I came across a site indexed in google which has the following hidden links at the bottom of the index page. The code goes like this <div id="Links0" style="LEFT:0px;TOP:0px; VISIBILITY:hidden; POSITION:absolute;"> <a href="index1.htm">hasdf hdkfh afhkj </a> <a href="index2.htm">kjhf haksf hkasf </a> <a href="index3.htm">kjhkjdf khdkf haf</a> <a href="index4.htm">ghdf gdjf kgdf</a> <a href="index5.htm">gdkf gdkjf</a> <a href="index6.htm">idgs gdksf g</a> <a href="index7.htm">ghkaf gkfdag </a> I have used junk words like "hasdf hdkfh afhkj" but the site has used different targeted keywords and phrases in all the 7 index pages. They have created 7 different html pages but the content on each pages is same as that on index page. Since each page has the title same as that for respective anchor text all the pages are listed in google for those search words or phrases The links are not seen on index page as they are hidden as mentioned in first line of code. Will this be banned by SE? If yes then how is this site indexed by G----e? Harish
That is a really lame way of cloaking... I am not sure whether Google can parse CSS or not, but I am sure that they would pick up on that... Candysmith, I'm not too sure if there is actually a designated period of time that it takes G to remove spammy sites... It will probabally occur in the next update after the site was spidered...
I've seen similarly spammy tactics in the past and have reported the offenders - Im still waiting for Google to act
Google says that they try to come up with solutions to detect spam rather than pull individual sites. Having said that I have seen some sites which have been removed from the index.
I have personally seen some webmaster getting away with murder on Yahoo as far as hidden text or small text spamming their keywords and they had a surprisingly high ranking in the SERPs..
Yea, but it eventually catches up with them. Look at what happened to all the poor saps that paid T.P. to 'opitimze' their sites and how they got zapped by Google recently. Sooner or later, the piper gets paid
I wish that they removed the spam sites more quickly from the index - it seems they are taking more and more time to remove these sites, it really is the only problem I have with google.
Google doesn't do them individually... except for the absolute worst abusers (I know of maybe 5 sites ever). instead, they take a programatic approach. They try to figure out a way to eliminate the spam via algorithms. That's why during big updates you will see lots of spam drop out (and even some good ones that came up as as false positive in the new algorithms).
I know of 3 competitors that use loads of hidden text on EVERY page of their website and after reporting to Google they have done nothing about it. I also have one competitor who has duplicate content and has five websites with the same content on each of them. Has G done anything.. nope. I'm starting to think if you can't beat them.. join them! Darren
Google doesn't remove SPAM. I reported cloaking and they sent me the letter 23/06 and spam is still in index --- Hi Paul, Thank you for your note. We are constantly working to improve the quality of our search results. If you feel that this website is trying to deceive our web crawlers, please submit a report at http://www.google.com/contact/spamreport.html. We use the reports submitted on this page to collect data which our engineers use to devise scalable solutions to fight spam in our search results. While we do not always take action on individual sites as a result of your report, please rest assured that we are using the information to make large-scale improvements to our system. We appreciate your assistance in maintaining the quality of our search results. Regards, The Google Team ---
Yup standard letter! I've also found this weekend two competitors that have numerous domains with the same content, one had six domains with the same content! Google hasn't found that and Ive reported it to see they do anything about it! I'm beginning to think that Google does nothing about spam at all. Darren
Google finds the dupe content in their own time. A large scale filter took out a lot of them a few months back, and I am sure they will clean house again. Not to bag on you personally Darren, but my opinion has always been that people who have to report competitors to get ahead in rankings are admitting that they just can not compete the right way. They should not even be trying. Reporting someone for your own benefit is probably worse in my view than the person abusing some techniques in the first place.
"Not to bag on you personally Darren, but my opinion has always been that people who have to report competitors to get ahead in rankings are admitting that they just can not compete the right way. They should not even be trying. " Is that a joke? They can't "compete" the right way? So is cloaking the right way then William? "Reporting someone for your own benefit is probably worse in my view than the person abusing some techniques in the first place." So if you catch someone stealing a car and their is a reward for the persons conviction - You damn well better not turn them in to get that reward, you'd be worse in "your view" If the competition is cheating, they don't deserve to be there, period.
I thought you might illicit some passionate rebuttals with that point of view William. It seems to me there is a happy medium. There certainly are people yelling spam and turning in sites simply because they are beating them. These people need to grow up and learn a little SEO and get on with life. But if a site is using techiques that get it high in the SERP for terms on which it has no real relevance then the general public or searchers are being harmed. I have no problem reporting a site that falls into this category. In this case it isn't to advance my site necessarily -- I might not even have a site in that subject matter -- but it is to do with industry regulation as Shannon suggests. Having said all that, I in fact have never reported a site in my life. I feel it is largely a waste of time and if Google is as concerned about relevance as they claim then let them take some responsibility and clean up these types of site themselves.
Got the thread moving didn't it Exactly my point. Agreed 100%. As I am sure you know already Bob, I meant only those that feel they have to beat a site by reporting it. To all others who do not understand my posting style. Read between the lines
No cloaking is not the right way, however there are also good reasons for some instances of cloaking, but I won't get into that debate today. However, cloaking and any other form of SEO that is being abused can still be beaten the proper way. Assuming you are a real SEO.