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WP referrer spam blacklist
WordPress plugin to fight with 2040+ referrer spammers (like semalt, buttons-for-website and many more).
The facts
- Rating
- 4.3★ from 3
- Active installs
- 700+
- Price
- Free
- Last updated
- 27 Dec 2020
- Added
- Jul 2015
- Requires WP
- 4.0
- Tested up to
- WP 5.6.19
- Downloads
- 20,064
Our analysis
AI-assistedWP Referrer Spam Blacklist is a WordPress plugin designed to combat referrer spam by redirecting spam requests to a blank page. It operates in the background without requiring configuration, making it suitable for users who lack server access or technical expertise.
The plugin is updated weekly with a list of known spammers sourced from the Matomo community. It is particularly useful for WordPress site owners who cannot modify server settings or .htaccess files, providing an easy solution to reduce unwanted referral traffic.
Best for: This plugin suits WordPress site owners who cannot edit server settings and want to block referrer spam.
What it does well
- ✓No configuration required
- ✓Redirects spam requests to a blank page
- ✓Weekly updates from Matomo's community-contributed list
- ✓Designed for users without server access
- ✓Free to use
Where it falls short
- •No auto updates for security reasons
- •Limited information on the list of spammers
Verdict
WP Referrer Spam Blacklist offers a straightforward solution for managing referrer spam without technical knowledge. It is a practical choice for those needing a simple anti-spam tool.
From the developer
Umbrovskis.com's own description of WP referrer spam blacklist, lightly tidied.
List of spammers in FAQ.
No need for configuration! Plugin in background redirects referral spammer to blank page ( about:blank ). Redirect link can be altered via filter wp_referralblock_redirect_uri.
NO auto update, as we see that as possible as security hole. We do not wan’t Your site to get hacked.
Plugin is for sites that can’t edit their .htaccess or configure NGINX or Apache servers.
Via my LinkedIN post: Few months ago I started to collect referral spam pages in private file un bitbucket.org. Problem was that I did not know all spammers. Then, few weeks ago, I found that Matomo (Open source analytics) started their own “project”, and they did the same thing I did – collected referral spam sites to block them from Your website.
On my own server I do that at server level, but some of my clients have hosting, where You can not edit server settings. This week I came up with another solution – WordPress plugin “WP referrer spam blacklist”. I will update list every week from Matomo’s community-contributed list of spammers.
If You have WordPress site and no knowledge about or access to server settings, I made that for You!
From Wikipedia:
Referrer spam (also known as log spam or referrer
bombing) is a kind of spamdexing (spamming aimed
at search engines). The technique involves making
repeated web site requests using a fake referer URL
to the site the spammer wishes to advertise. Sites that
publish their access logs, including referer statistics,
will then inadvertently link back to the spammer's site.
These links will be indexed by search engines
as they crawl the access logs.
This benefits the spammer because the free link improves
the spammer site's search engine ranking owing
to link-counting algorithms that search engines use.
Other plugins by author: itemprop WP for SERP/SEO Rich snippets – Add schema.org itemprop code to the (custom) post content for search engines and bots for better SERP results
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