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Noah
Noah
Jan 19, 2025, 11:28 AM
Forwarded from another channel:
Forwarded thread from another channel:
Miles
Miles
Dec 12, 2024, 9:54 AM
Hi, this isn't SEO-related but a huge pain point for our clients, spam form submissions.
We've tried reCAPTCHA, honeypot, Akismet, & having a manual action (what is 3+3) in the forms and are still getting manual spam form submissions and it is driving our clients crazy. The problem is they aren't getting caught because they appear "real" so our spam filters don't catch them. For context we are on Wordpress using Gravity Forms.
I know there are other paid anti-spam tools to add on but I wanted to see if any of you have found a solution for reducing spam that's worked?
Hank Hoffmeier
Hank Hoffmeier
Dec 12, 2024, 9:56 AM
We have clients at Kickbox with this issue. They tend to use Captcha in conjunction with our validation functionality. We are going to roll out bot detection soon since bot attacks can us a lot of validations!
I hope you find the best solution for you!
Mika Lepistö
Mika Lepistö
Dec 12, 2024, 10:03 AM
Check the IPs. If there are patterns/prevalence from geos that are irrelevant to your client, consider wholesale blocking those.
Mike Funkhouser
Mike Funkhouser
Dec 12, 2024, 11:33 AM
Spam submissions are 100% increasing in recent months. They are getting more advanced. I have about 20+ international clients and sometimes it is incredibly difficult to narrow down where the spam is coming from.
If you're running advertising, they will typically target a specific keyword so it typically helps to test. (They are typically more human/less bots for ads).
If this is SEO/organic using a paid tool is typically the way to go. As Mika said, the tools + finding patterns typically makes it pretty hard.
This year no matter what we did I had a particular client that we simply could not find where the spam was coming from. He is a plastic surgeon so we adjusted the form and make the first selection in the drop down something he did NOT do/wasn't on the website:
• Brazilian Butt Lift
• Breast Augmentation
• Facelift
• etc etc.
The majority of the spam isn't going to take the time to change the drop down item (and he doesn't do that procedure), but real patients don't notice. His team simply filters out anything with the first drop down item and we use those submissions for negative audiences in ads/are starting to find patterns where they are submitted from.
Hope this helps!
Mika Lepistö
Mika Lepistö
Dec 12, 2024, 12:28 PM
That's a great idea. Spam trap it.
Mika Lepistö
Mika Lepistö
Dec 12, 2024, 12:52 PM
Adding to GEO based IP blocking:
This can be a huge pain for people who are legitimately trying to access things. So consider that if applies. For example, when I lived outside the US, I couldn't get to a number of important things (banking, insurance, etc) without VPN, and sometimes even with VPN until I got a private IP.
Miles
Miles
Dec 12, 2024, 1:01 PM
All of these are great options. I really like the trick drop-down on the form and that would work well for a lot of our clients.
As for blocking IP addresses, we've had some trouble finding consistent patterns but will look into more holistic GEO based IP blocking.
One simple issue we found was the address field was set to International vs United States, updating that did help a little.
Kai Davis
Kai Davis
Dec 12, 2024, 2:58 PM
This plugin worked incredibly well for me (gravity forms on wordpress) to nip the spam submissions in the bud
Enhance your Gravity Forms to include anti-spam measures originally based on the work of David Walsh's "Zero Spam" technique.
WordPress.org: Gravity Forms Zero Spam
Anne Hennegar
Anne Hennegar
Dec 12, 2024, 3:40 PM
I didn't see this option mentioned. Have looked at CloudFlare's verifcation tool - Turnstyle.
Cloudflare Turnstile is a simple and free CAPTCHA replacement solution that delivers better experiences and greater security for your users.
Cloudflare Turnstile | CAPTCHA Replacement Solution | Cloudflare
Mika Lepistö
Mika Lepistö
Dec 12, 2024, 4:06 PM
I was going to suggest turnstile, but if it's manual spam then it might be less effective? I dunno. Would be curious about experiences with that.
Anne Hennegar
Anne Hennegar
Dec 12, 2024, 4:19 PM
Good question. I've not used it but I heard it has some behavioral analysis which could stop bots that act like humans.
Miles
Miles
Dec 12, 2024, 4:37 PM
We've considered testing Turnstile too. I think we will start with the Gravity Forms plugin first. I will report back!
Paul Thompson
Paul Thompson
Dec 13, 2024, 11:43 AM
You can also layer Turnstile and GF Zero Spam together.
There is a GF-specific Turnstile extension, but probably better to go with Simple Cloudflare Turnstile plugin to protect the rest of the site's forms as well (login, comments, etc.) It has a subcomponent specifically for GF.)
JL Faverio
JL Faverio
Dec 16, 2024, 1:51 PM
and don't forget to consult with the hosting provider as they may have lots of free spam-filter options. at least having a quick convo or chat with hosting support could give you more insights and ideas to consider.

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