I am being completely shut out of my industry

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I am being completely shut out of my industry

Goanna1

11:47 am on Jan 25, 2004 (gmt 0)

Over the last several months, one highly brazen webmaster with multiple sites has been gradually occupying all of the top 20 spots of several industries in the searches. He is using tactics that are not only frowned upon by the search engines they would also be considered illegal. He is diversifying into more and more industries and will eventually strangle all his competition.

I desperately need some advice on how to deal with this problem.

ds98127

12:49 pm on Jan 25, 2004 (gmt 0)

hi goanna...
I see a lot of bubbles come up and go down... just be patient for a couple of months after filing a spam report..most probably as soon as he gets bigger he will get what he deserves, rank 1 or penalty ... whatever
Further he might be using a lot of spam tactics but the SE looks at overall picture , are yu sure his strength is primarily from questionable techniques.
cheers
Niko

Goanna1

2:11 pm on Jan 25, 2004 (gmt 0)

just be patient for a couple of months after filing a spam report..

He has been doing this since April last year and slowly increasing his stranglehold. I sent a spam report addressed to GoogleGuy a few months ago with no success.

are you sure his strength is primarily from questionable techniques.

Definitely. He uses automated scripts to post thousands of messages daily on public forums - mainly blogs. In addition, he uses redirects, and just about every blatant trick you can imagine.

Like you, I thought that he would not get away with it for long. I was wrong. Eventually, he will control so many industries that something will have to be done. I would imagine that he already seriously impacts hundreds of webmasters on this forum. I am surprised that the company he represents (he is an affiliate) has not been sued by the Hosting companies or ISPs of his victims.

Has anyone had success in dealing with this type of situation?

Rosalind

3:38 pm on Jan 25, 2004 (gmt 0)

Definitely. He uses automated scripts to post thousands of messages daily on public forums - mainly blogs. In addition, he uses redirects, and just about every blatant trick you can imagine.
Like you, I thought that he would not get away with it for long. I was wrong. Eventually, he will control so many industries that something will have to be done. I would imagine that he already seriously impacts hundreds of webmasters on this forum. I am surprised that the company he represents (he is an affiliate) has not been sued by the Hosting companies or ISPs of his victims.
Has anyone had success in dealing with this type of situation?

I've had little success with making spam reports. One site I reported months ago is conspicuously still in the SERPS, yet is clearly using cloaking. Blog spam may be on the way out, but it's only one technique amongst many. I'm coming to the conclusion that the spammers and cheaters are gaining ground, at least for now.

Goanna1

3:51 pm on Jan 25, 2004 (gmt 0)

Blog spam may be on the way out

It still works better than ever from what I can see.

I am coming to the conclusion that the spammers and cheaters are gaining ground

I agree. This particular situation is the worst I have seen in 5 years as a webmaster.

Yidaki

4:09 pm on Jan 25, 2004 (gmt 0)

Webmaster General [webmasterworld.com]

I wouldn't hijack this forum for google / spam discussions. If your posts don't get approved over at the google forums, there might be a good reason.

Goanna1

4:29 pm on Jan 25, 2004 (gmt 0)

Sorry, but that makes no sense at all. I am trying to raise a very important issue as responsibly as I can.

Many webmasters have to deal with similar problems. And you said it, this board is called "Webmaster General"

Yidaki

4:46 pm on Jan 25, 2004 (gmt 0)

Goanna1, this forums charter reads General topics related to Webmastering. If there is a more specific forum, please post there.

Since you and others mentioned google, rankings, spam, blogs and googleguy, i'd say the Google forum [webmasterworld.com] IS a more specific forum.

However, history shows that spam discussions are generally not tolerated neither at the google forum nor at any other forum here at WebmasterWorld. I know many webmasters are concerned about the spam / competition issue again and again. And there's hope: since this topic has been discussed A LOT in the past, you will find many, many, many answers by searching WebmasterWorld. ;)