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YouTube blocked words list shield protecting against spam

What Are YouTube Blocked Words?

YouTube blocked words are phrases and terms that you can add to your channel's automated filters. When a viewer posts a comment containing any of your blocked words, YouTube automatically holds that comment for review instead of publishing it immediately. Blocked words are case-insensitive and work as substring matches, so adding "scam" will also catch "SCAM", "Scammer", and "scamming". This gives you control over what appears in your comment sections without needing to manually monitor every video.

Blocked words are one of YouTube's built-in moderation tools, available to all creators at no cost. They work across all your videos and live streams, catching spam, scams, hate speech, and other unwanted content before your audience sees it. Learn more about YouTube's moderation options in their official comment settings guide.

How to Add Blocked Words in YouTube Studio

  1. Open YouTube Studio (YouTube Help)
  2. Click Settings in the left sidebar
  3. Go to Community → Automated Filters
  4. Find the Blocked words text box
  5. Paste your comma-separated list from the tool above (YouTube allows up to 50,000 characters in the blocked words field)
  6. Click Save

Comments matching blocked words will be held for review in the Comments → Held for review tab in YouTube Studio.

spam filter funnel blocking unwanted YouTube comments

Types of Comment Spam on YouTube

Impersonation & Scams

Scammers impersonate creators, brands, or support teams to trick viewers into sharing personal information. They often redirect victims to WhatsApp, Telegram, or fake websites. YouTube considers this a violation of their spam & deceptive practices policy.

Crypto & Investment Scams

Fake investment opportunities promising guaranteed returns, crypto giveaways, and trading platform promotions are among the most common spam on YouTube today.

Sexual Content & Adult Spam

Bot accounts promoting adult content, dating sites, and explicit material flood YouTube comment sections to drive traffic to external platforms.

Spam & Self-Promotion

Sub4sub requests, channel promotion, and subscribe begging clutter your comments and provide no value to your community or existing audience.

Phishing & Link Abuse

Shortened URLs, fake download links, and phishing pages designed to steal credentials or install malware on your viewers' devices.

Bot & Automated Spam

Automated accounts posting repetitive phrases, engagement bait, and generic comments that add no value to the conversation on your videos.

best practices checklist for YouTube blocked words

Best Practices for Your Blocked Words List

  • Start conservative: Begin with high-severity categories (scams, phishing, hate speech) and expand as needed.
  • Review held comments regularly: Check your "Held for review" tab to catch false positives and release legitimate comments.
  • Avoid blocking common words: Blocking short or common words like "free" or "click" alone will catch too many legitimate comments.
  • Use phrases over single words: Multi-word phrases are more precise and cause fewer false positives than individual words.
  • Update regularly: Spammers evolve their tactics. Review and update your blocked words list every few months.
  • Combine with other tools: Blocked words work best alongside YouTube's other moderation features and third-party tools like CommentShark.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Over-blocking: Adding too many generic terms will suppress legitimate engagement and frustrate your viewers.
  • Never updating: A blocked words list from a year ago won't catch today's spam patterns. Spammers constantly change their tactics.
  • Ignoring held comments: If you never review held comments, genuine viewers might think their comments are being deleted.
  • Blocking all profanity: Some communities thrive on casual language. Only block profanity if it aligns with your channel's tone.
  • Relying solely on blocked words: Blocked words are reactive. For proactive, AI-powered moderation, consider automated tools that understand context.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CommentShark?
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CommentShark is a web app that helps you scale engagement with your YouTube audience. It's the ultimate YouTube comment management tool. CommentShark allows you to quickly respond to comments, reply to multiple comments at once, use the help of AI to generate replies, template repetitive responses, search and filter your comments, find your top commenters, see your history with them, and much more!
How does it work?
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CommentShark connects to your YouTube channel via the official API. You set up "Rules" that match specific text, use AI classification, or text matching patterns. When a new comment matches a rule, CommentShark can automatically reply, moderate (hold for review or reject), or delete the comment—running 24/7 in the background. You choose whether actions happen automatically or require your approval.
How is CommentShark different from YouTube Studio's built-in tools?
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YouTube Studio lets you moderate comments manually — one at a time. CommentShark adds automation on top: keyword rules, AI classification, auto-replies, scheduled moderation, and bulk actions across all your videos. Think of it as YouTube Studio's comment tools on autopilot.
Is it safe?
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Absolutely. We use official YouTube APIs and OAuth 2.0 for secure authentication. We only request the permissions necessary to manage your comments. We don't store your password, and you can revoke access at any time via your Google Account settings. See more at our Terms of Service.
How do I get started?
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To get started, simply sign up with your Google account and link your YouTube channel. From there, you can start exploring the different features and configure your settings. Just login at /dashboard to get started.
Is there a free trial?
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Yes, we offer a free tier with limited features. You can upgrade to a paid plan at any time to unlock more features and higher limits.
How much does it cost?
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CommentShark has a flexible pricing model to suit your needs. Current plans include:
  • Free: 15 automated actions per month.
  • CommentShark Plus ($9.99/mo): 300 automated actions per month plus AI features.
  • CommentShark Pro ($19.99/mo): 1,500 automated actions per month.
  • CommentShark Premium ($49.99/mo): 3,000 automated actions per month plus priority support.
See the latest details on our pricing page.
What happens if I hit my monthly limit?
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If you reach your monthly limit for comment actions, the system will pause sending replies until your next billing cycle or until you upgrade your plan. You'll be notified so you never miss a beat.
How do I contact sales for enterprise plans?
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Use the Contact Sales form and share your team size, goals, and comment volume. We'll follow up with a tailored enterprise plan.
Does CommentShark support multiple channels?
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Each CommentShark account is linked to one YouTube channel. If you own one channel and have been invited to manage others via Team Access, you can switch between them from your Profile page. If you only have delegate access and do not have your own connected channel, use the Team Member Sign In page to get a delegate magic link.
I manage a YouTube channel — how do I get access to CommentShark?
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CommentShark accounts are created by the YouTube channel owner through Google sign-in. If you manage or work on a channel but are not the account owner, you cannot sign up directly — the owner needs to create the account first, then invite you as a team member.

