Not really looking for a factual answer, but I’m wondering if anyone else has noticed this.
On my Wordpress blog, I use Akismet to stop comment-spam. It works wonders; I think there’s only been one spambot that got through.
In the last week or two, though, I’ve noticed a huge increase in the number of them that are coming in. Before, I might get one or two a day, and seemingly overnight that figure has jumped to something like 30-50 per day. (If their subject lines and URLs are any indicator, there must be a HUGE market for porn featuring grandmothers and/or animals.)
What’s going on? Have the comment-spammers decided to begin their Christmas rush early, or has my site suddenly been “discovered” and put on all their lists? The latter seems more likely, but I’m wondering if anyone else has noticed a similar phenomenon of late.