Weekend Reading: Smarter spam

What caught my eye this week.

Working at the end of the age of publishing words has given me a lead on the post-LLM era.

I saw early on how ChatGPT had mined the web for everything ever written – well-enough to spit out answers about anything. And as a writer I had more incentive than most to panic.

It was also clear that Google search would be in trouble – and with it the pipes that had kept independent publishing alive on the web for decades.

My worries soon came to pass. People increasingly now get their knowledge direct from chatbots – whether Google or others. Those who wrote the articles the bots were trained on are withering on the vine.

Another thing I’ve wondered about is when AI spam will overwhelm the Monevator comments. Already on platforms like X, swathes of comments are written by robots.

We have protections in place. But I don’t know how long they will be practical when facing spam like this:

Such spam started appearing in the past month or so. It addresses me or my co-blogger accurately. It references the article.

Only the booby-trap at the end confirms its ill-intentions.

Check mate

You may say there’s something sloppy about this text. (Not to mention that it reads like @TA’s mum had a hand in it…)

Agreed, but remember you’re only have to sanity check one comment here.

I have to parse several hundred spam comments every day as a double-check. Both on spam that gets through our filters or is held for moderation, and also real comments that are incorrectly marked as spam. This is after software has already flagged the obvious offenders.

It’s burdensome, and the reason why I had to close comments on posts over three years old. To keep it vaguely manageable.

Spam comments like the one above stand out because they are still rare. But I imagine they will soon be the norm. (Well, presuming the economics of spamming still works if spammers are somehow paying for AI compute?)

I also expect bots to get clever enough to hide their intentions by posing as real readers, before finally inserting their spam links once they’re trusted.

Incidentally, we can see that’s a spammy link in my example. But if a reader posts a URL to data elsewhere about interest rates, say, it’s not so easy for software.

That’s why comments with links are already often held in moderation, especially from new commenters.

King sacrifice

Long story short: one day only logged-in Monevator members may be able to post comments. (I’m presuming the spammers won’t pay for the privilege!)

I’d be happy for commenting to be another perk for those who kindly support our efforts. It would make general moderation far easier, too.

Really, everyone who comments regularly on Monevator should already become a member. It costs much less than a High Street coffee a month. Even cheaper with annual membership!

With member-only commenting I know we’d lose some good comments, sadly. Although on the flip-side I suspect most discussions would be even more civil than we’re lucky enough to enjoy today.

The real downside would be fencing out non-regulars who bring one-off insights to a discussion. For example, a professional bond trader who arrives here via Google and educates us with a comment on an article about long-dated gilts.

That sort of thing is very valuable. I’m loathe to lose it. So for now the battle against spam continues!

Have a great weekend.

From Monevator

The Slow and Steady Passive Portfolio update: Q3 2025 – Monevator

Checking in on private companies and crowdfunded investments – Monevator [Mogul members]

From the archive-ator: What can we learn from asset allocation rules of thumb? – Monevator

News

UK economic growth stalled in second quarter – City AM

House prices up though, says Nationwide – Guardian

JP Morgan ditches Nutmeg for ‘Personal Investing’ brand – This Is Money

Gold price makes latest record as US government shuts down – Yahoo Finance

New figures reveal how our disposable income shrank – Sky News

Savings windfall worth £2,242 waiting for 748,000 young adults – Yahoo Finance

Cash use falls below 10% for first time – This Is Money

Home buyers turn builders for £10,000 off their mortgage – Guardian

FCA chief updates Rachel Reeves on evolving Consumer Duty [PDF] – FCA

London falls to 23rd place for IPOs, just behind Oman [Paywall] – Bloomberg

Why you now need a lot of dough to get a pizza – The Observer

Products and services

Are pension fees deflating your retirement savings? – Which

Vanguard to cut fees on six equity ETFs – FT Adviser

Get up to £1,500 cashback when you transfer your cash and/or investments to Charles Stanley Direct through this affiliate link. Terms apply – Charles Stanley