Once the owner has signed up, they can go to Settings → Team Access and invite you by email. You'll receive a magic link to accept the invite — no YouTube credentials or CommentShark subscription required on your end.

If you've already been invited and just need to log in again, use the Team Member Sign In page to request a fresh magic link.
Can I invite team members to manage my CommentShark?
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Yes! You can invite team members to help manage your CommentShark account without sharing your YouTube credentials. Go to Settings → Team Access to invite people by email. You can assign roles like Admin (full access except billing), Editor (can reply and manage rules), or Viewer (read-only). Team members will receive an invite link at their email address, and returning delegates can use the Team Member Sign In page to request a fresh login link later. Only the channel owner can upgrade, cancel, or otherwise manage billing.
How do I delete my account?
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You can permanently delete your account and all associated data from the Profile page in your dashboard. Scroll to the bottom to find the "Danger Zone". This action is irreversible.
Can I review replies before they are sent?
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Yes! You can choose between Autonomous mode (replies are posted immediately) or Approval Required mode. In Approval Required mode, all AI-generated replies go to a queue where you can edit, approve, or reject them before they go live.
How does the AI reply generation work?
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We use advanced AI models to analyze the sentiment and context of each comment. You can set custom instructions (e.g., "Be polite and grateful" or "Answer as a pirate") or use our smart templates. The AI generates a unique, personalized response that sounds like you. It learns from your previous replies to provide more natural responses, and you can provide more context to the AI to help it generate more accurate responses.
How long does it take for automations to reply to comments?
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Comment actions execute after comments are synced from YouTube. Paid channels sync every hour, so the average response time is around 30 minutes. Free tier channels sync every 2 hours, so actions typically take 1-2 hours. This sync schedule ensures reliable delivery while managing API quota efficiently. You can monitor processed comments and see which ones matched your rules in the Activity tab.
When do automations start after I connect YouTube?
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The first time CommentShark loads your comments into our database (for example when you open the Comments page or a video for the first time after connecting), we do not run reply rules on that ingest. That prevents flooding old threads with automated replies. After that, new comments are eligible once they appear in a sync. On paid plans, background sync runs about hourly; opening Comments while logged in can also refresh from YouTube if your data is more than about a minute stale.
Can CommentShark automatically moderate or delete comments?
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Yes! Beyond automatic replies, you can create rules that hold comments for review, reject them outright, or delete your own replies/comments. For comments left by other viewers, YouTube's API removes them via moderation actions rather than direct deletion. This is perfect for filtering spam, hate speech, or policy-violating content before it appears on your videos. Learn more about our YouTube comment moderation capabilities.
Does CommentShark work with live streams?
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It depends on whether the stream is active or already published:
  • During an active live stream (live chat): Not supported. YouTube Live Chat is a separate API from the standard comments API, and CommentShark does not connect to it.
  • After the live stream ends and is published as a video: Fully supported. Once a live stream is published, it appears in your channel's video library with a regular comment section—just like any other video. CommentShark will sync its comments and apply your rules automatically. No special setup required.
What are CommentShark's limitations?
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YouTube API limitations — CommentShark uses the official YouTube API, so we only support actions YouTube exposes. That means we cannot:
  • Like or heart comments
  • Pin or unpin comments (YouTube's API doesn't expose pin status directly, so our pinned comment tooling uses a heuristic)
  • Edit comments written by other viewers
  • Mark comments as spam via a dedicated spam action
  • List or discover rejected comments after they've been rejected
  • Manage comments on videos where YouTube has disabled comments
  • Reply to live chat during an active live stream — live chat is a separate YouTube API from regular comments and is not supported
Product limitations — a few things CommentShark doesn't do by design:
  • Rules are not real-time. Comments are synced on a schedule (every hour on paid plans, every 2 hours on free), so there's a natural delay before automation runs.
  • Rules are forward-looking only. They only apply to comments posted after the rule is enabled. Use the Replay feature (paid plans) to retroactively process older comments.
  • One channel per account. Each CommentShark account manages one YouTube channel. To manage additional channels, the channel owner must create a separate account and invite you as a team member.
  • Your channel's comments only. CommentShark can only manage comments on videos you own or have been granted access to. It cannot act on comments on other channels' videos.
