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Is this grey hat or black hat ?

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by Pidea, Jun 16, 2006.

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  1. #1
    I've been looking around at a few sites lately that are powered by an 'SEO site builder' tool and they appear to achieve good rankings by hiding a portion of very keyword-rich text between the <noscript> and </noscript> tags.

    In other words only the SE spiders and browsers without JavaScript enabled will see this. You can see an example here: http://www.visitcardiff.com or http://www.bathroom-design-online.co.uk - just toggle JavaScript on and off and hit refresh.

    To my mind this is black-hat because it's cloaking. Or is it more grey hat because I thought cloaking was where you present a completely different version of the site to the SE's ?
     
    Pidea, Jun 16, 2006 IP
  2. MattUK

    MattUK Notable Member

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    #2
    Yes, I'd put that in the black hat category. If theyv were a competitor of mine I'd report them.
     
    MattUK, Jun 16, 2006 IP
  3. Pidea

    Pidea Peon

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    #3
    Thought so - as you can see they appear to be quite a large company too.
     
    Pidea, Jun 16, 2006 IP
  4. mad4

    mad4 Peon

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    #4
    Why don't they just put good content in the normal page? Its basically hidden text but the noscript tag is a very powerful way to give content to search engines. I use it to great effect if sites need a drop down menu or something.
     
    mad4, Jun 16, 2006 IP
  5. MattUK

    MattUK Notable Member

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    #5
    I agee, 90% of the black hat that I see can be done just as easily through white hat methods, plus you don't have to start new sites every 6 months because you've been banned.
     
    MattUK, Jun 16, 2006 IP
  6. ramprof

    ramprof Peon

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    #6
    Anytime you deliberately attempt to show the SE spiders one thing and users something different it's Blackhat. So this qualifies - it's like putting the content into a hidden CSS DIV.

    -Ramprof
     
    ramprof, Jun 17, 2006 IP
  7. Freebies

    Freebies Peon

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    #7
    Well stated!







    Best wishes,
    Kimmy
     
    Freebies, Jun 18, 2006 IP
  8. parusa619

    parusa619 Banned

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    #8
    parusa619, Oct 17, 2006 IP
  9. mrinal1998

    mrinal1998 Peon

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    #9
    i n totally agree with rampof
     
    mrinal1998, May 15, 2012 IP
  10. VizMeta

    VizMeta Well-Known Member

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    #10
    I lean towards the side that says it's a lot more about intent than what exactly is being done. If you are doing something for a legitimate reason (like a reasonable length rollover menu),then you should be considered to exist on the white hat side. If you're doing things SOLELY to game and trick the system, then it's clearly black hat tactics. Basically, it's hard to have the whole conversation if it's only about "hidden text".

    So, can anyone come up with a real/good/legitimate reason for them to do what they are doing? (aside from pushing rankings of course)
     
    VizMeta, Jun 8, 2012 IP
  11. Abbey14

    Abbey14 Peon

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    #11
    I agree. You should report about it. Thank goodness to Google Panda!
     
    Abbey14, Jun 8, 2012 IP
  12. Micheleelie

    Micheleelie Peon

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    #12
    It is obviousely black or gray hat SEO, this kind of website should be report to Google.
     
    Micheleelie, Jul 28, 2012 IP
  13. tdn878

    tdn878 Well-Known Member

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    #13
    This thread was started in 2006...
     
    tdn878, Jul 28, 2012 IP
  14. atomitservices

    atomitservices Peon

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    #14
    It a Black Hat SEO which is against the guideline of search engines.
     
    atomitservices, Jul 29, 2012 IP
  15. Postedhere

    Postedhere Well-Known Member

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    #15
    looks black hat to me. many of us seem to agree just by checking at the comments in this thread.
     
    Postedhere, Jul 29, 2012 IP
  16. tdn878

    tdn878 Well-Known Member

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    #16
    Are you talking about the site now or in 2006 when this thread was made??

    I've got no idea why someone chose to drag this 6 year old thread back to life, and then everyone else jumping on the bandwagon, calling the current site blackhat.

    Because TODAY (in 2012):

    www.visitcardiff.com looks completely whitehat to me.
    www.bathroom-design-online.co.uk is parked

    Seems like no one even bothered to look at the site.
     
    tdn878, Jul 29, 2012 IP