Hi everyone, Im not sure how this happens, but have you noticed that many EDU sites are hacked by spammers to get placement on Google's SERPs? They use these EDU listings to deceptively redirect them to their "sedo-like" page which is filled with PPC sponsored links. Is this blackhat tactic hard to defend against? Why haven't Google found a solution to this yet? Regards, Steve
just like example - type phentermine to google. This is just sad, and I am loosing all motivation to listen how google adsense is trying to be white hat - and black hat reality of these days.
I noticed this about a month or so ago, in fact the first page of the serps for a specific term had 3 or 4 spots going to .edu sites with a redirect to spam sites. As a side note, I have seen this problem not only with .edu sites but with google's own urls as well, I have screen shots with the serps page showing the google url and the cache showing spam. Of course I have the website as well. This hijack made it to position 6 for a major term. It was gone from the serps within a couple hours, but it did filter through most DCs.
I think the best way to combat this problem is to report the actual URL to the college or university. Their webmaster will then take greater measures to make sure their website is more secure.
Wow! That whole first page is nothing but spam. That is the worst I've seen so far. Im a little puzzled by Purdue's listing. It ranks #1 for "buy viagra", yet it's their actual site.
Thats amazing I think its called a google bomb another example is searchng for massive failure the first result will be president bush's homepage
Good find! but really bad for Google's reputation!! Their SERP's are getting worse every day and they havd a new huge spam thing going on after the one they had last summer with billions of spam pages. do a search for site:*.edu and add any keyword and you'll get thousands of spam pages
What people will do for money. It just shows how much spam google have to encounter everyday even on .edu sites. The things is that these spam sites just keep finding new ways to trick serp.
I've done this a couple of times when I find spammy .edu's in my keyword spaces. Generally the best way to find them is to check for common backlinks for other sites in your sector, using a tool like http://www.webuildpages.com/tools/common-backlinks/ The problem with alerting the instution is that it rarely results in the perpetrator being punished, instead just locking the barn door after the horse has gotten away.
While the results on Google still show the result for the example provided by manageyourlinks, most of the Universities have removed the pages from their system... The Purdue link is definitely a google bomb. I get this notice: "These terms only appear in links pointing to this page: term"
These spammers can find a new method every now and then. Nowadays, not only Google has those Computer Science Ph.D.s but even these spammers have them.
Soooo I guess this kind of debunks Matt Cutts claim that .edu's don't hold extra weight? Here's a search for viagra: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=viagra Hey, nice going Google! :::high five:::
Wow, I say report it the website to the university. A lot of them have IT teams in place to prevent redirections.
>>Nowadays, not only Google has those Computer Science Ph.D.s but even these spammers have them. I know that for a fact as some European groups hire Eastern Europeans and set up these people along with their familes to come and work for them.