Will my comments be classified as spam?
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No. Comments on YouTube are classified as spam by Youtube if they violate policy guidelines. You can read more about YouTube's spam policies and community guidelines.
What is brand safety and why does it matter for YouTube?
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Brand safety refers to protecting your brand's reputation by ensuring your content (and comments) don't appear alongside harmful, offensive, or inappropriate material. On YouTube, toxic comments, spam, and hate speech can damage brand perception—68% of buyers read comments before purchasing. CommentShark's moderation tools help keep your comment sections brand-safe 24/7.
Does CommentShark support teams and agencies?
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Yes! CommentShark supports team collaboration for agencies and enterprise brands. You can invite team members to manage comments without sharing YouTube credentials. Features include role-based permissions (Admin, Editor, Viewer), approval workflows where team members review AI suggestions, and activity tracking to see who handled which comments.
Is CommentShark secure for enterprise use?
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CommentShark uses enterprise-grade security. We authenticate via OAuth 2.0 (we never see your password), use encrypted connections for all data, and comply with YouTube's official API policies. You can revoke access anytime via your Google Account settings.
How do YouTube blocked words work?
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When you add blocked words to your YouTube channel settings, any comment containing those words or phrases is automatically held for review instead of being published. You can then approve or reject held comments from your YouTube Studio dashboard. Blocked words apply across all your videos and live streams.
Where do I add blocked words in YouTube Studio?
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Go to YouTube Studio → Settings → Community → Automated Filters. You'll find a Blocked words text box where you can paste a comma-separated list of words and phrases. Click Save when done.
How many blocked words should I have?
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YouTube allows up to 50,000 characters in the blocked words field, which typically accommodates several hundred phrases. Start with the high-severity categories (scams, phishing, hate speech) and add more as needed. Quality matters more than quantity—well-chosen phrases catch more spam than a massive list of single words.
Can blocked words hurt my channel's engagement?
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If your blocked words list is too aggressive, it can hold legitimate comments for review, which may frustrate viewers if you don't approve them promptly. To minimize this, use specific phrases instead of single common words, review your held comments regularly, and start conservatively before expanding your list.
Should I block profanity on my YouTube channel?
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It depends on your channel's audience and tone. Family-friendly channels benefit from profanity filters, while channels with mature audiences may find it overly restrictive. Our tool includes a profanity category that's off by default, letting you decide based on your community standards.
How often should I update my blocked words list?
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Review and update your list every 2-3 months. Spammers regularly change their tactics, using new phrases, Unicode characters, and creative misspellings to evade filters. Check your held comments for new spam patterns and add them to your list.
Blocked words vs AI moderation—which is better?
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Blocked words are a great starting point but they're limited to exact text matching. AI moderation tools like CommentShark understand context, detect sentiment, and catch spam that doesn't match any specific keyword. For best results, use both: blocked words as your first line of defense and AI moderation for everything that slips through.
What is the Bulk Pinned Comment Editor?
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The Bulk Pinned Comment Editor lets you scan your recent videos for pinned comments and update them all at once. You can use find & replace, apply a template with variables like {video_title} or {channel_name}, or edit each comment individually. It's perfect for keeping your pinned comments consistent across all your videos.
What is comment sentiment analysis?
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Sentiment analysis uses AI to score each comment on a scale from negative to positive. CommentShark automatically classifies every synced comment so you can see at a glance how your audience feels about each video, without reading thousands of comments manually.
What are AI comment tags?
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Comment tags are automatic labels applied to each comment based on its content. Tags include categories like questions, praise, complaints, suggestions, and spam. They let you quickly filter and focus on the comments that matter most.
How accurate is the sentiment scoring?
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Sentiment scores are computed using AI embeddings and pre-trained anchor vectors. The system works well for general YouTube comment language. Individual comments can occasionally be misjudged (sarcasm is hard for any AI), but aggregate trends across a video are highly reliable.

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