New Google Commenting/Spam Policy
Aye yigh yigh...we have come to another one of those ill-fated topics that unfortunately manage to give us bloggers a hard time: Comments. It has come to my attention that Google has implemented a new policy regarding commenting. Unfortunately this means some changes will be taking place not only on my blog, but many other bloggers as well.
I have already come across two blogs that have posted about this, and first I blew it off not thinking it was a big deal. I mean we're always getting some notice saying the Privacy Policy has changed or some other policy. However, as I scrolled through the comments and research a little more I realized that this was probably something pretty important to pay attention to. As I continue to try to grow my blog daily, I look for ways to maximize interaction with readers and visitors, and comments are my main way of doing that.
Thus far, in the almost three months my blog has been up I have had no issues with spam comments. I know more seasoned blogs with higher number of visitors get more comments and thus, probably get spammed a lot more than little ole me. Well I don't want to wait until my blog is seasoned and I'm in those same ranks before taking action, I like to be as proactive as possible.
In one of the posts I read on a blog I follow, the blogger initiated the Google + commenting widget, which takes away the ability for anonymous comments. While I think this is a great idea, I don't use my Google + for blog networking purposes, I use to connect with people in my personal life. To be honest I don't use it much at all, because I've never liked it. Looks like its time for me to get with the program. Nonetheless, I'm not sure what direction or action I want to take right now with this whole commenting thing, but I'm glad I know about it. I also read another post about a concern for the CommentLuv widget that many Wordpress blogs have on them. Right now, there is no clear answer on if this widget will somehow violate the new policy and even those comments (with links) will be considered spam.
Possible spam comment: "Thanks for the hosting! Have a great weekend." ~Your Blog Name Here as a hyperlink - I'm even notorious for this one, because I hate linking up and leaving. I always try to leave some word of gratitude to the blogger. - Now I will only be leaving relevant and poignant comments, even for link parties.
Good comment: "Great recipe for the fruit salad! It looks absolutely delicious. I have been looking all over for a good recipe and now I've found one. I can't wait to try this out, as well as some of the other salad recipes you shared." - This comment goes into detail about the post, and doesn't have any backlinks or key words that would trigger (In my opinion) a spam tracker.
The main issue with the commenting policy is the algorithm used in it. It recognizes short and sweet comments and those with links as spam. This is especially disconcerting to me, because I like to include a link to my blog in my signature when I leave comments. I feel like it looks professional, since my signature is pretty much like my business card.
If you want more information on the policy visit this informative link. It gives a good breakdown of the policy overall and has a nifty video included about it too.
Until next time folks!
Happy Bumping!
xxoo,
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xxoo,
Tenns