tedster - 7:32 pm on Mar 30, 2001 (gmt 0)

I'm using CSS with absolute positioning on one client's site -- but not to hide any divs, just to rearrange the HTML page so that the headers and other keyword elements are at the top of the code instead of the banner and nav areas.

So far, the response is good at Google, Ink and Fast for principle two word phrases and not so good at AV (most important pages/kws there are below the top 30) -- however I still don't understand the "new" AltaVista very well.

I'm wary of showing the SEs any elements that the browsers can't see. Right now there are several CSS tricks that seem to "work" (unless the SE views your site manually) but this can always change. The sophistication of SE algos is growing at a rapid pace.

The biggest downside to hidden text of any kind, no matter how it is achieved, is that every search engine explicitly states you may be penalized or dropped for the practice, if they uncover it. And the sophistication of search engines is growing at a rapid pace

I would never use any hiding technique on a principle domain. Too much is invested in developing content that attracts and converts. Why suffer the traffic drop that a ban would cause?

In fact, I'm concerned that some legitimate uses of CSS may look like subterfuge to the first generation of alogrithms that set out to analyze external style sheets.