Saturday, September 13, 2014

How Automated Comments Work

Anyone who runs a popular blog knows that many Comments are posted by bots. But they often sound surprisingly human. How does that work?

The answer is, certain text-generating programs, like Manhood, exist that can be scripted to produce semi-random variations on templated sentences that a human provides.

The other day, a person or bot with e-mail address of nicolaspeach@web.de left a Comment at Author-Zone.com, only they messed up. The comment contained the entirety of the script they were using to auto-generate "plausible" messages. The script is pasted below. Scroll to the bottom for my comments on the comment-generator.

{
{I have|I’ve} been {surfing|browsing} online more than {three|3|2|4} hours today,
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{It’s|It is} pretty worth enough for me. {In my opinion|Personally|In my view}, if
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I {couldn’t|could not} {resist|refrain from} commenting. {Very well|Perfectly|Well|Exceptionally well} written!|
{I will|I’ll} {right away|immediately} {take hold of|grab|clutch|grasp|seize|snatch} your {rss|rss
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{It is|It’s} {appropriate|perfect|the best} time to make some plans for the future and {it
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{Perhaps|Maybe} you {could|can} write next articles referring to this article.
I {want to|wish to|desire to} read {more|even more} things about it!|
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I {want to|wish to|desire to} {read|learn}
{more|even more} {things|issues} {approximately|about} it!|
{I have|I’ve} been {surfing|browsing} {online|on-line} {more than|greater than}
{three|3} hours {these days|nowadays|today|lately|as
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{It’s|It is} {lovely|pretty|beautiful} {worth|value|price} {enough|sufficient} for me.
{In my opinion|Personally|In my view}, if all {webmasters|site owners|website owners|web owners} and bloggers made {just right|good|excellent} {content|content material} as {you
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I am sure this {article|post|piece of writing|paragraph}
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{nice|pleasant|good|fastidious} {article|post|piece of writing|paragraph} on building up new {blog|weblog|webpage|website|web site}.|
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{Saved as a favorite|bookmarked!!}, {I really like|I like|I love} {your blog|your site|your web site|your website}!|
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Woah! I’m really {loving|enjoying|digging} the template/theme of
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A lot of times it’s {very hard|very difficult|challenging|tough|difficult|hard} to get that “perfect balance” between {superb usability|user friendliness|usability} and {visual appearance|visual appeal|appearance}.
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{In addition|Additionally|Also}, the blog loads {very|extremely|super} {fast|quick} for
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{Superb|Exceptional|Outstanding|Excellent} Blog!|
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You have touched some {nice|pleasant|good|fastidious} {points|factors|things} here.
Any way keep up wrinting.|
{I love|I really like|I enjoy|I like|Everyone loves} what
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{book-marking|bookmarking} and will be tweeting this to my followers!

{Terrific|Wonderful|Great|Fantastic|Outstanding|Exceptional|Superb|Excellent} blog and {wonderful|terrific|brilliant|amazing|great|excellent|fantastic|outstanding|superb} {style
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{I love|I really like|I enjoy|I like|Everyone
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{This sort of|This type of|Such|This kind of} clever work and {exposure|coverage|reporting}!
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{incorporated|added|included} you guys to {|my|our|my personal|my own}
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{Howdy|Hi there|Hey there|Hi|Hello|Hey} would
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The reason I ask is because your {design and style|design|layout} seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something {completely unique|unique}.
P.S {My apologies|Apologies|Sorry} for {getting|being} off-topic but I had to ask!|
{Howdy|Hi there|Hi|Hey there|Hello|Hey} would you mind letting me know which {webhost|hosting company|web host} you’re {utilizing|working with|using}?
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{internet browsers|web browsers|browsers} and I must say this
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{Thanks a lot|Kudos|Cheers|Thank you|Many thanks|Thanks},
I appreciate it!|
{I love|I really like|I like|Everyone loves} it {when people|when individuals|when folks|whenever people} {come together|get together} and share {opinions|thoughts|views|ideas}.
Great {blog|website|site}, {keep it up|continue the good work|stick with it}!|
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Look advanced to {far|more} added agreeable from you!
{By the way|However}, how {can|could} we communicate?|
{Howdy|Hi there|Hey there|Hello|Hey} just wanted to give you a
quick heads up. The {text|words} in your {content|post|article} seem
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I’m not sure if this is a {format|formatting}
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The {style and design|design and style|layout|design} look great though!
Hope you get the {problem|issue} {solved|resolved|fixed} soon. {Kudos|Cheers|Many
thanks|Thanks}|
This is a topic {that is|that’s|which is} {close to|near to} my heart…
{Cheers|Many thanks|Best wishes|Take care|Thank you}!
{Where|Exactly where} are your contact details though?|
It’s very {easy|simple|trouble-free|straightforward|effortless} to find out any {topic|matter} on {net|web} as compared to {books|textbooks}, as I found this {article|post|piece of
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Does your {site|website|blog} have a contact page?

