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It's similar to guestbook spamming, but sneakier and it doesn't involve guestbooks.
First of all, it's very helpful to have a domain-with-important-keywords-in-the-url.com.
This technique involves a certain very popular statistics program (and perhaps more than one.) Here's how it works:
Find a high-PR site that uses this stats program. Determine whether the statistics are publicly available (and thus subject to being crawled by Googlebot). Also assure that the monthly stats reports have PR. Install a link to that site's index page on your most important page. Click that link a sufficient number of times (or use an automated way to do it) so that your URL is assured of being displayed as one of the top 30 referrers when the current month's stats are published at that site on the first of the next month. Googlebot then crawls that stats report page, finds your domain-with-important-keywords-in-the-url.com and not only sends some PR your way but also tallies the keywords for relevancy.
I spent some hours researching some things this evening and stumbled across this technique. Believe me, it works.
You can prove this to your own satisfaction by noting the keyword-laden-adult-site-urls.com's amongst the top referrers to very unrelated websites. Go to those adult sites, check their backlinks and also note their ranking on Google.
GoogleGuy, are you taking notes?
If anyone wants the name of the stats program, just sticky me.
Actually not true. You would be suprised how many sites put up "check out our stats" links. And for the record, log spamming is as old as dirt. It has been a staple of the adult/gaming industry since free stats programs came in existance.
Maybe this thread will make them removing the logs from public folders.
I doubt any Regular WW member would have kept his stat public in the first place. As for the others what can i say ;)
Not something you should do, it may work a few days and then your SERPS are gone, Google is surly onto this one, beware what you do to get ahead.
Hollywood
I know of atleast 4 members here that were doing it as early as 98.
Search way - way back in the forum archive and you'll find all kinds of mentions of quality log file stuffing.
It's as ancient as pagerank itself.
There are many bots that are running - have been since late 98 that log file or referral spam. Same stuff - different day.
No worries at all and only t's off webmasters. Google can filter that stuff in a heart beat.
"We think we are spam proof" (Sergey Brin - SES San Fran 1999
What we thought we had found was a great daily changing site map/authority link page! Until the log spammers turned up and then we removed the reports from public view pretty quick! If it wasnt for those, we would still be publishing our stats in the open.
Simon.
It's surprising how many logs are still open to the public these days ... still a point to watch for google also obviously ... a google for <snip>removed the query example 'cause i don't want to give hints on dodgy tactics, cyril ;)</snip> returnes less pages than before dominic, if memory serves me right ...
[edited by: Yidaki at 1:24 pm (utc) on June 9, 2003]
When the spamming concerns search engines, it is applauded as the latest and greatest SEO technique.
Falsification and fraud are falsification and fraud any place they are used to my way of thinking.
I see the chief difference is that there aren’t a lot of companies churning up spam-rage while selling panaceas in this area.
I think postings that explain how to cheat are inappropriate and should be removed!
Cyril this is true for true hints. Log spamming is damn old stuff and far away of a succefull cheating tactic.
I think postings that explain how to cheat are inappropriate and should be removed!
On the other hand, it may get someone with their logs in view, and did know this goes on to hide their logs.
I think postings that explain how to cheat are inappropriate and should be removed
I disagree this forum is about what happens in the internet industry. I would hate to see post like:
Just add <snip> tag with <snip> and link to <snip> will get you a automatic +Pr2 Bonus.
freedom of speech and all that, anyway if everbody spammed logs google would just stop logs appearing in the serps.
Dave
This is not a freedom of speech issue. We are in the Webmasterworld domain. They already have policies that allow them to delete part or all of posts. My thought is that this should be covered by their policy.
Freedom of speech is involved when a person with a opt-in newsletter has his newsletter filtered out by an ISP trying to reduce traffic. The difference is that the newsletter is a legitimate communications while instructions on how to cheat are illegitimate.
Can I just ask why people don't password protect their stats pages?
trillianjedi i do the same.
i often examine competitors by trying
/stats/
/wwwstats/
/webstats/
/awstats/ (a nice one to find and very common)
Can I just ask why people don't password protect their stats pages?
