I resorted to requiring TypeKey registration for comments and both comment spam and trackback spam disappeared overnight. I'm sure some people are put off by having to register to comment, but it's that or the spam wars.

See, I know this sounds rude, but I kind of feel like they need to build me a better mousetrap or I will be left with no choice than to go to Textpattern or Word Press.

Anyone know if there are improvements in this area with last week's 3.16 release?

Conversation Killer is a nifty plugin for MT -- closes the comments on older entries.

Haven't had a chance to try it out, but SpamLookup is another MT-Blacklist type tool that is supposed to really work.

Trackback is dead.

Not sure about a plugin for closing trackbacks, but I can tell you how to do it through your database.

Also, Textpattern and Wordpress blogs are also targets of spam. There's no escape!

Would it be creepy if I tried to find Alex in the CMU alumni directory? Cause I did. Now I have this ridiculous sense of accomplishment because the first class I tried had an Alex living in 5F. Sigh... how am I ever going to graduate from this place if I spend all my time Smitten-reading and internet stalking?

My TypePad blog doesn't attract much spam of either variety, but my MT blog is another story. I had to close comments and TrackBacks on older entries, using MT Close2. It's a little clunky and there might be a better option out there but it works okay for me.

http://thedeadone.net/wp/?p=57

Here's how I see it - comment spamming has become very difficult because of MT BlackList for MT based blogs and the global banlist for TP blogs. With so many bloggers working together to put spammers into one common database, it's like fighting a war on many fronts. Especially now that search engines are acknowledging the "nofollow" specification in comment and TB links.

I think over time, it'll become just as difficult to spam TrackBacks and maybe.. MAYBE spammers will move on.

Whenever TypePad gets hit really hard with spam, I always imagine that there's a guy somewhere in a cubicle running a script and hating his job. At the same time, I'm sitting at my desk hating THAT guy. But at least I like my job. It doesn't make me feel dirty :D

It really pisses ME off because I see how it effects individual bloggers. It puts a LOT of stress on everything - servers, bloggers, readers, developers, tech support, search engines, etc. And for what? I'm not sure. It seems like a huge waste of time and resources. Instead of spamming the hell out of blogs, why not spend that time and money on developing legitimate marketing stragies that actually work?

Sorry about the rant. I can tell you that "the people" at SixApart are always ALWAYS! working on ways to fight spam. The hard thing is that once you get a good defense in place, spammers will find a way around it, over it, through it, behind it!

It's just a shame that we all have to spend so much time dealing with it, instead of writing and chatting. Somebody always has to rain on the parade.

So thats what THOSE scripts do!!! I guess I'll stop then...

Deb, I can start exploring options with MT for this problem. If you come across anything you want me to install just let me know.

I also use conversation killer, which closes comments and trackbacks automatically after a certain number of days, which is really nify. i personally don't use trackbacks at all... but whatev. i don't have any issues with comment spam now from using the conversation killer and scode (the number code for comments) - both available in the plugins list on the mt site.

Well, Deb,

Congratulations. You have finally made it to the tech world. Don't tell me that you don't understand the stuff you're writing about at work. I can't follow anything in this posting!

:)

Hi Deb. I had a server crash last week and was subsequently bombarded with over 1000 comment/trackback spams a day for five days. I have just installed SpamLookup and it is fantastic; in 20 minutes it has already blocked--BLOCKED!!--30 trackback spam pings.

It's best feature, though, is an easy way to filter your comments by the "pending" status, so you can clean them all up with the "check all" option instead of having to watch for comments/trackbacks that you've already approved.

I have it running with MTBL 2.04 and MT 3.16 (newest versions of each as of today) and everything seems to be working really well. I'd highly recommend you give it a shot; even if you want to leave trackback turned off (which I am tempted to do because it is so rarely used anymore, at least with reference to me!) the comment management tools are WELL WORTH IT.