All The Tropes Wiki Project, Part IV

[GethN7]

Hooboy, the spammers hammered us last night, didn't they?

BTW, I've been meaning to ask for a couple weeks -- the few that get through and manage to post, what are they doing that gets them past the filters?

 

Easy. They weren't posting links, just nonsensical word salad posts with the same keywords.

Probably some idiot trying to do a keyword boosting SEO thing, which is less effective than link spamming but can still increase the likelihood what a spammer really wants people to find will show up on Google.

I added the most recurring phrases to the spam blacklist page (I also imported the spam blacklist from Wikimedia Meta).

If it ever happens again, just add the most commonly spammed phrases to the top of the list. (admins only)

Also, some spammers are patient and creating a ton of socks one day, then spam the next, or have their spambots using timers to attempt to sidestep insta-ban for spam filters. Most spammers have the patience of and attention span of goldfish, so this is rare, but occasionally one or two does slip past.