🚫 Preventing User-Generated Spam (UGC Spam)

UGC spam hurts:

• User trust
  
• SEO performance
  
• Platform reputation
  

Google’s spam policies cover comments, forums, signups, guest posts, and any user content.

1️⃣ Set Clear Rules #

• Publish a clear anti-spam policy
  
• Display it during signup or posting
  
• Allow users to report spammy content
  

💡 Example: “No promotion of unrelated products, spam keywords, or suspicious links. Violators will be banned.”

2️⃣ Detect & Flag Spammy Accounts #

Use spam pattern detection:

• ⏱ Fast form completion (bots)
  
• 🌐 Same IP address range
  
• 🖥 Suspicious user agents
  
• 🔗 Keyword stuffing in usernames
  

💡 Pro Tip:
For new/untrusted users →
noindex their posts until they earn credibility.
Then, allow indexing after a “trust threshold” is met.

3️⃣ Control Links in UGC #

• Add rel=”nofollow” or rel=”ugc” to all links from untrusted users
  
• This removes SEO incentive for spammers
  

4️⃣ Add Moderation Layer #

• Manual approval for new/suspicious users
  
• Flag specific keywords or content types for review
  
• Use built-in CMS tools (e.g., WordPress comment moderation)
  

5️⃣ Block Repeat Offenders #

• Maintain an IP blocklist for spam sources
  
• Tools like Akismet (WordPress) or firewall bans
  
• Ban entire IP ranges if abuse is systematic
  

6️⃣ Stop Automated Signups #

• Add Google reCAPTCHA / hCaptcha
  
• Email or phone verification for new accounts
  
• Limit bulk site creation (if you run a hosting platform)
  

7️⃣ Monitor Constantly #

• Watch for suspicious redirects, ad overload, or injected scripts
  
• Use:
  
  • site:yourdomain.com spamkeyword (to find spam pages in Google)
    
  • Google Alerts for suspicious mentions
    
  • Server log analysis for unusual traffic spikes
    
• Scan for phishing/malware with:
  
  • Google Safe Browsing API
    
  • Security plugins
    

💡 Example “confidence check”: If your audience is in India, but you see 5,000 signups from Russia overnight — something’s wrong.

✅ Summary FSIDM Tip:
Spam prevention is not a one-time task—it’s continuous security + SEO hygiene. A spammy platform can lose both Google trust and user engagement overnight.