AI Comment Moderator Update

Fortress Mode: How It Works

AI Comment Moderator plugin’s Fortress Mode feature is a cutting-edge approach that provides proactive, local protection against spam attacks. Here’s how it works:

Local Comment Scoring

When the Fortress Mode is enabled in the plugin settings, the AI Comment Moderator first attempts to score incoming comments locally by looking through the spam and trash folders. It checks every new comment for IP addresses or links to domains previously identified as spam by the AI engine.

Smarter API Usage

If the comment comes from a known spammer’s IP address or contains a link to a previously flagged domain, it is handled locally without any calls to an external API.

There is no reason to use the AI scorer repeatedly just to confirm what is already known.

TechSpokes

In this Fortress Mode, the AI Comment Moderator plugin deploys its “heavy artillery” only when it doesn’t have enough hints about whether the comment is spam or legitimate. As soon as it “learns” the comment source (IP address) or the comment target (linked domain) was classified as spam, it starts using that information to moderate new comments.

The Precious Side-Effects During Spam Attacks

Before we review the benefits of this approach, let’s examine what most comment spam attacks look like.

Common Comment Spam Attack Features

While spammers try to use various usernames, email addresses, and comment content, their attacks usually try to publish links to some domains in your comments section. Even if the links may vary a lot, the domains remain more or less consistent: about 2-5 domains per attack. Their goal is to promote only specific domains, not the whole Internet.

Also, the botnet resources are not unlimited, so spammers try to use them wisely, sending only short batches of comments (2-10) per one specific IP address to avoid the host’s DDoS protection mechanisms.

How AI Comment Moderator Uses Those Features

That data is enough for our AI Comment Moderator plugin to efficiently withstand such attacks. Before version 1.3.0, only the Linked Domains filter was available in the Fortress Mode. With the new release, TechSpokes added the IP Addresses filter to target the weak points of a standard comment spam attack.

Both filters have a threshold setting defining at what point we consider “the lesson learned” and start handling the spam locally without AI usage. By default, the thresholds are set to 2, meaning that if there are at least 2 spam comments coming from the same IP address or containing a link to the same flagged domain, we do not need an API call to classify the third similar comment as spam.

If you want to make it even harder for spammers, you can set those settings to 1. This will effectively block the second spam comment locally, increasing the plugin’s “learning” speed.

The harder they hit, the smarter and faster you become.

TechSpokes

The Benefits

Rapid Adaptation During Spam Attacks

During a massive spam attack, the AI Comment Moderator quickly learns which IP addresses and domain links to block after just a couple of API calls, speeding up the response time.

Cost Efficiency

By minimizing reliance on the external API, Fortress Mode drastically cuts costs, ensuring your site remains protected without exceeding API rate limits or budget constraints.

Enhanced Reliability

This proactive approach mitigates the risks of moderation API failures, providing a robust defense against aggressive spam posting.

Why AI Comment Moderator is Smarter

Immediate, Local Response Whenever Possible

Unlike traditional AI-based moderation solutions that completely rely on external API calls for every comment moderation decision, the AI Comment Moderator uses a local-first scoring approach, continuously updating its spam database. This drastically reduces the response time and improves the overall efficiency of the moderation process.

Reducing API Dependency and Costs

Traditional AI-based moderation tools depend on constant API calls to external services, which can quickly rack up costs, especially during massive spam attacks. Or even worse: hit the API limit or burst your AI budget, leaving your website unprotected when you need it the most.

The AI Comment Moderator, on the other hand, learns to stay independent and self-sufficient as long as possible. If the real “doomsday” happens (just a theoretical possibility; we never got even close to those levels), if the API is down, for example, the plugin keeps protecting your website from known spam locally and queues the “unknown” comments for human review, making sure your website comment section is under control (avoiding any brand damage or lawsuits for harmful content published before you had a chance to take it down).

Preserving WordPress Standards

Unlike many other spam protection plugins, the AI Comment Moderator wisely uses WordPress resources that are already in place. First, it leaves the WordPress core to handle the comments based on the discussion settings (default WordPress filters). Only if the core has not taken any action does it jump in and moderate the comment using WordPress coding standards and available entry points.

As for the database, the AI Comment Moderator operates using standard WordPress tables only, without any additional modifications, relying on a single comment meta field to store the comment score.

This philosophy helps to keep the plugin WP-upgrade-proof and simplifies its maintenance.

Conclusion

With the release of version 1.3.0, the AI Comment Moderator plugin further solidifies its position as a leader in spam protection technology. Enhancing the Fortress Mode with the new IP Addresses filter provides a smarter, more efficient defense against spam attacks. This update not only ensures rapid adaptation during spam attacks but also significantly reduces operational costs by minimizing reliance on external APIs. As always, we remain committed to preserving WordPress standards and ensuring our plugin is easy to maintain.

Stay tuned for more innovative features in future updates.