Blog Comment Spam Filtering With C#

The Need To Filter Spam

On blog sites, spam comments are common. This is especially true when there are ways to get links in those comments. Instead of manually deleting every spam comment, it is best to take some effort to prevent them in the first place.

Filtering spam on a blog site is essential for several reasons:

1. Maintaining Credibility and Professionalism: Spam comments can reduce the credibility and professionalism of a blog. Visitors might perceive a site with lots of spam as neglected or poorly managed.

2. User Experience: Spam comments, especially those with irrelevant content or misleading links, can degrade the user experience. Readers visit blogs to gain insights, share thoughts, or participate in meaningful discussions. Spam can be a distraction and deter users from engaging or returning.

3. Safety and Security: Spam comments often contain malicious links leading to phishing sites, malware downloads, or other security threats. By filtering spam, blog owners help protect their visitors from potential online threats.

4. SEO Impact: Search engines strive to deliver the best content to users. A site flooded with spam might be perceived as low-quality, potentially affecting its search ranking. Moreover, outbound links to malicious or low-reputation sites could negatively impact the blog's SEO.

5. Resource Conservation: Spam comments can consume server resources and database storage. Over time, if not managed, they can slow down the website's performance.

6. Maintaining Genuine Engagement: It's essential for bloggers to understand their audience's feedback and engagement. Spam can skew analytics and understanding of genuine user engagement, making it harder for bloggers to adapt their content strategy effectively.

7. Avoiding Misinformation: Spam comments can sometimes spread false information, scams, or misleading content. Filtering them out ensures that readers aren't misled or misinformed by content not vetted by the blog owner.

8. Legal and Compliance Reasons: Some spam might contain content that is illegal or violates various regulations. Keeping such content off the blog can help site owners avoid potential legal complications.

9. Preserving Brand Image: For businesses or professional individuals, a blog is an extension of their brand. Spam can tarnish their brand image and reputation.

10. Saving Time: Manually moderating and deleting spam is time-consuming. An effective spam filter can save site owners and administrators considerable time and effort.

In essence, filtering spam from a blog site not only improves the user experience and maintains the site's credibility but also ensures a safer and more engaging environment for genuine readers and participants.

NeutrinoAPI

The website neutrinoapi.com offers both free and paid access to their API. There is a NuGet package for NeutrinoAPI. They offer many services for everything from phone number verification to spam filtering.

API Services Summary:

1. Content Moderation:

   • Bad Word Filter: Detects profanity, swear words, and inappropriate language in text.

2. Data Validation and Parsing:

   • Email Validate: Parses, validates, and cleanses an email address.
   • Phone Validate: Parses, validates, and provides location details for a phone number.
   • UA Lookup: Parses, validates, and offers detailed user-agent information.

3. Web Browsing:

   • Browser Bot: Extracts content, interacts with web elements, and runs JavaScript on websites.
   • HTML Clean: Sanitizes untrusted HTML.
   • URL Info: Parses, analyzes, and fetches content from URLs.

4. Telephony:

   • HLR Lookup: Retrieves the status of a mobile device from the global cellular network.
   • Phone Playback: Calls a phone number to play an audio message.
   • Phone Verify: Calls a phone number to play a unique security code.
   • SMS Verify: Sends a security code via SMS.
   • Verify Security Code: Checks the validity of security codes from SMS or Phone Verify.

5. Geolocation:

   • Geocode Address: Converts addresses or place names into geographic coordinates.
   • Geocode Reverse: Converts latitude and longitude into a real-world address.
   • IP Info: Offers location data on an IP address and reverse DNS lookups.

6. Security and Networking:

   • Domain Lookup: Retrieves domain details and identifies potentially harmful domains.
   • Email Verify: Uses SMTP for email address verification.
   • Host Reputation: Checks the reputation of IPs, domain names, or URLs against blacklists/blocklists.
   • IP Blocklist: Identifies potentially harmful IP addresses.
   • IP Probe: Performs a live network probe on an IP address.
   • IP Blocklist Download: Provides direct access to IP blocklist data.

7. E-commerce:

   • BIN Lookup: Offers BIN or IIN lookup capabilities.
   • Convert: A tool for currency and unit conversion.
   • BIN List Download: Grants access to download the entire BIN database.

8. Imaging:

   • HTML Render: Converts HTML content to formats like PDF, JPG, or PNG.
   • Image Resize: Resizes images to JPEG or PNG formats.
   • Image Watermark: Adds watermarks to images using another image.
   • QR Code: Generates QR codes as PNG images.

Using NeutrinoAPI To Filter Spam

In my case, I just want to filter IP addresses which are on some kind of blocklist. This is done through the IP Info API they offer. The following is the code I use in C# with their NuGet package:

This code allows me to pass in an IP address and see if it's blocked or not. In the interest of reducing calls to their API, I add a given blocked IP to a database table and check it before running this code. That way I can reduce my usage in the case there are repeated attempts to post spam comments from the same IP address.

The limits of the free API are currently good enough for me. In the cases where I exceed the quota for the free API, I just let the IP through. If I needed more volume, I would upgrade the account to a paid plan.

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