Most channels do not have a spam problem, they have a filtering strategy problem. If your blocked words are too light, scams leak through. If your list is too broad, you suppress real viewers and hurt engagement quality.
This guide gives you a practical blocked-words framework you can implement in under an hour. It is designed for solo creators and teams managing high comment volume.
Quick answer: start with clear scam and abuse terms, keep a short watchlist for review-only patterns, then update monthly based on held-comment trends. Avoid broad words that create false positives.
How YouTube Blocked Words Actually Work
Use YouTube Studio moderation settings as the baseline. Official references: comment settings, spam and held comments, and blocked words controls.
- Blocked terms route comments into moderation flow rather than blind trust.
- False positives increase when lists include generic terms like "link" or "free" without context.
- Your highest-signal tuning data lives in held comments and resolved moderation actions.
Starter Blocked Words Categories
Use categories instead of a random giant list. This keeps maintenance fast and easier to explain across a team.
- Impersonation and scam intent: fake support claims, WhatsApp/Telegram contact funnels, account recovery bait.
- Abuse and harassment terms: high-severity slurs and direct threat language.
- Adult and explicit solicitation: obvious sexual spam and escort-like bait patterns.
- Fraud promo patterns: investment guarantees, crypto pump language, payment urgency scripts.
- Link abuse patterns: suspicious URL fragments and known scam call-to-actions.
What Not to Block
Over-blocking is the most common creator mistake. Avoid broad terms that are normal in legitimate comments.
- Do not block common product terms your audience naturally uses.
- Do not block neutral words that appear in genuine questions.
- Do not block based on one incident. Put uncertain terms on a review watchlist first.
Monthly Maintenance SOP
- Export or review held comments from the last 30 days.
- Tag false positives and remove their trigger terms.
- Add only recurring high-confidence abuse patterns.
- Review with one owner, then publish changes in one batch.
- Track impact by false-positive rate and moderation queue volume.
Pair blocked words with channel-level workflows from YouTube Comment Triage Matrix and How to Automatically Moderate YouTube Comments.
Use AI Rules for Gray-Zone Comments
Text filters handle obvious abuse. Gray-zone comments are better handled with AI classification and approval flows. Use Comment Assistant to classify and route uncertain comments instead of hard-blocking broad terms.
Need a safer comment section without killing engagement? Combine blocked words with triage rules and approval workflows.
Set Up Comment Assistant
