Competitor using keyword stuffed pages (our trademark)

recommended by their SEO firm...

[Ally_Cat]

A competitor just beat us out for top spot on a major SE using a doorway page (or frames - not totally positive) stuffed with keywords - featuring our trademarked company name.

The cache clearly shows what they have done, so I have filed a spam report.

The question is - do I fill the company in that what their SEO company has done is risky? I went the the web page for their SEO firm, and found a lengthy article about building doorway pages and how to trick the SE's - they say right in their article that the SE's "don't have a problem with it". Do you think I should clue these people in that the SE's DO care, and they could very well lose placing on multiple keywords because of this?

I think they've taken the content they were serving to bots down now - so they may not get penalized at all - but maybe they haven't and I'm just not sneaky enough to find it.

Your thoughts?

[Jingle]

Hello,

I don't know which search engine you are talking about. But the doorway page does jeopardize listings at google. Read google's advice "What are the most common abuses a website owner is likely to encounter?" at
[google.com...]

Your competitor's page might be listed well next while, but once google find it, they will be penalized.

I will not pay one red penny to seo who tricks search engines.

[BlueSky]

I do not think you should tell your competitor. They may take it the wrong way and think you're trying to trick them. If they drop in the results where you end up higher, that will confirm in their own minds that you had ulterior motives and told them wrong info. Sometimes people have to learn the hard way on their own. Watch for the next update to see if they really took it down. They may be feeding doorway pages only to the bots.

I sent in a couple spam reports to Google on totally non-related search results to mine, and they did absolutely nothing. As far as I'm considered, it's a waste of my time to send in anymore. Good luck on yours.

[jbinbpt]

Hi Ally_cat,
You must take action against anyone that you find violating your trademarks. If you do not then you (at least in the US) lose the right to defend that trademark.
You can do this with letters to the company, the ISP if known and to the SEO Company accompanied by documentation. You do not have to get lawyers involved, but you need to make it clear that they violated your trademark. Make it clear that the SEO Company put their client into a position that could lead to legal action.

There is no need for these tactics to be used.

A good place for collecting information on pages not currently posted on the web is the Wayback Machine [archive.org]. They archive websites. We have used them as ammunition in C&D letters. They really help in making the argument stick.

My first (unfortunately not the last) time this happened to me, the firm used the trademarks and trade names of 16 competitors in white text against white background on their home page. We contacted the others and arranged for all to go after him on the same day. ;)

jb

[Ally_Cat]

I've got the google cache saved, as well as the source code for the cached page.

What else should I try to save?

I know I'm going to end up having to deal with this - no one else in the office knows trademarks at all - but I feel ridiculously under-prepared for this.

*sigh*

[Ally_Cat]

If anyone with more experience than me wants to help me figure out how they did it, for ammunitions sake, I'd love any suggestions. :)

[jbinbpt]

I would pull the data from the wayback machine if you can. I would also print out serps that show what has happened.

You need to respond, but it is ok to take the "lets leave the lawyers out of this approach".

The notification that you know what they are doing is the best place to start.

Check out this previous posting on trademarks [webmasterworld.com]

[Ally_Cat]

Wayback machine doesn't list the site.

SERP's saved and printed. :)

I'm gathering info for management right now - hopefully they'll want to move on this as quickly as I do.

[Ally_Cat]

Just posting an update (thanks for reminding me jbinbpt).

After a bit of a go-around with the owners here, they finally agreed to let me send cease and desist letters to everyone found using our trademark without authorization.

Got a response from the first site in less than an hour, and a response from the second site(s) (one owner for 20+ sites all using the same pages with our trademark) in just over an hour.

All pages have been removed - and now I just have to wait for Google to clear them out.

Thanks everyone who offered assistance! :)

Ally