But Can We Win?

The doom and gloom naysayers are predicting that comment spamming will mark the end of blogging, (or at least as we now know it) and are advocating the removal of commenting altogether.

According to the Online Journalism Review spammers are forever creative in finding ways to gain Google search results. One method they use is to post links in the comments sections of popular blogs. But not for long because the makers of blogging software are banding together to keep interactivity alive in the blogosphere.

Just what the heck is "comment spam" and how did it get so many prominent bloggers up in arms? Basically, spammers have been using blogs to help boost their standings in Google searches by posting massive numbers of comments that include links to their pornography sites, scams and get-rich-quick sites. If your site is linked by a top-ranked site or blog, then Google will often raise your site's ranking - at least that's the thinking of spammers.

But Google and other software makers have decidedly put the kybosh on that:

Now, Google's Blogger software puts links in comments through a redirected URL, taking away any PageRank boost. And Six Apart's latest TypePad service and Movable Type software include multiple ways to stem comment spam, including Jay Allen's MT-Blacklist and the TypeKey registration system.

Dave Winer has taken it even further by advocating getting rid of commenting altogether:

More recently, the godfather of blogging Dave Winer, former CEO of UserLand, told me that comments are not an intrinsic part of a Weblog and have basically failed after a brief honeymoon period in the early history of blogs. "I think a blog is a publication, and publications have proven that letters to the editor are useful," Winer said. "But blogs with comments are not letters to the editor. Letters to the editor are edited, they're selected, and that selection process is a very important aspect of it."

The Bloke thinks that is radical surgery to cure a minor pestilence, for it is the interactivity of blogging that renders its appeal. Nevertheless, here are some of the more effective strategies that have been employed so far - along with its possible side effects:

1. Turn all comments - or at least old comments off:
Not everyone agrees with Winer's view on comments not being essential for blogs. But if they're causing more trouble than they're worth, it makes sense to simply turn them off. Popular group blog BoingBoing turned off comments, and readers started their own discussion group on Tribe.net. Another option is removing or freezing comments on old blog postings, where spammers like to strike. There's even a program called MTCloseComments to do just that within Movable Type blogs.

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