ebay and auction sites taking over results

barely recognizable results now than in the past

[pshea]

I had not checked FAST results for about two weeks and what a nasty change. In the first 200 results, only 4 of my traditional KW competitors are included and the rest are all auction companies, many of which refresh to ebay. The first 200 results!

I checked a couple of other consumer products categories and much the same results. It's like these price-comparison/paid advertiser sites and ebay have just about completely overtaken FAST's results. And they are full of refreshes.

I would love to hear other thoughts on this: a search for "rock music" is quite eye-popping. Try other consumer products. This change is alarming and could render FAST a complete waste in no time.

[markd]

I wonder if this is a result of their 'partner site' program?

All those pages have got to go somewhere!

[IanTurner]

This is bad news in UK as fast feeds Lycos, is anyone else suffering in the same way.

All the best
Ian

[heini]

interesting is it only happens when
putting rock music in "". Not such a good optimisation.
Anyway, it might be a result of the "ParrtnerSitePrrogram" (sorry, but I still resent them for doing this)
I have seen such things before that. Amazon used to occupy dozens of positions for lots of searches.

[Robert Charlton]

This is the worst kind of spam I've ever seen... they've taken over keyword searches unrelated to what they're selling and completely monopolize the results.

I can't imagine Fast (and Lycos) can maintain any kind of a searcher user base with these kinds of results.

Is there a way of getting through to someone and letting them know? I'd hate to see a really promising search engine bite the dust.

[mr_dredd2]

yep same here - i actually emailed fast about it - I don't usually telltales, but we're not talking about spam pushing your page down a couple of places, but obliterating the top 100+ results!

check out:
tents uk (no quotes)

all this spam is a domain galaxy all redirecting to ebay.

[mr_dredd2]

yep same here - i actually emailed fast about it - I don't usually telltales, but we're not talking about spam pushing your page down a couple of places, but obliterating the top 100+ results!

check out:
tents uk (no quotes)

all this spam is a domain galaxy all redirecting to ebay.

[KnutRisvik]

Dear all,

My name is Knut Magne Risvik, I am the Director of Engineering at FAST. Just wanted to let you know that none of these results are "PartnerSite" listings in our Index, but merely a spam attack. Thanks to your notifications, we have removed for the next reindexing (which is taking place now, and will be live within the next 3 days).

Your feedback is highly valued.

Best regards,

- Knut Magne Risvik

[heini]

Hej Knut Magne Risvik
Now Iīm impressed! Cool approach!

[mr_dredd2]

all other search engines take note!!!

[heini]

Come on folks
this step from Fast deserves some praise!
Letīs give Knut Magne Risvik a big welcome!
Publicly and promptly adressing such an issue is a rare thing. Furthermore to call a "SEO attempt" by one of the biggest player in the field by itīs proper name, "spam attack", is amazing.

[rpking]

Knut... I salute you!

[Rumbas]

Welcome Knut

We're only a small bunch from Scandinavia at WebmasterWorld therefore it's nice to see you here as well

[angiolo]

Welcome Knut!

I am so happy to see that a search engine reacts so quickly to "spam attack".

[tedster]

>> Furthermore to call a "SEO attempt" by one of the biggest player in the field by itīs proper name, "spam attack", is amazing. <<

To be fair to eBay, this looks more like a spam attack by a business who uses eBay to sell, rather than directly by them. There may be a lot more nonsense like this, as bigger players start to use eBay to move merchandise - and this is a growing strategy in recent months.

[heini]

tedster, in that case my apologies go to ebay!

[backus]

Classic professionalism from Fast. I am well impressed. Has Brett seen this???

[KnutRisvik]

Dear Friends,

Looking at the "spam" we talked about for eBay links, we have no believe that this is a SEO by eBay itself, rather by someone using eBay as a sales channel. We have a tight collaboration with eBay on the search technology side, and this is clearly not part of what we are doing together with them :-)

Regards,

- Knut Magne

[heini]

Well thanks for clarifying Knut Magne and again, aplogies to ebay.

[Bolotomus]

Did anybody take notes on how they dominated the top 100 spots? I want to try !!

(kidding!!!!)

Welcome Knut, it's great to see that search engines aren't just giant computers but, real people as well.

[skipper]

>Publicly and promptly adressing such an issue is a rare thing<

I'll say, more like an amazing thing, and a great thing. Thanks Knut, and also thanks to mr_dredd2 for emailing Fast.

[markd]

Great response Knut.

Can I ask on the 'partner sites' program, if someone submits the number of URL's/pages that are allowed through the program, is it not logical to assume their site will 'dominate' the top spots in their field?

I am making the assumption that, for example, an auction site will have great number of pages that would conform (possibly by accident, maybe through good optimisation) to many search phrases where 'auction' is used.

I wonder how/if Fast is ensuring that the mass indexing of partner sites will not result in SERPS becoming narrow and not delivering a good cross section of options, as you do currently.
Please forgive me in advance if I am misunderstanding your Partner program.

IMHO your actions in responding to the 'spam' reported here makes Fast one of the most credible and important search resources for those who play fair and respect the rules.

Thanks

Mark

[bigjohnt]

Kudos to Knut, and Fast. We really do appreciate a forthright response. I only wish ALL of the SE's were as responsive. We rely on each other, but seldom talk.

[pshea]

Checking same searches now 24 hrs after starting this thread, much is now back to normal. The interlopers don't appear until result No. 50 now. There were dozens of dot-coms doing this to FAST, so I think Knut and the staff over there have their work cut out for them for the next few days.

It was a phenomenal attack on the engine and I can only imagine the effort they have put in to wipe the slate clean.

This was a good day in the SE world and much applause to FAST staff worldwide for the accomplishment.

[mr_dredd2]

yep, for my couple of search terms I found the problem on the spam is now gone

:):):)

[makemetop]

This is another situation where FAST has shown itself to be a search engine which does things promptly, fairly and efficiently. Thanks to Knut and FAST.

[Robert Charlton]

Though Fast has cleaned up its database, I'm still seeing the spammed results in Lycos. Not sure about the other Fast partner sites. I'd think they'd want to get to this is soon as possible, as anyone getting these kinds of results is not liable to come back.