One more reason to not allow comments

[paulgl]

Rarely do I ever allow comments on pages I have adsense on.

I had done this just because all comments were spam, nonsense,
self promotion, etc. Besides, I rely on good traffic, not people
looking to "get that link in there."

It never occurred to me that allowing such stuff may be
looked upon as "spam," and get your site or blog labeled
as such.

I thought I read the google adsense blog, but missed this gem:

Some publishers have been contacted because AdSense ads had been placed next to comment spam entries on their blogs and forums. While we understand that no publisher intentionally allows their blogs and forums to be spammed, we ask that you ensure no ads are placed on these pages - as you can imagine advertisers don’t want their ads shown in this context.

Now, how is a googlebot (or human even) going to know the difference between
spammed comments and not?

If you have a blog that has adsense, and you allow links in comments, think again.

I always tell people to be aware of all adsense TOS.

Be forewarned.

Now's here's another bend. If adsense users can be detected about spam, how
about the googlebot in general? If you suffered any drops in rankings, look
for any pages you allow comments on. Spammed comments can come in all
shapes and sizes, not just links.

Paul

[dburk]

Hi Paul,

Good post!

Anyone who allows users to post any kind of content, needs to moderate that content. If not you are likely seeing the Trust signals for your page reduced or zeroed out.

If you are placing comments on non moderated blogs, with the expectation that you are generating high quality backlinks, you are only fooling yourself. Even if you comment is highly relevant, and adds value to the page, you are posting on a page that has likely been reduced to zero trust, which passes zero link juice.

[Fernando Veloso]

Great reminder Paul.

I run some sites that got screwed by comments and now I have a strict policy before approving them - after all, as soon as we approve comments, they're relevant of the website...

Thanks for the heads up - many people don't realize the risk they're running into.

[yukon]

we ask that you ensure no ads are placed on these pages

Good find!

That part has me thinking wtf!

I have 1 old blogspot site that I allow comments on, & I get trigger happy on that. If I can't moderate the new comment within a split second it's history without a second guess!

All my other sites have the Wordpress code removed for comments during setup. I just don't have any interest to deal with the spam.

Another reason I don't allow comments is because comments will dilute the on-page seo. Example, my old blogspot has 100+ comments on a single page. So allowing comments can work against you as far as on-page seo (IMO).

[Fernando Veloso]

Originally Posted by yukon

Another reason I don't allow comments is because comments will dilute the on-page seo. Example, my old blogspot has 100+ comments on a single page. So allowing comments can work against you as far as on-page seo (IMO).

SEO wise, this ^^ is quite relevant. 100 comments with nothing relevant to your content can kill the rankings of that particular page.

[yukon]

Originally Posted by Fernando Veloso

SEO wise, this ^^ is quite relevant. 100 comments with nothing relevant to your content can kill the rankings of that particular page.

Well, actually they are relevant, but the traffic comments are not what I would call seo material.

What's funny is I'll answer each comment (most times) with a comment that is tweaked to help with the on-page seo, while still answering the traffic comments. It just feels like too much upkeep to me (having comments).

All my WP sites are download sites, so not really any reason to comment anyways. They just grab the download & next-page (or Adsense click ).

[paulgl]

I second that, Fernando. You have brought up some more
friggin' great points. Never even thought about link dilution,
(and I crave internal linking) and other such stuff.

Fernando, that 100 link thing just adds to why I hate people
posting a list of blogs to spam. Just waters down good
stuff on the WF. And it promotes spamming blogs, even
the art of spamming without spamming.

dburk, had heard that bit about pages being devalued, but
never had any words from google on comments. But man
it makes sense.

Yukon, great take on the on-page SEO thing.

I'm just wondering if this is all part of any major updates
with google all the way around.

It probably would not matter, and I do it seldom, but what does
google think about websites linked in comments they see as
spam? Just saying.

I'm actually thinking of a whole host of other things...that will
remain unsaid. 'Cuz it's a little dizzying at the moment...

I'm thinking of one specific thing Fernando V said frequently that
I always disagreed with. Let's say I've changed my thinking.

Paul

[RevSEO]

Google won't hurt a website that has a reasonable amount of relevant comments with outgoing links. In fact, if you are getting relevant commenting and engagement on your site that's a great thing as it will add to the credibility of that page and the overall amount of content for that post.

