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When I do a search for keyword1 on engine1, my competitor’s www.keyword1.com/keyword1.htm site comes up in the top results. In the engine1 listing, the title is keyword1 and the description looks legitimate – a keyword filled sentence. But when I click on this listing, I’m redirected to a flash default page (and mirror of the companyname.com site) www.keyword1.com/default_flash.asp, where the html title isn’t the keyword, but rather the company name. And the keywords listed in the engine1 description don’t appear anywhere in the source code.
See what the page looks like to engine1’s spider (this is the top ranking page):
<html>
<head><BASE HREF="http://www.companyname.com/">
<title>company name</title>
<script language="JavaScript">
<!--
function MM_checkPlugin(plgIn, theURL, altURL, autoGo) { //v4.0
var ok=false; document.MM_returnValue = false;
with (navigator) if (appName.indexOf('Microsoft')==-1 ¦¦ (plugins && plugins.length)) {
ok=(plugins && plugins[plgIn]);
} else if (appVersion.indexOf('3.1')==-1) { //not Netscape or Win3.1
if (plgIn.indexOf("Flash")!=-1 && window.MM_flash!=null) ok=window.MM_flash;
else if (plgIn.indexOf("Director")!=-1 && window.MM_dir!=null) ok=window.MM_dir;
else ok=autoGo; }
if (!ok) theURL=altURL; if (theURL) window.location=theURL;
}
//-->
</script>
</head>
<!-- please replace the urls in the body tag -->
<body onLoad="MM_checkPlugin('Shockwave Flash','/default_flash.asp','/default_nf.asp',false);return document.MM_returnValue">
</body>
<script name="Used by MM_checkPlugin" language="javascript">
<!--
with (navigator) if (appName.indexOf('Microsoft')!=-1 && appVersion.indexOf('Mac')==-1) document.write(''+
'<scr'+'ipt language="VBScript">\nOn error resume next\n'+
'MM_dir = IsObject(CreateObject("SWCtl.SWCtl.1"))\n'+
'MM_flash = NOT IsNull(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash"))\n</scr'+'ipt>');
//-->
</script>
</html>
[edited by: heini at 10:22 pm (utc) on Feb. 26, 2003]
[edit reason] tool drop removed / thanks [/edit]
Only thing is I don't see any bot readable html with keywords etc?
Nick
www.keyword1.com/default_flash.asp, where the html title isn’t the keyword, but rather the company name
your example shows <title>company name</title> so presumably you're looking at the source of the page to which you are redirected as a visitor. If so you should look at the address that google indexed. Is it in Google's cache?
If the redirect prevents you from viewing the source, try typing this in your browser:
view-source:www.keyword1.com/keyword1.htm
If the original address shows a different title to the one indexed they have either just changed the page since the last update or are cloaking in some way (if there's no cache available to prove the contrary)
My source code example was from the address in Google, however they've put in a noarchive tag, so I can't actually see the cache on Google. But, I can see it in the aforementioned seo tool.
Any ideas on why they'd show up under this code, without any keywords?
why they'd show up under this code, without any keywords?
You may like to read this Newbie Cloaking Primer [webmasterworld.com] about the concept of cloaking.
The SEO Toolkit HTTP viewer follows server side redirects, not client side. So does this mean I'm seeing the actual source?
I tried the view-source thing in my browser address bar and it didn't work
Sorry my bad, I should have included the http:// part..try this:
view-source:http://www.keyword1.com/keyword1.htm
The method should work fine on any page. If you get to see the same source code as you posted above I think you should accept that they are cloaking or changed their page. Nothing more you can do.
Is there anyway to truly see the source of the listing I see in the engine?
Is there anyway to truly see the source of the listing I see in the engine?
Well sometimes yes but it requires luck, and/or technical skills and/or illegal actions..so it's probably best not to go there.
One simple way would be to go through a proxy of the search engine you happen to know about, so you would surf the web with the engine's ip. That's the luck department.
AltaVista's babelfish translator tool allows you to surf the web on an altavista ip..so that one might help if the cloakers aren't careful. They might even serve AV the same page as they do Google. (I assumed from the start of this thread that we're talking about Google here..not sure why, I hope that was correct) It's a well known trick though.
having said that..I recommend using your time to just build your own site with the things you learn here and don't worry about that occasional cloaked site...
I'll try the AltaVista trick - Thanks so much for everyone's help!
Always cloak by IP addresses!
john
