Easy Spam Prevention Using Hidden Form Fields

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Maybe I’m old-fashioned or a purist, but there’s one aspect of usability that’s severely lacking on many websites. I’m referring to the insanity surrounding spam prevention. As noted in a personal blog entry back in November 2011, I was having some issues with spam and came up with a solution that I’ve come to learn isn’t really new, but that few people seem to use or know about. It’s an extremely simple yet effective method of preventing spam on your website forms that I’d like to share with you here.

The Problem

Obviously as your website grows in popularity, the spam invariably increases. There are several well-known methods of spam prevention including:
  • Banning IP addresses
  • Forcing users to register and verify their email before posting
  • CAPTCHA images or similar Turing tests
  • Third-party solutions which use ever-growing databases of known spammers to compare against
  • Manually moderating or approving posts
The problem with the majority of these methods is that the users suffer. Banning IP addresses rarely works because those can be spoofed or reassigned and you might actually end up blocking a legitimate user; spammers tend to use dynamic IPs anyway. Forcing users to register or read a difficult CAPTCHA image shifts the burden from the website owner onto the user, causing them to have to jump through more hoops to contribute. CAPTCHA images are a horrible solution anyway in that they don’t cater well to those with disabilities and they’re also increasingly vulnerable to OCR (Optical Character Recognition) programs. I don’t want to rely on some third-party solution because the fewer dependencies I have in my project the better I’m going to feel about it. If that leaves me manually sorting through spam for hours on end then so be it, so long as the burden is mine. Some people will argue that the added complexity is a necessary evil, but I just can’t seem to bring myself to agree.

The Solution

So there I was deleting spam after spam trying to think of a non-intrusive solution when I started noticing a pattern … a spambot cannot distinguish the difference between whether or not fields are optional or required, so it just fills them all out. If you think about it, every website is different when it comes to marking required fields; some do it with asterisks, some with red text, some with the still poorly supported HTML5 attribute “required”, and others don’t bother to mark them at all, but rather redirect you back if you happen to miss one. It only makes sense that a bot would get tripped up on such a thing and simply not even try. Eureka! There it was, a Turing test that was built in to my application all along! Now how to make the most of it. Not only do spambots struggle with recognizing required fields, but they also struggle with reading CSS or JavaScript, at least for now. The simplest solution, then, is to add a completely arbitrary field to each form and then to hide it using any number of such methods, for example:
<input type="text" name="foo" style="display: none;">
Alternatively, you could opt for something a little more complex like giving the field an ID or a class which would then force the bot to scan through your CSS files to determine the element’s visibility. You could also use Javascript to remove the arbitrary field from display as the page loads, for example:
<div id="fooDiv">
<label for="foo">Leave this field blank</label>
<input type="text" name="foo" id="foo">
</div>
<script>
(function () {
    var e = document.getElementById("fooDiv");
    e.parentNode.removeChild(e);
})();
</script>
Notice how the field in the example has been given a label instructing the user to leave the field blank on the off chance they have JavaScript disabled. Now you can rest assured that if the field ever has a value when the form submission reaches your server then the transaction can be discarded as junk. No matter which method you use the bot now has the added task of figuring out whether or not a given field is visible and/or required, which you could argue would take some pretty advanced AI or a more targeted approach on behalf of the spammer. It might also help to randomize where the arbitrary field is displayed and how it is named so that it is even less predictable. Of course, no solution is completely foolproof, as spam is sometimes still manually submitted by humans, so it never hurts to have more than one prevention procedure in place. To add another layer of protection, when spam is detected you should still go ahead and redirect the bot as though it were a successful form submission; I don’t like to give them any reason to probe. I love good, old-fashioned, out of the box solutions, especially when they are elegant and work. I hope you find this trick as equally useful as I have, and I hope you’re willing to share any improvements or some other solutions you might happen to come up with. Comments on this article are closed. Have a question about HTML? Why not ask it on our forums?

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Spam Prevention Using Hidden Form Fields

How does using hidden form fields help in spam prevention?

Hidden form fields are a simple yet effective method for spam prevention. When a form is submitted, the server checks for the value of the hidden field. Bots, unlike humans, will fill out all fields, including the hidden ones. If the server detects a value in the hidden field, it identifies the submission as spam and rejects it. This method is effective because it doesn’t affect the user experience, as the hidden fields are not visible to the user.

Are there any limitations to using hidden form fields for spam prevention?

While hidden form fields are a useful tool for spam prevention, they are not foolproof. Sophisticated bots can be programmed to ignore hidden fields. Therefore, it’s recommended to use this method in conjunction with other spam prevention techniques for optimal results.

How can I implement hidden form fields in my website?

Implementing hidden form fields involves adding a piece of code to your form. This code creates a field that is invisible to users but visible to bots. When the form is submitted, the server checks whether this field has been filled. If it has, the submission is identified as spam.

Can hidden form fields affect the user experience?

No, hidden form fields do not affect the user experience as they are not visible to the user. They only interact with bots, making them a user-friendly spam prevention method.

What other methods can I use in conjunction with hidden form fields for spam prevention?

Other methods that can be used alongside hidden form fields include CAPTCHA, time checks, and honeypot methods. These methods provide an additional layer of security and make it harder for bots to bypass your spam prevention measures.

Is it possible for bots to bypass hidden form fields?

Yes, sophisticated bots can be programmed to ignore hidden fields. However, when used in conjunction with other spam prevention methods, the chances of bots bypassing your security measures are significantly reduced.

How effective are hidden form fields compared to other spam prevention methods?

Hidden form fields are a simple and effective method for spam prevention. However, their effectiveness can be enhanced when used in combination with other methods such as CAPTCHA and time checks.

Can I use hidden form fields in any type of form?

Yes, hidden form fields can be used in any type of form where you want to prevent spam submissions. This includes contact forms, registration forms, and comment forms.

Do I need any special skills to implement hidden form fields?

Implementing hidden form fields requires a basic understanding of HTML and server-side scripting. However, there are many online resources and tutorials available that can guide you through the process.

Can hidden form fields prevent all types of spam?

While hidden form fields are effective in preventing bot-generated spam, they may not be as effective against human-generated spam. For this reason, it’s recommended to use them in conjunction with other spam prevention methods.

Martin PsinasMartin Psinas
View Author

Martin E. Psinas is a self-taught web developer, published author, and is currently studying Japanese. For more information, visit his website.

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