Testing London’s £30-a-night hotel rooms – The Times

Chase Bank’s first £100 switch offer – Be Clever With Your Cash

IKEA and Lloyds Bank unveil new credit cards – Which

Get up to £200 cashback when you open or switch to an Interactive Investor SIPP. Terms and fees apply, affiliate link. – Interactive Investor

The best American Express cards – Be Clever With Your Cash

How tenants can make the most of the Renters Rights Bill – Landlord Today

What energy bill help is available as prices rise again? – This Is Money

Homes for sale with impressive entrances, in pictures – Guardian

Comment and opinion

Gen Z will need ‘at least £3m’ to retire comfortably – City AM

Energy price cap should be scrapped to bring down bills – This Is Money

The bearish persuasion – We’re Gonna Get Those Bastards

The supercommuters taking 24-hour journeys to the office – Sky

How to invest during a bubble – A Wealth of Common Sense

The 966: is this dystopian work trend coming to the UK next? – Independent

Would a flat tax save Britain’s economy? – Cap X

This is how to avoid being scammed – Barking Up The Wrong Tree

Be more human, because the alternative is taken – Abnormal Returns

The hidden cost of passive investing – Morningstar

Hate your job but can’t leave? 20 ways to love work a bit more – Guardian

The financial stability implications of tokenised investment funds – New York Fed

60/40 noodling mini-special

A golden opportunity to upgrade the 60/40 portfolio – Alpha Architect

Why ‘downside protection’ ETFs don’t work as well as the 60/40 long-term [US but relevant] – Kitces

Naughty corner: Active antics

The Pacific Coast as edge – Morningstar

What happens when speculation becomes your strategy – Novel Investor

Companies are spending but not hiring – FT

The investment themes that are outperforming AI – Morningstar

Hetty Green: The Witch of Wall Street – Farnham Street

An award-winning review of the success of trend following [PDF] – CMT

Kindle book bargains

Narconomics: How to Run a Drug Cartel by Tom Wainwright – £0.99 on Kindle

Great Britain? by Torsten Bell – £0.99 on Kindle

Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT by Pammy Olson – £0.99 on Kindle

Chokepoints: Economic Warfare by Edward Fishman – £0.99 on Kindle

Or pick up one of the all-time great investing classics – Monevator shop

Environmental factors

Are you bankrolling the climate crisis? – Which

Brewdog sells Scottish ‘rewilding’ estate it bought only five years ago – Guardian

When China makes a climate pledge, the world should listen – The Conversation

How the world’s taste for soya is eating the Amazon – Guardian

Mountain gorillas are back from the brink. But do they have enough space? – Guardian

Robot overlord roundup

Microsoft launches ‘vibe working’ for Excel and Word – The Verge

Barclays analysts are having dark thoughts about data centres – FT

Tilly Norwood: should we be scared of the viral AI actor? – Guardian

Why worthless Generative AI could be a good thing – The Conversation

AI critic Ed Zitron is mad as hell – FT [h/t Abnormal Returns]

How much of the AI boom is just nVidia’s cash being recycled? – Fortune

The periodic table of cognition – The Technium

Not at the dinner table

Fit solar panels to pensioner homes to beat reform, says Labour MP – BBC

In Kent, politics is being shaped by the West’s growing hostility to outsiders – Guardian

Was Starmer right to link rise in small boats crossings to Brexit? – BBC

ID cards come in to fight the wrong fire – Simple Living in Somerset

Over 60% of Britons polled think Brexit has been a failure – Best for Britain

Comedians defend their decision to perform in Saudi Arabia – Guardian

Off our beat

The Age of Enshittification – The New Yorker

Tim Berners-Lee: why I gave the World Wide Web away for free – Guardian

Record everything! – Aeon

The money-making secrets behind hotel design [Video] – WSJ via YouTube

Ultra-processed food may be the 21st-century’s smoking – Guardian

David Foster Wallace tried to warn us about these eight things – Honest Broker

The seven coolest neighbourhoods in the UK – Time Out

And finally…

“It is when we are unaware of what could go wrong that we have to worry.”
– George Soros, The Alchemy of Finance

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