What Is The Best Way To Prevent Spam?
The Many Guises Of Spam
Spam, in its many different guises, is a major problem for Internet and email users. Whether you are a blog writer experiencing irritating and potentially damaging comment spam or you are a surfer receiving an increased number of spam emails the effects can be surprisingly damaging. Unfortunately, to many of us, spam is more than just a minor irritant. Blog owners and site owners can experience a decrease in visitors willing to participate in online discussions – anyone that has ever placed their email address directly online may already know that the increase in mail received can mean the slowing of your email client and even the crippling of your web server.
Email Spam
Email spam is the form of spam that we most often talk about. This is because it is the most widespread of all the forms. Leaving an email address on the pages of a website, forum, or blog gives spammers the opportunity to scrape your details off the Internet and use them to send junk email. Even filling in online forms to join newsletters and take advantage of specials can, with unethical websites, lead to an increase in junk email.
The Perils Of Clicking Unsubscribe Links In Spam
It is not possible to unsubscribe from junk email. Some of the spam you receive may contain unsubscribe links but inevitably these will be ineffective and could even compound the problem even further. Some spammers use these links in order to determine whether the email addresses they send to are valid. As soon as you click on the unsubscribe link or reply with unsubscribe in the subject of the email they know that your email address is genuine and that there is a real person on the other end. Far from prevent the sending of junk mail it is probable that this will increase the amount you receive.
Anti Spam Services – Challenge And Response
Anti spam software and services essentially fall into two categories – software and online services. The majority of online services are challenge and response filters. When an unrecognized person sends an email to your address they will receive a challenge email asking them to click a link and perform a specific action (usually filling in a touring number and clicking submit). This won't stop all manual spammers from contacting you but it will prevent spam from automated software finding its way to your Inbox. Some spammers will still persist in going to the effort of completing the challenge and response in order to send you junk advertising email. However, challenge and response filters do generate some good results.
Anti Spam Services - Software
Anti spam software has increased impressively in recent years. Keyword filters, safe lists and black lists, and heuristic filtering all combine to provide what amounts to a serious wall against manual and automated spam email. Settings can be heavily altered in order to increase or decrease the sensitivity of most filters providing you with the assurance that you can prevent spam while still enabling genuine email to slip through the filter and into your email client. On the whole, anti spam software is effective and unobtrusive for all users.
Blog Spam And Comment Spam
Blog spam, also known as comment spam, is another problem. If you are a regular blogger then you will undoubtedly understand the importance of attracting your visitors to leave their own comments on your posts. This, in turn, helps to promote the blog and encourage visitors to return to the site. However, comment spam is an increasing problem for blog owners. Again, the perpetrators may use automated software or some will manually scour the Internet for relevant blogs and leave comments that are nothing more than advertising links.
Preventing Comment Spam
Blog comment spam is difficult to prevent entirely. Software exists that blocks comments from known spammers but this rarely prevents all but a few of the comments received because spammers use a number of email addresses and persona. There is also the option of moderating all comments enabling you, as the blog publisher, to determine whether a comment is genuine or not before allowing it to be posted to the site. Internet users, though, enjoy a world of immediate response and expect the same when they post a comment on a blog. Anything other than this immediate posting of comments is likely to cause at least a small amount of visitors to be deterred from using your site.
Labor Saving Anti Spam Software
Yet more software can be used to quickly and cleanly delete all existing spam comments from your blog. This software is powerful and, while it cannot typically identify the posts that are spam, it can be used to negate the need to individually view each comment, log into your blog control panel, and then delete each comment. It may not physically prevent the posting of spam comments but it will save you time and visitors when used on a regular basis.
Spam Prevention Conclusions
Email spam and comment spam are two of the most common forms of online spam. For the sufferers of this plague they are a real problem that needs addressing quickly and accurately. Applications exist that can be used to help minimize, and in some cases, eradicate the instances of spam that you suffer from. Finding the right application for the job is essential and ensuring that you use the software or service properly is also a major part of the successful fight against unwanted email and blog comments.