I was using the anti-spam plugin Akismet for a long time but I eventually stopped using it and moved to GASP (Growmap Anti Spam Plugin).
Akismet was not working for me at the time because it was actually too good at putting things in the spam folder.
How could it be TOO good?
It seems strange that it could be too good but it was. It was sending very valid non-spam comments right to my spam folder and I would never see them. Once in a while someone would email me and ask where their comment went and then when I checked the spam folder I would always find a lot of good comments that I never saw.
I’ve also been on the other side of Akismet’s too-goodness as a commenter. There was a time when all of the comments that I was leaving on blogs were going to the spam folders. Eventually someone told me that I needed to contact Akismet and get them to un-blacklist me.
A Solution
They were very quick to respond and resolve the problem but I was tired of it all and that was the same time that most bloggers were making the switch from Akismet to GASP. So I made the switch too.
I was very happy with GASP …until recently.
A New Problem
I had to implement a very clear spam policy (you can see the rules on your right) after writing a post that expressed my great irritation with the large amount of spam comments that I was receiving.
Even though I would mark a particular comment as spam the same person would come back day after day and the comment would never find it’s way to the spam folder automatically no matter how many times I marked that person’s comment as spam.
On a regular basis I was getting up to 30-40 spam comments each day that I had to manually place into my spam folder. It was very time consuming to sift through all of those comments, reading each one to decide if it was spam or legit.
In fact it was such a chore that I started to really dread the task each day. I’m sure that if you been a regular commenter here you’ve noticed that I have only been replying to your comments a couple days a week.
Other bloggers suggested that I purchase the premium version of commentluv because it has greater anti-spam features in it’s version of the GASP plugin. I am not currently interested in spending that much money on a plugin at this point.
The New Solution
I decided to give another look at Akismet recently and I was pleasantly surprised to see that they have made some very pleasing changes between the time that I stopped using it and now.
I am very glad that I made the switch back to Akismet! It is solution that I have been looking for and so far has saved me a nice amount of time! It has a lot of new features that make it a great free anti-spam plugin for bloggers.
Spam comments go into the spam folder! I don’t have to waste my time marking the same people’s comments as spam day after day. I don’t even have to see them anymore!
Now there is the ability to see the url of the commentluv link so that you can easily remove it if it’s spam.
Preview the URL and easy removal. You can scroll over the url of the webpage that the commenter has provided and you will see a preview of the page. This saves a lot of time if you have questions about the type of site it is. You can click an “x” to remove the url if you do not want your site linking out to it. No more editing the entire comment!
Number of approved comments. Each comment shows how many approved comments that the author has on your blog. Though this feature is optional it is very handy!
To Your Success,
Thank you for reading! I'm Stacy, the owner of this blog. You can learn more about me here.
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Base on your experience, I can really say that Akismet s really good. I’m looking forward on using Akismet one of these days. Thanks for the information.. good job!
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Stacy Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 1:53 pm
I definitely recommend it!
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This is indeed good news Stacy!
Just like you, I had earlier been using Akismet, but because my comments were going into spam as well, I switched over to GASP and am happy with that presently. But yes, there are a few spam comments that do come every day with different names and new URLs for which I have to delete them through their IP address if nothing else works.
However, I am still saved of the trouble as the comments are in moderation, though it does take some time going through the spam or real ones, but this is a better way I feel.
Thanks for sharing
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Stacy Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 1:55 pm
Hi Harleena,
I’m glad that GASP is working for you, I was getting entirely too many spam comments. Now they are all going directly to my spam folder… and I love it!
Stacy
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What a great solution for anti-spamming Stacy, by using this Akismet everyone can able to protect their blog with spamming… I know that it will bring a huge improvement and effectiveness to everyone..
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Stacy Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 1:57 pm
Yes, it’s the exact solution that I was looking for!
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I too have noticed that they must have fixed something recently. Spam is annoying, but it did seem like they were flagging everything as spam until about a few months ago. Definitely one of the best anti-spam plugins
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Stacy Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 1:58 pm
Hi Henry,
I’m glad that I decided to try it now, after the improvements!
Stacy
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I have always stayed with Akismet, and I did not even know there were other options for dealing with Spam. I don’t really seem to have a problem with valid comments going into Spam too much. At least, the ones that have gone into spam have seems to have been rare occurrences. Since they updated recently, I will stay with Akismet for now, but if I have problems, I know where to come read for advice. Thanks so much, Stacy!
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Stacy Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 2:03 pm
Hi Christi,
For a long time GASP was working very well for me but as with anything in life it requires change when it’s not working right!
Stacy
PS: Did you know that commentluv is taking your backlink? I can’t remember how to fix that, perhaps someone in the tribe can help.
