I’m glad to pass on the news that Google has introduced a new blog search function to its collection of really neat tools for finding interesting corners of the Internet. Of course, there are other blog search engines, but Google has the ability to make its blog searching both more comprehensive and more relevant than others, through the use of its tight search algorithms.
Of course, I love getting readers at Irregular Times, but I also love sending readers to other independent writers on the web. So, I great the news of the Google blog search with great enthusiasm… with just one little catch.
I’m hoping that the smart people at Google are working on protective measures to prevent the misuse of the blog search by automatic spambots that scour the net, looking for places to dump garbage messages designed to direct unwary viewers to scam web sites.
You may occasionally see a spam message in amongst the comments to our articles, although we use a spam filter to send suspicious messages into moderation, and do several daily scans to remove spam that gets through that system undetected.
I really don’t think that any of our readers are dying to know about where they can get black market Viagara, or how they can “make their wife happy in bed” or enlarge their breasts, or hear, for the 16,000th time, about texas hold’em poker. Blog spam is a form of free speech, but it’s also irresponsible, and it discourages the development of new voices online.
Now that Irregular Times is on Google blog search, we’ll be watching to see if we receive a new flood of spambots. Google, don’t let us down.
You still worry about spambots? Let me worry about spambots, and you can enjoy a spam-free blog.
Oh, look, an anti-spam spam.
Well, John, I don’t know if that qualifies. IO ERROR is a long-time substantive poster here, and the product he’s proposing has no cost associated with it. So it seems unfair to call it spam. As a matter of fact, I think I’ll check out that plug-in…