Something that I just noticed: spammers are now adding a new tactic to their spamming: searching my blog. Not with Google, but rather using my own blog’s internal software. My blog’s internal search engine records the searches done by visitors; usually it just reads search keywords like “nova drug arrest,” “hypnotoad,” “right eye twitching,” or “google video,” to name four legitimate searches done in the past few days.

However, I am now seeing a few hundred searches performed every week which look for spam keywords; apparently, the spammers have automated programs access my blog’s search engine script to look for spam terms they have undoubtedly tried to get past my filters in comment spam. In the past one week, 127 searches were made for URLs for legitimate sites (usually educational addresses), with words like “viagra” or “cialis” tacked onto the end. Another 44 searches were made directly for the spam terms themselves, like “used rolex,” airline flight tickets cheap airline tickets,” or even strings like “This excellent site!!! Want you good luck!!!” (clearly one of the fake compliments posted riding a spam link).

Apparently, Google ain’t good enough for them. Now they have to directly access the blog’s own search engine script to see if their spam has stuck. Which, of course, it hasn’t. In the same 1-week period, SpamLookup blocked 1,681 comment spam. MT-Blacklist blocks a lot more than that–between 1,000 and 1,500 on any given day. MT-Blacklist blocks spam which matches the blacklist filter; SpamLookup stops the rest that get through, usually on the basis of having URLs or recognized spammer IP addresses, or whatnot.

But to the best of my knowledge, out of 2,301 blog posts and 5,513 comments over the past four years minus a few months, not a single shred or hint of spam exists on this blog. That ain’t gonna stop ’em from continuing their barrage, of course.