Akismet is perhaps the most popular form of spam protection today. I made a form so you can see the sort of things that Akismet thinks is spam. Check it out.
Things to look for
Spelling Errors?
Check out spam case 1, “sunlasses shop.” The biggest reason for its classification is the mispelled word “somwhere.” Fix the spelling and test it again. It should show up as “ham” now! The original is an actual spam comment I received on this blog a couple days ago, I changed the links and e-mail slightly, however.
Hyperlinks
Check out spam case 2, “Jim Boots.” It’s obvious if someone posted this comment on your blog that they are simply trying to promote a product. However, what makes it spammy is simply because the hyperlink to Mr. Boot’s website also has the hyperlink text as the website. If you click on ham case 1, you will notice the hyperlink text says “here” instead of “www.cowboyboots4thawin.com,” and is no longer identified as spam. Although, interestingly, if you change where the hyperlink actually goes to in the original spam case (eg, leave the hyperlink text as www.cowboyboots…, but change the link to go to a naughty site or something)
Finally, look at ham case 2, “Trustworthy Guy.” This is the perfect comment: solid spelling, grammar is good enough, and no hyperlinks at all. This is simply an example of what a comment should look like!
Conclusion
If you want your comments to show up on blogs (or whatever Akismet is safeguarding), it might be helpful to test it with this form before submitting your comment.
