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UserVoice uses several different types of filters to catch spam, and we continue to adapt our filters and system to new types of spam.
We have built our own in-house spam filter, which catches specific types of idea spam, and we are always working to optimize it to address new types of spam.
In addition to our own filter, we also use Akismet as an additional spam filter for ideas and comments. Akismet is a tool that learns based on content marked as spam across Akismet's user base. This gives our customers additional protection.
A few pieces of spam may make it past filters on occasion, and that is expected. If your team sees an influx of spam content, please reach out to our support team by clicking "Support" in the bottom-right corner of your window. Please include links to the spam ideas so we can investigate on our end.
Marking ideas as spam
The option to mark ideas as spam is readily available to you in several places.
- Under the Activity & Moderation tab on the Ideas grid, using the Spam button.
- Selecting one or more ideas, via the bulk feature in the Ideas grid, and Marking as Spam.
What happens when I mark an idea as spam?
- The idea/comment will no longer be displayed on your portal.
Note: This has no impact on the user's profile. Admins will need to block this user to prevent further idea and comment creation. - Information tied to the idea, such as IP address, will be reported to our spam filters to help make our filters more accurate.
- You'll be able to find all ideas & comments marked as spam by filtering by Public Status for "Marked as Spam", or under the Activity & moderation tab -> "Marked as Spam".
- You can restore the idea or comment by clicking "Not Spam".
Common Questions
Q: For which users are spam filters not applied?
A: Spam filters are not applied on private forums, admins, and SSO users.
Q: I am experiencing a lot of spam, what else do you recommend?
A: Since our filters learn based upon what you mark and unmark as spam, we recommend incorporating a workflow of reviewing recent activity, and marking spammy content ideas/comments and unmarking non-spammy content. However, the most effective method to reduce spam is to add an SSO tenant to your UserVoice instance and make this the only way users can sign in to post. This allows you to restrict your site to users of your app or service that already have an account/profile with your app or service.