Why do people stand outside cash machines counting their money.
Hunters and Prey
Dave
rofl!
<ot - no further discussion about this please:>
Another one: why do people put their url in their profile?
</ot>
many, many, many ... and not only webtrends! I've been surprised that a friend whose site i started to redesign, informed me about *ALL* important keywords/phrases, *ALL* referers, *ALL* most visited pages of her competition ... it's been a quite easy job for me, in fact. Life is a bitch but sometimes also a lady. ;)
trillianjedi i do the same.i often examine competitors by trying
/stats/
/wwwstats/
/webstats/
/awstats/ (a nice one to find and very common)
Please note I had my camo jammies on when i tried this.
If you want to stay clandestine about it, try an allinurl for one of the above directory names (there are more i imagine) and look at the cache. The info may be a little dated, but if you look at the site itself, someone may notice you looking and finally lock the door.
Although if it's open in the first place, maybe they're not even looking at the logs. I just mention it because it happened to me a few weeks back - i noticed that it was open after someone just typed it in... ;)
I've noticed a lot of people use that site-tracker service and leave it open to be viewed. With a little tweak to your bot I bet that could be spammed easily, because we're talking the same sort of users who have prefab guestbooks, and heaven knows those are easy to spam . . .
remembering the days when my first guestbook was spammed, long, long before google . . . back when the spammer expected the site operator or site visitors to click on the link, and sometimes they did . . .
no secrets being revealed here. neural marketing actually is a better and more common name being used for it.
i often examine competitors by trying
/stats/
/wwwstats/
/webstats/
/awstats/
Just to add a bit of twist i can make a dummy folder like stats/ and a dummy file in it which will send my competitors on a wild Goose chase ;) They will feel not so smart at the end of the exercise.
We're talking about public stats that are published on the bottom of the web pages. I'm not going to tell you how to find these, but once you know what you're looking for you can find them by the shedload.
These are the sorts of stats that require javascript embedded in the HTML. All you'd need to do is rip off the tracker code and create fake referrals a few thousand times and you'd be there. You wouldn't even need to generate any load on the "victims" server, because you would be ripping off the javascript and hosting it yourself.
Well heck, in doing that you've probably broken a load of TOSes and will eventually PR0 your site for ever I guess, but that's really up to you. Personally I like to get my links the hard way :)
Yes, and I've gotta figure the only reason this surprises some here is that they are e-commerce web whores who would worry about the competition knowing things that they don't want them to. Stop and think of the tons of amateur sites out there. Typically these webmasters could not care less if other people see their stats.
>remembering the days when my first guestbook was spammed, long, long before google . . . back when the spammer expected the site operator or site visitors to click on the link, and sometimes they did . . .
Quite a few today still do. Check out some random guestbooks. Much of the spam includes blatant sales pitches for generic Viagra, free porn, etc. If the bots were doing this just for Google to find the link, they'd leave out the sales pitch. This may make it too obvious, and the guestbook owner delete the entry.
People used to post links to their stats pages the way they'd have counters on their sites. Many university/institutional sites still have their stats available (and linked to). It's basically a vanity thing (kewl! we got visitors from Japan!, etc).
Problem is you're giving away valuable information which should be confidential. Your link partners, keywords that your competitors site might be missing etc etc
A crazy idea. If you want to show off, then build a script that gives part of the stats but not the whole detail. But if you need to do that, you don't have a very good website. Modesty is the true indication of a great and succesful site.
Incidentally, I found one of our competitors had their raw logs available today just by guessing around at urls. I got a lot of info from that - and it's going to hurt them in a few months time..... ;)
TJ
The spammers are getting better and better - the good spam doesn't look like spam - will steal your sales - and there is nothing you can do about it - cause it doesn't break any of the rules.
If it doesn't break the rules, how the hell is it spam?
It's just someone doing a better job right?!
If it doesn't break the rules, how the hell is it spam?
who's rules mine or yours
DaveN
