Spam Protection for Comment Luv - 7 Options in Your Arsenal

Two days ago, I installed a cool deep linking plug-in to this blog. Topping my list of concerns was spam protection for Comment Luv users. 

Since the tool allows the comment makers to leave deep links back to their site, won't Comment Luv magnetize a lot of spammers and selfish back-linking bloggers? 

In a word, yes, but Comment Luv or not, there will always be people spamming unwanted ads about weight loss, boob jobs and any other product under the sun.

Comments and the Person Who Leaves Them

Andy Bailey who developed the plug-in said that there are generally two types of commenters on blogs that have enabled Comment Luv. 

First, there are real bloggers who visit other blogs, leave an intelligent comment or two and maybe write a review about the site or the post. Then, there are the marketing novices who think that spamming their links everywhere would increase their chances of converting traffic into sales. 

According to Andy, there are luckily more of the first kind of commenters than the second type. I wondered why and here's what I found when I logged on to Intense Debate. Bloggers have at least 7 options to protect themselves from unwanted advertisements.

(If you're using Blogger, you need to open an account at Intense Debate or Word Press in order to get the plug in. Read the nitty-gritty of Comment Luv.)

7 Options to Combat Spam

1. Moderate all comments. As with Google's default comment form, you get to preview and approve messages before they become published on your blog site.
   
   
2. Allow only signed in users to Intense Debate or Word Press to leave comments. It's not very welcoming, and frankly I've opted out of this suggestion.
   
   
3. Set a point requirement for Intense Debate or Word Press users before their comments can be automatically published. You see, every comment or voted answer you make translates to points which can either build or destroy your online reputation.
   
   
4. Put all comments with an unusually high number of links under moderation. Enter the specific number in the box. The default figure is 2.
   
   
5. Enable the spam filter. The plug-in uses Akismet spam filter by default, although I heard from Linda Grace Online that Akismet is already a paid service for Word Press business accounts. Good free alternatives include TrueType and Defensio.
   
   
6. Enable the moderation filter. As the administrator:
   
   
   • You can blacklist abusive commenters.
   • You can ban certain words and phrases from the comment form.
   • You can earmark certain e-mail addresses and reject them.
   • You can block IP addresses, when worse comes to worst.
   
   
7. Enable the profanity filter. Enter the words, phrases and profanities that you do not tolerate on your site. I like the blank field, because it can accommodate non-English cuss words.

Blogger by default does not have these options. What I am greatly missing though (and you might too) is the captcha code - which I think is a staple in spam protection. A number of blog sites that have enabled Comment Luv use captchas. It's only a matter of time for Teecup to find the solution.