wordpress form with spam blockers on. spam blockers capture and filter spam but ALL submissions are creating a new contact in hubspot. how to combat this? using hubspot plugin
If you are using a non-HubSpot form (like a WordPress form), HubSpot’s own spam settings and deduplication options do not apply. HubSpot will create a contact for every submission as long as the required fields (such as email address) are present.
So when your non-HubSpot form will have email field then, if the user with the same email address fill the form the contact will get updated with the updated fields, if the new email or unique email form submitted a new contact will be created.
The WordPress/3rd party spam blocker may catch and filter entries, but if the plugin still sends the form data to HubSpot, every submission triggers a new contact creation, regardless of spam status. HubSpot only processes what is sent to it, and does not “see” your plugin’s spam determinations, so cannot filter accordingly itself.
HubSpot deduplicates contacts primarily by the Email property. If the same email address is used multiple times, information can get merged into a single record, but if spam submissions use unique or random email addresses, each will result in a new contact.
So how you can combat this.
1. Prevent form submission to HubSpot until after anti-spam filtering.
Adjust your WordPress plugin (or use one that supports this) so that only “legitimate” submissions (ones passing spam checks) are sent to HubSpot. Most anti-spam plugins work by flagging or blocking spam on the site before sending data to integrations—ensure your HubSpot integration is configured to only sync non-spam entries.
2. Use HubSpot Forms (embedded on WordPress) instead of non-HubSpot forms.
HubSpot native forms include their own spam protection (captcha, etc.) and will integrate seamlessly, applying deduplication and contact creation rules directly. This reduces spam, and you gain more control over contact creation and management.
3. Custom logic/webhooks:
If your forms must be WordPress-based, consider developing or adding a step that only sends data to HubSpot if the submission passes spam filtering. This might require a developer if not natively supported by your plugins.
There is currently no “HubSpot-side” setting that prevents contact creation for spam caught at the WordPress/plugin level if the submission is still being sent from WordPress to HubSpot.
Hope this helps, if it does then help the community by marking it as a solution.
If you are using a non-HubSpot form (like a WordPress form), HubSpot’s own spam settings and deduplication options do not apply. HubSpot will create a contact for every submission as long as the required fields (such as email address) are present.
So when your non-HubSpot form will have email field then, if the user with the same email address fill the form the contact will get updated with the updated fields, if the new email or unique email form submitted a new contact will be created.
The WordPress/3rd party spam blocker may catch and filter entries, but if the plugin still sends the form data to HubSpot, every submission triggers a new contact creation, regardless of spam status. HubSpot only processes what is sent to it, and does not “see” your plugin’s spam determinations, so cannot filter accordingly itself.
HubSpot deduplicates contacts primarily by the Email property. If the same email address is used multiple times, information can get merged into a single record, but if spam submissions use unique or random email addresses, each will result in a new contact.
So how you can combat this.
1. Prevent form submission to HubSpot until after anti-spam filtering.
Adjust your WordPress plugin (or use one that supports this) so that only “legitimate” submissions (ones passing spam checks) are sent to HubSpot. Most anti-spam plugins work by flagging or blocking spam on the site before sending data to integrations—ensure your HubSpot integration is configured to only sync non-spam entries.
2. Use HubSpot Forms (embedded on WordPress) instead of non-HubSpot forms.
HubSpot native forms include their own spam protection (captcha, etc.) and will integrate seamlessly, applying deduplication and contact creation rules directly. This reduces spam, and you gain more control over contact creation and management.
3. Custom logic/webhooks:
If your forms must be WordPress-based, consider developing or adding a step that only sends data to HubSpot if the submission passes spam filtering. This might require a developer if not natively supported by your plugins.
There is currently no “HubSpot-side” setting that prevents contact creation for spam caught at the WordPress/plugin level if the submission is still being sent from WordPress to HubSpot.
Hope this helps, if it does then help the community by marking it as a solution.
