Trackback Spam--Is It Worth It?

Better answer is to use a solution that filters out trackback spam.

We use MT and have been able to develop cocktail of spam filters that for all practical purposes eliminates comment and trackback spam. Prior to working on a solution, our network of blogs was getting slammed with comment and trackback spam.

Trackbacks, though not understood by all bloggers, do play a role in blogging. Allows others to see who's part of an ongoing discussion.

BusinessWeek is a big player in the publishing and tech/entrepreneur community. Bloggers will be attracted to the discussion raised in your blog posts especially when trackbacks on your blogs reflect their blog discussion regarding your posts.

I bailed on trackbacks well over a year ago, Heather, and haven't looked back. I can still see the trackback by having a subscribed Newsgator search for my own URL.

Heather - we had to turn them off too, for the same reason. It's a shame, since trackbacks are one great way of e-networking in the blogosphere. Now when I reference another blogger's work, I take a few minutes to comment under the post in question, and include a link to my own blog. It's not automatic, and a little self-promoting, but no one seems to mind - especially if it's in the service of the greater good (less spam). Good luck.

I close down comments and trackbacks after a couple of weeks. That makes it much more manageable. Occasionally someone wants to comment on an older post, and they'll add a comment to the most recent which I then will move over manually. And since my own blog is relatively focused, subjects come up repeatedly, so if someone had a comment on an older post, there's a good chance a newer one has enough similar qualities that they can refer to the old one, make their comment, and then relate it to the newer one. And if they don't bother, then... oh well.

I use my own installation of Wordpress and Spam Karma 2 works as well on trackbacks as it does comments. In over a year of using this setup on six different blogs, I have had 2 TB to moderate and 1 false positive on a comment. The rest are stopped in their tracks. Spam Karma 2 will even delete them automatically every so often if you like.

I wouldn't turn trackbacks off. I would find a tool that would help eliminate the spam and keep the real ones.

Hang in there also... because trackbacks are very useful. I use trackbacks all the time.

I turned trackbacks off a long time ago and only recently turned comments on again, after investigating the spam filters offered by pmachine.com, which publishes my content management system, Expression Engine.

As an old message board guy, I want comments and discussions. If comments doesn't work, I may add a message board, where spam is not a big problem far as I can tell. Message boards are better for discussions than comments on blogs anyway, imho.

At first I was angered by the postings with links for viagra and sex on my Web sites. I seriously thought about turning comments off. Ultimately, I decided to leave it enabled. I use Wordpress and the built in Discussion option tool to set criteria to screen for keywords and domains that are being abused. Posts with hard core terms are automatically deleted. The more questionable ones are but into a moderation que for review. Plus I have an email sent to me to notify me when there are comments awaiting moderation. That filters out about 95% of the junk. Now I'm motivated to check my site dashboard daily to see what's going on (in addition to keeping my content fresh).

Yep - we turned off trackbacks on The Boston Globe Business Filter this summer because the spam was ridiculous. Filtering would probably improve it, and it's yet another thing added to technical to-do list.

avtoraj@avtoraj.com

Yeah we had to do the same thid, but it can actually be usefull :)
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