A new method of stealing PR / Content / Traffic

Put the link inside a frame

[Lorel]

I just discovered what appears to be a new method of stealing content, PR, and a web sites traffic. After you submits a link, with the intent to trade links, the other site puts your "link" on a separate page inside of a frame (see sample code below).

Then your whole web page with images and active links loads onto their site. There is no need for the visitor to follow the link as the person sees what's on available on your site without visiting and with the link being inside of a frame (which most search engines can't read) then you don't gain any PR from that link either. And this doesn't even count the stolen content displayed on that site without your permission. And to top it off they refuse to link to your site unless you link to theirs first, thus you provide a link to their site and you get absolutely no benefit for it and in fact they steal your traffic.

<!-- frames -->
<FRAMESET ROWS="82,*" FRAMEBORDER="0" FRAMESPACING=0>
<FRAME NAME="top" SRC="top_frameset.html" MARGINWIDTH="0" MARGINHEIGHT="0" SCROLLING="no" FRAMEBORDER="0" NORESIZE>

<FRAME NAME="Main" SRC="http://BOGUSWIDGETSSITE.html" MARGINWIDTH="0" MARGINHEIGHT="0" SCROLLING="auto" FRAMEBORDER="0" NORESIZE>

</FRAMESET>

[rickson7]

This is a pretty old method of stealing...
Thanks for sharing it here though!

[jaffstar]

I added my site to a directory and they did this exact thing.

Surely if the site gets a higher PR than mine, my site would get filtered out due to duplicate content filter.

They don't have the right to repoduce a site without your consent?

[keywordguru]

Definitely a known issue for a while. Iframes and otehr methods of "hiding" links are out there. That is why it is best to verify the backlinks frequently, and be sure they are as credited as planned.
KG

[Webdetective]

I would personally never hide my reciprocal links. To me that's stealing links - dishonest.

I will want to make sure anybody who's swapping links with me isn't using this or similar technique. How could I find out? Look at the source code of their links page for Frame code? I don't suppose it's possible for somebody who's using linksmanager to do this?

[siteseo]

Let the stinkers link to each other - I certainly won't link to them. I provide quality text links without any sneaky tactics to those with quality, relevant sites related to my own - provided they do the same in return. This makes my site(s) more attractive to those who also operate "above board" and should in time make it easier for me to find quality sites to get links from.

[mack]

I added my site to a directory and they did this exact thing.

Some directories do this for a very different reason than steeling PR. Very often the framed site will be used with a site rating feature. It would be all but useless if the user could not view the site that are wishing to rate. By holding the target site in an iframe the user is then able to place a vote.

Mack.

[jaffstar]

Let me explain what these guys did, they actually have a complete copy of my page , images/content/page titles.

I rekon its a type of directory hijacking and/or duplicate content problem.

I did a search for my keyword, and found my url came up in the serps, you guessed it, my page hosted on their directory.

[The Contractor]

Some directories do this for a very different reason than steeling PR. Very often the framed site will be used with a site rating feature. It would be all but useless if the user could not view the site that are wishing to rate. By holding the target site in an iframe the user is then able to place a vote.

That would be a pretty sloppy way of doing things. If the directory owner isn't willing to get off a $100 or so for a decent script they should at least learn to code better IMHO.

[ryan26]

I'm so against these things. I'll chime in as the conscience quickly. Open to any heat that comes my way.

Where the hell would any of us be if the link partners that helped our first sites get ranked would have been devious? Pay it forward.