I’m having {a tough time|problems|trouble} locating it but, I’d like to {send|shoot} you an {e-mail|email}.
I’ve got some {creative ideas|recommendations|suggestions|ideas} for your blog you might be interested in hearing.
Either way, great {site|website|blog} and I look forward to
seeing it {develop|improve|expand|grow} over time.|
{Hola|Hey there|Hi|Hello|Greetings}! I’ve been {following|reading} your
{site|web site|website|weblog|blog} for {a long time|a while|some time} now and finally got the {bravery|courage} to go ahead and give you a shout out from
{New Caney|Kingwood|Huffman|Porter|Houston|Dallas|Austin|Lubbock|Humble|Atascocita} {Tx|Texas}!
Just wanted to {tell you|mention|say} keep up the {fantastic|excellent|great|good} {job|work}!|
Greetings from {Idaho|Carolina|Ohio|Colorado|Florida|Los angeles|California}!

I’m {bored to tears|bored to death|bored} at work so I decided to {check
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{I think|I feel|I believe} {that you|that you simply|that you
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{A great|An excellent|A fantastic} read. {I’ll|I will} {definitely|certainly} be back.|
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{Howdy|Hi there|Hi|Hello}, i read your blog
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If so how do you {prevent|reduce|stop|protect against} it,
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{It is the|It’s the} little changes {that make|which will make|that produce|that will make} {the biggest|the largest|the greatest|the most
important|the most significant} changes. {Thanks
a lot|Thanks|Many thanks} for sharing!|
{I really|I truly|I seriously|I absolutely} love {your blog|your
site|your website}.. {Very nice|Excellent|Pleasant|Great} colors & theme.
Did you {create|develop|make|build} {this website|this site|this web site|this amazing site} yourself?
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like to|want to|would love to} {know|learn|find out} where you
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{Thanks|Many thanks|Thank you|Cheers|Appreciate
it|Kudos}!|
{Hi there|Hello there|Howdy}! This {post|article|blog post} {couldn’t|could
not} be written {any better|much better}! {Reading through|Looking at|Going through|Looking
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{I will|I’ll|I am going to|I most certainly will}
{forward|send} {this article|this information|this post} to him.
{Pretty sure|Fairly certain} {he will|he’ll|he’s going to} {have a
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{Thank you for|Thanks for|Many thanks for|I appreciate you for} sharing!|
{Wow|Whoa|Incredible|Amazing}! This blog looks {exactly|just} like my old one!
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{I like|I love|I really like} {all the|all of the} points {you made|you’ve made|you have made}.|
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Keep on posting!|
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{Any kind of|Any} help would be {really|greatly} appreciated!|
{Hello|Hi|Hello there|Hi there|Howdy|Good day}!
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{Great|Wonderful|Fantastic|Magnificent|Excellent} {task|process|activity|job}!|
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one {these days|nowadays|today}.|
{I am|I’m} {extremely|really} {inspired|impressed} {with your|together
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{Hi|Hello}, Neat post. {There is|There’s} {a problem|an issue} {with
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{leader|chief} and {a large|a good|a big|a huge} {part of|section of|component to|portion of|component of|element of}
{other folks|folks|other people|people} will {leave out|omit|miss|pass
over} your {great|wonderful|fantastic|magnificent|excellent} writing {due to|because of} this problem.|
{I’m|I am} not sure where {you are|you’re} getting your {info|information}, but {good|great} topic.
I needs to spend some time learning {more|much more}
or understanding more. Thanks for {great|wonderful|fantastic|magnificent|excellent} {information|info} I
was looking for this {information|info} for my mission.|
{Hi|Hello}, i think that i saw you visited my
{blog|weblog|website|web site|site} {so|thus} i came to “return the favor”.{I am|I’m} {trying to|attempting to} find things to {improve|enhance} my {website|site|web site}!I suppose its ok
to use {some of|a few of}
\


It seems the person forgot to close off the script with a closing brace: }.  Instead, there's a backslash. (See it? Its the final line.) This caused the entire script not only to fail but to be inserted as raw code into the Comment.

The pipe character, "|", groups together alternative words or phrases to be substituted or cycled-through. This script contains numerous individual scripts for individual messages. Somehow the person posting this mishmash managed to post his entire script collection.

Thanks, dude. You're really on top of things.