13, 2005 IP
    Smyrl likes this.
  3. namxas

    namxas Peon

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    #3
    umm, I must tell him to remove all spammers comments and fix/change the guestbook script

    as you know, it's the primary bible publisher in my country (how poor)

    thanks for an advanced reply :)
     
    namxas, Aug 13, 2005 IP
  4. Smyrl

    Smyrl Tomato Republic Staff

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    #4
    Look up referrer spam on this forum and/or Google it. Porn, gambling, and pharmacy sites are among the worst spammers. As you can see all perfect matches for a Bible site.

    Good luck to your friend.

    Shannon
     
    Smyrl, Aug 13, 2005 IP
  5. serenity

    serenity Well-Known Member

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    #5
    I am having the same problem on my son's website. I have to go in daily and delete all the bad comments and urls. I keep banning the IP's but more just keep coming. :mad: I hope they get they hint soon.
     
    serenity, Aug 13, 2005 IP
  6. Smyrl

    Smyrl Tomato Republic Staff

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    #6
    Are you attacking provlem with .htaccess? There is .htaccess code out there that you can use on an Apache server to help fight. It is a pain in the posterior but about the only thing we can do.

    Shannon
     
    Smyrl, Aug 13, 2005 IP
  7. J.P

    J.P Notable Member

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    #7
    I asked this question a while back, I've ended up just taking off the automatic submission on the guest book and make all e-mails come to me first to be checked over. Also created a admin side where I can add the comments myself after they have been checked (thankfully I don't get a lot of comments though :) )

    It's been like this for a few weeks now and the spam has actually stopped so I'm tempted to put back on the automatic way.
     
    J.P, Aug 13, 2005 IP
  8. Smyrl

    Smyrl Tomato Republic Staff

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    #8
    I tried that but same spammer came back. I took index offline and the blasted spammer continued to spam even though I was only one able to see. Think he was running a script.

    Shannon
     
    Smyrl, Aug 13, 2005 IP
  9. sarahk

    sarahk iTamer Staff

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    #9
    Check your database. "He" may have put in comments with future dates and that way they look like they're still coming but infact they're already there!
     
    sarahk, Aug 14, 2005 IP
  10. Smyrl

    Smyrl Tomato Republic Staff

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    #10
    That is very useful info sarak and makes a lot of sense. One stop drive by spamming so to speak.

    Shannon
     
    Smyrl, Aug 14, 2005 IP
  11. serenity

    serenity Well-Known Member

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    #11
    I did everything suggested. Someway, they are using a script that keeps posting, but they are also using different IP's. I may have to take down his guestbook or find a different one to use. I did a link pop check on his website and his total is 3,798 which means that they are still showing up. I hope they update his website soon and get rid of this kind of stuff. :eek:
     
    serenity, Aug 14, 2005 IP
  12. namxas

    namxas Peon

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    #12
    is there any free guestbook that has admin approval?
     
    namxas, Aug 14, 2005 IP
  13. J.P

    J.P Notable Member

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    #13
    Depends on your level of programming you could make one yourself.

    Just have a field called "accepted" and set the default value to 'NO'

    On the output have the query set so that only Accepted = YES is showing.

    have a admin page that allows you to review the guestbook entries with a option to enable accepted = YES or delete the entry.

    JP
     
    J.P, Aug 14, 2005 IP
  14. lister

    lister Peon

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    #14
    having a guestbook is not practically a good idea even
    tho you make it only register user can post. i use to have
    one before, but illiminated the service due to heavy spamming.

    this kind of spamming will not look good for your site
    repo. delete it anyway.
     
    lister, Aug 14, 2005 IP
  15. sarahk

    sarahk iTamer Staff

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    #15
    Another angle on this discussion is that guestbooks have been made obsolete by blogs where people comment on specific content.

    After all, why do you have a guestbook - to get feedback!

    So, it's best to have targetted feedback. I'd tell your friend to drop the guestbook, put up some reputable blog software and start again.

    Sarah
     
    sarahk, Aug 14, 2005 IP
  16. namxas

    namxas Peon

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    #16
    maybe the guestbook/shoutbox is still needed by some site as an open feedback

    I agree with you about using a blog, but the blog itself need to be updating frequently

    (sorry if my english is bad :) )
     
    namxas, Aug 14, 2005 IP
  17. lister

    lister Peon

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    #17
    no worries namxas, some good pointers here.

    once upon a time, ppl would visit website guestbook
    to give a genuine feedback abt one's website..

    the appearance of guestbook is getting more and
    more dimmer (if by chance you happen to see sum
    site guestbook, pay a visit and would see how heavy
    it was spammed).

    nowadays, webmasters would rather deploy a new
    way to get visitors feedbacs and responses by linking
    to a support webapge that is rather more professional
    than just email or feedback or guestbook arena.

    hope this might help you.
     
    lister, Aug 15, 2005 IP
  18. J.P

    J.P Notable Member

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    #18
    Not everyone will want to use a professional guestbook, the only guest book I have is on the site for my bar, to keep within the theme and to keep it simple and friendly I did my own guestbook.

    A lot of sites may use a professional one but I would say it depends on what the site is about... personal fun and friendly or professional.
     
    J.P, Aug 15, 2005 IP
  19. jabz.biz

    jabz.biz Active Member

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    #19
    A collegue of mine, he is in the adult bizz, once told me tah he is posting his domains in guestbooks and he´s getting serious traffic outta this. But it was only one free-guestbook provider...and he did wanna name names. :(
     
    jabz.biz, Aug 17, 2005 IP
  20. sarahk

    sarahk iTamer Staff

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    #20
    And there you have the big problem. If it didn't work the spammers wouldn't spam. So, it's up to the site owners to keep their systems clean and the users not to visit the sites thereby endorsing their behaviour.

    On a sidenote, I hadn't been checking my comments on my main blog and thought the spammers hadn't found me because I wasn't getting the notifications that I get from another WordPress blog I have. Upgraded to the latest version of WordPress and discovered the spam was there but the notification system had been failing. Drat. Cleanup time.
     
    sarahk, Aug 17, 2005 IP