What makes this Fluther Question a spam magnet?

I would guess it is the use of the words “estimate” and “cost” that is attracting spam.

Response moderated (Spam)

Sorry, this is probably spam but it still makes me laugh.

My guess is the need for “parchment paper”.

Could be the new Parchment SpamBot Virus…..just sayin

@flutherother Was it that I used the word Spam four times in my question that brought on the inevitable image of lousy Vikings?

We are under a huge spam attack today, and not just on that question. I think a bot is at work. We’re doing our best to stay on top of it all. Please flag any spam you guys see today. Thanks!

I just banned 62 spammers, and earlier today, the mods banned probably twice that amount. For serious.

I also think the word stocking might cause the hits.

@Augie & mods: Sorry this has fallen to your lot to clean up.

Is this a (denial of service) attack.. I can’t ask questions or access Google or most other sites? Yahoo works fine. Chrome works slow or not at all… My internet connection keeps clicking on and off.

It slices! It dices! It cures gout! It’s on sale for $19.95, but only if you order right now! Hurry! Only 5 left in stock!

And if you order in the next 5 minutes, you’ll get two for the amazing price of $39.90!!! Don’t wait!!!

Holy fuck! This is damn crazy there is absolutely a bot. We need re-captcha

@augustlan one suggestion. Maybe it will help with the spamers. Allow people to post replies only after being members for one day. I’ve been to several forums [and still use them] and that really helps keeping the spam at a very low level.

A few of the ones I have see in the last few hours were accounts registered on September 4th. It seem like the script harvested a bunch of accounts and waited for a few days to use them. It might not be a bad idea to start looking at accounts created around then and delete any that haven’t been used for anything.

@Hibernate :: I have thought of something similar. I was thinking along the line of your first question or comment went into a queue where someone would have to approve it. The people that can approve don’t even need to be mods since all they would do is make sure that it isn’t spam. If they flag it as spam it would then be handed off to the mods to decide what to do with it. It doesn’t seem like it would be hard to get around twenty regulars to volunteer for the job. I bet the wait would be minimal.

This, of course would require some serious coding to happen so I’m pretty sure that the odds of such a system being implemented are slim.

Attack of the spam. It’s an invasion. My personal spam folder has been flooded today too, 40ish at least!

I missed that question. But one good thing about looking at the link. It reminded me I’m out of parchment paper.

I just got some spam on my question about writing theme music that was an ad for a $200 pair of boots. I don’t think the spam we are getting has anything to do any question being asked. It seems like they are just spamming everyone.

We could make it so that every time a person answers a question, they are given the first part of the most recently given answer (not just in that thread, but throughout Fluther), and are asked if it is spam. Then, if the answer is “no, it’s not spam”, that answer gets posted. If the answer is “yes, it is”, then it is sent for further evaluation. Your answer then goes into the queue for verification. As long as answers are generated often enough, there should be very little delay.

@PhiNotPi – Well, maybe answers by new people should be held up by some method like that, but once you’re established as a regular member (over 100 lurve, for example) your answers shouldn’t have to be vetted by anyone before they’re posted.

@HungryGuy That is a good point. All we have to do is make it so that spammers have to put enough effort into spamming Fluther that it is not worth their time. The 100 lurve marker will probably be sufficient, since it requires answering multiple questions with GA’s, which takes time, or at least logging off and on for 100 days straight.

Just wanted to let you know we’re working on some solutions. Stay tuned!