List of topics considered to be webspam by Google

Content identified as 'webspam' lands you in a penalty with Google. Consequently it is critical to avoid content which might trigger a webspam penalty. I did a quick search for a list of webspam yet couldn't find a good list. Most spam term lists are for junk mail, not webspam.

Anyone know an authoritative list?

If not, we can build one right here on DP. Please post citations.

I'll go first. In this post on his blog Matt Cutts of Google states:

This clearly implies the following are webspam.

online pharmacies e.g. viagra, cialis, zoloft, oxycodone, valium
debt consolidation i.e. consolidate debt, consolidating debt, debt consolidation
online gambling e.g. texas holdem, poker, online casino
porn e.g. sex video, adult movie, milf, strap-on

Any other indications of what else might be webspam? I suspect 'payday' and 'rolex' are on the list but don't have citations for those.

 

There has never been a "topic" that is considered by Google to be webspam.

 

If you're going to make such a claim, then state a citation, and it had better be as good as the one I posted.

 

I feel that it's not those specific words that make that domain spam. I think what he was saying is that a domain that long with that many combinations of words..there is no way it was built for a legitimate reason so its more likely to get attention..

 

State a citation for what? Any topic can be used in spamming incidents. Someone can spam people with stuff about dogs, just as easily as they can spam people with stuff about viagra.

Are you saying that Google penalizes any website for having content about viagra or debt consolidation. If so, your wrong..

 

Whatever, buddy. I already posted a citation which implies that webspam is indeed tied to a topic, yet you say I'm wrong without offering any evidence except your own opinion.

Look, if you don't believe a list can be built, fine, you've stated as much and made your point. Now please stay out of this thread. I'm trying to get something done here. If you want to engage in a discussion or argument about the definition of the concept of 'webspam' then please start a separate thread. This thread is for building a list of webspam topics. If you're not interested in doing so, please don't post. Thank you.

 

If you are concerned about if something is spam it probably is. Focus on quality and the rest takes care of itself.

 

Awesome, thanks. I'll do that. But I didn't ask for meaningless platitudes from a forum spammer who doesn't even bother to read the OP.

 

I'm the spammer? Who is the one posting this thread because they likely got affected by Panda LOL.

I did read the OP, you just don't get it. My point was if you are worrying about spamming google then you probably are, otherwise why are you worried about it?

Web spam is more to do with how you manage your site not what topic your site is about Its just that some niches tend to have more spammy sites since they're in competitive markets. But there are many legitimate poker/gambling sites etc which are not penalized in google. You should actually inform yourself about the topic more before being so quick to bash someone when you have no clue what you are talking about.

 

You shouldn't make so many assumptions. The issue isn't to decide what content to develop or how to develop it, but how to curate incoming UGC (user-generated content). This applies to moderating posts, comments, links added by users, and so on.

In any case, since you're not offering anything concrete, and seem to believe that having an online pharmacy (for example) doesn't automatically classify your site as webspam, you might as well stay out of this thread, as - again - I don't want to be arguing about what webspam is, I just want to get that damn list compiled.

 

I will post in ANY thread I deem appropriate. If you don't like my comment BAD LUCK you don't own this forum. You can ignore what I have to say if it will make you sleep better at night.

By the way, an online pharmacy in itself is not a spam site, although most of them are. Have you got experience in any of the markets mentioned in this thread? I do I am guessing you don't. But you must understand the ins and outs of google don't you... or maybe your just another sucker that doesn't get google and got hit by panda ughhhh.

 

I was wrong, then, you're not a forum spammer. If you're posting just to be annoying, that makes you a troll. I suppose trolling is one way of inflating your post count. Going off-topic about panda is another. Panda is about low-quality content, i.e. content farms. It had nothing to do with webspam. Webspam aka 'bad neighborhoods' was being hit by penalties way before panda.

 

Sorry for interrupting Your nice off-topic discussion!
Imo there are no "topics considered to be webspam by Google". There are niches that can be considered potentially spammy like pharma, gambling, etc. (as You've mentioned) and there could be more severe filters (on content's origin, backlink's profile and growth, etc.) and manual moderation applied for that category of queries.

As for indications that could be considered as webspam - hope SeoMoz Ranking factors for 2011 would be useful for DP readers.

 

It doesn't have to be "viagra". Google also sees website with affiliate links as spam. A lot of people also get their blogspot blog deleted when it contains affiliate links.

 

Can't see anything there pertaining to webspam aka bad neighborhoods.

I forgot to mention auto-traffic programs. click to surf, that sort of thing. Those get your site banned pretty quick. I don't have any citations though. What about get-rich-quick schemes? Are those webspam? What does the crowd think? Where IS the crowd?

 

There is no answer to your question.

/thread