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Stacy, I have been having trouble on one of my client’s sites because they don’t have Akismet installed. I can’t do it since I am not the admin. I am going to send a copy of your article to my boss to help him get a move on it. Thanks.
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Stacy Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 2:04 pm
Hi Ann,
I’m glad that I can be of assistance!
Stacy
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I’m like Christi, I never left Akismet, and have been very happy with them. I get the occasional “legit” comment in the spam folder, but I figure it far outweighs all the spam they catch.
I have noticed that there seems to be more spam hooking on to CommentLuv for some reason.
Great post, Stacy-glad it’s working for you.
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Stacy Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 2:06 pm
Hi Cathy,
I’ve noticed that too. What a lot of them are doing is deleting their url from the website line in hopes that we won’t notice. To me that’s a red flag that I need to remove the comluv link.
Stacy
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I agree with your research but many blogger still discourage the use of Akismet.Let us what are the results with new version. Please write review post after use of new version of Akismet
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Stacy Reply:
March 16th, 2012 at 2:42 pm
I will keep that in mind, thanks!
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Great post, Stacy! I have seen a lot of people opt for the spam fighters that don’t catch very much, and it seems like it just dilutes the good comments out there. Granted, there are quite a few comments where I am honestly not sure which way I want to go with whether or not I should allow it, but I would rather show respect for the people who post legitimately by not letting them get drowned out.
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Stacy Reply:
March 16th, 2012 at 2:43 pm
Hi Steve,
Great to see you again! I know how you feel and after a lot of deliberation I came up with my comment policy (on the right side of my blog). It’s been working well for me and actually Akismet has done a great job of catching the true spam. Out of literally thousands of spam comments I’ve already had I’ve only seen one legit comment end up in the spam folder.
Stacy
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I don’t necessarily dislike Akismet, but I don’t like that I need to get an API just to use it. I suppose I should just suck it up and get it because I hear nothing but wonderful things about it.
Thanks for your take on it.
Morgan@SociableBoost invites you to read… Reverse Psychology: The Role of a Crisis in Social Media
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Stacy Reply:
March 17th, 2012 at 1:17 pm
Hi Morgan,
The nice thing is that once you get it set up you don’t have to worry about it again. I deleted the plugin from my blog and when I reinstalled it the plugin remembered my number!
Stacy
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I heard so many great things about Akismet..
I will love to give it a try.. Thanks for this very wonderful post!
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Stacy Reply:
March 17th, 2012 at 1:49 pm
Hi Lanaya,
I’m sure that you’ll like it. Thanks for stopping by!
Stacy
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Yes I tried and I can’t live without more. Very useful. Tks for sharing!
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Stacy Reply:
March 20th, 2012 at 2:47 pm
It’s a great one! Thanks for stopping by!
Stacy
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Stacy that is great you like Askimet, I did too, but I found another plugin that is not very popular but I have not gotten any spam. It is Quiz, wordpress plugin.
Michael Belk @teach yourself guide invites you to read… Are school bullies getting meaner?
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Stacy Reply:
March 27th, 2012 at 7:47 pm
Hi Michael,
I haven’t heard of that one, thank you for sharing! It’s always good to hear about other options! What do you like about it?
Stacy
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Michael Belk @teach yourself guide Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 3:16 am
I love it because since I installed the plugin, I have not gotten any spam, I mean none. It puts a captcha on the response that bots can not penetrate.
Michael Belk @teach yourself guide invites you to read… Can workplace relationships be harmful?
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I had exactly the same experience even moving over to Growmap because others were doing it but in the end I was getting way too much spam so I’m prepared to lose a few good comments and have switched back to Akismet.
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Stacy, I really appreciated your post. I went over to my blog and checked my Akismet stats. What I found was that many pingbacks (that I would have approved) had been blocked by Akismet. Have you had any problem with that?
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Same frustrations as you before, Stacy! I removed it because I found it had filtered a legitimate and insightful comment without even doing anything to the actual spam. This genuine comment went unnoticed for TWO weeks because I hadn’t noticed it in the spam folder. I immediately unmarked the poster as spam, tracked him down on Twitter, and apologized profusely. Then and there I removed Akismet.
Then literally yesterday it appears my site has been getting a huge wave of spammers so I had to re-implement Akismet. Already I am impressed with the results. I’m also much more careful though. I look at the spam folder on a daily basis to make sure nothing was filtered that should have been.
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Stacy Reply:
March 19th, 2013 at 7:00 pm
Hi Vincent,
That’s the one thing about using Akismet. We have to make it a habit to check the spam folder. But it’snot really that big of deal!
Thanks for stopping by!
Stacy
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