YouTube Anti-Spam Comments Revamp Backfires Big Time

YouTube has admitted that forcing users to log into a Google+ account has failed to curb spammy and abusive commenting. It appears that the change has initially made the problem even worse.

The site recently gave its comments system a major overhaul, headlined by the Google+ requirement which was meant to be a way to force people to be more accountable because they had to use a real name.

The changes also involved changing the way in which comments were ranked (which is an alternative option to seeing them in chronological order). Previously the ranking was based on whether other users gave the comment a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down”, with an extra boost given to those where the person who posted the video responded to a comment.

The comments are now shown in a threaded fashion (similar to Gmail conversations), with the threads organized by the number of replies. Unfortunately that’s simply led to an arms race between spammers who have simply made a spam post, then flooded it with bogus replies to make sure they appear at the top of the list. It’s also meant threads that turn into lengthy flame wars get more visibility, creating a vicious circle.

To make things even worse, YouTube made a major blunder by assuming the Google+ integration would deter spammers enough that it could relax some existing restrictions. For example, it allowed users to post links in their comments, something spammers and Rickroller’s alike have taken full advantage of.

It also removed a limit on the number of characters allowed in a comment, something troublemakers took advantage of in a variety of ways. Some went for sheer size, such as posting a reply containing the entire works of Shakespeare. Others took a more creative approach, posting old-school ASCII art with everything from anti-Google messages to sexual imagery.

The big problem seems to be that YouTube has underestimated the number of people who either found a way to use a bogus identity on Google+ or simply don’t care if people know it’s them throwing out abuse and spam. Even if that group is a tiny proportion of the user base, the relaxation of the restrictions has allowed them to create problems.

YouTube has now announced it has added new measures to weed out dubious links and spot offensive ASCII art. It’s also going to change the display system so that only a certain amount of any one post is displayed, with users having to click to see the whole thing.

Although not ready yet, tools for video uploaders to moderate comments in bulk rather than individually are also on the way.

(Image originally captured by V3.co.uk)