What Google DOESN'T want to see though is outbound links to bad websites, such as porn, pharma, warez, etc. Google's always said that a webmaster doesn't have control of who links to them, but they always have control of who they link to. If your website is linking to these types of sites then you could have a significant drop in rankings coming your way.

[sonic74]

Does Akismet is reliable to block the spam comments ??

or better not to get the risk ?

thanks

[RevSEO]

Originally Posted by sonic74

Does Akismet is reliable to block the spam comments ??

or better not to get the risk ?

thanks

Generally Akismet does a great job at blocking the spam.

I'd recommend monitoring comments now and then though to be sure that nothing gets by that you don't want though.

[yukon]

Dear Google... I have a confession!

The one blogspot site that I allow comments on, I kinda did something a little sneaky.

I edited my blogspot template comments code so the Name/URL next to each comment looks like a real hyperlink, & blends in with the rest of the templates hyperlink color.

[insert shame]

[paulgl]

Originally Posted by RevSEO

Google won't hurt a website that has a reasonable amount of relevant comments with outgoing links.

What Google DOESN'T want to see though is outbound links to bad websites, such as porn, pharma, warez, etc.

Links will hurt a website, especially internal linking, if you allow a ton of
links on your page. Waters it down. There's no way that a comment will
not effect the dynamics of the page, as well as the whole site. It
changes the content, for one.

Google only cares about those links if you have adsense. They even give
PR to some of those "bad" sites. They won't by themselves hurt
your SEO. If they did, then when you searched for those things, you
should get zero results. But you don't. You get tons. some of those "bad"
sites are quite highly SEO'd, very high PR.

It should be interesting to note, of which I tried to above, that google
does not mention links in comments or posts. It might be applied, but
not having a link does not mean it's not spam. You could get someone
ranting about anyone and anything.

Maybe some of you have noticed the new spam in comments. They go
something like this:

"Great post! Please google "best beer cup holders" and click on first site."

Again, how can a googlebot determine spam from mundane comments?
A spam comment comes in many flavors.

Paul

[marknel]

Thats clever Yukon.Its pathetic for a blog owner where he is sharing his knowledge and is looking for comments that add value to his post. Its an endless war for blog owners.No wonder so many blogs have turned nofollow..but believe me I did not find any respite after making my blog nofollow.

[sscot]

It doesn't matter, allow few comments which helps to increase Adsense CTR.

[kiwiviktor81]

My first site had about 200 pages, each set to autoapprove comments. I went away on holiday for three weeks, came back, and almost every page was full of screeds of spam, cialis spam mostly. Now every one of my sites is set to not allow comments unless they're approved (which doesn't mean I allow every non-spam comment, only ones that provide value).

If you allow and answer comments you can build up a dedicated readership in anticipation of upgrading to a forum. But my n00b lesson was that autoapproving comments is to open the door to a hurricane of spam.

[paulgl]

Originally Posted by sscot

It doesn't matter, allow few comments which helps to increase Adsense CTR.

Then you miss the whole point...

I need to clarify something I said about links. Whether links hurt or not, is not
really what the point is. I could really go either way at this point.

It's the spam, whether they are links or not, seems to be getting a bad rap.
My guess is, this is one way google is "finding" sites to devalue. The quote
was about adsense sites specifically, so I would err on the side of caution
and just not allow comments in most cases. You be the judge of your
own sites, of course.

Like I said, you approve 100 comments, what value does that add to
the content? Does it detract? 100 comments looks like anything goes.
Links or not. Obviously it is very easy to detect whether content was
added by the site or a visitor. Anything added by a visitor could be
looked upon as spam. Adding nofollow seems to be landing in google's
hands. You are admitting that any links in comments are not trustworthy.

To me the whole statement about forums and blogs being spammed is
quite profound. And I can't believe I didn't see it until I just got
the last adsense email newsletter (like most of you) and surfed
around looking for any more updates. I think I missed it because the
whole thing was on getting your adsense canned. Did not pertain to
me (yet).
The full post is here:

Key policy takeaways from AdSense in Your City - Inside AdSense

Paul