duplicating keywords, etc. as "comments"

using <!-- test,text -->

[bobmark]

Hi,
apologies is this is an old, dead issue.
I noticed a couple of small sites ranking very well used java/ssi comment tags in their "head" to in essence duplicate their metatag information. e.g.
<!-- keyword,keyword,etc. -->
I assume the theory is to pass it off as page content to spiders or perhaps to ensure that all keywords are considered to be part of the page content.
Anyway I gave it a try and found zero ranking difference in an inktomi and lycos index update so I wondered if anyone knows if this helps or if it can actually hurt if seen as spamming?
thanks,
Mark

[pageoneresults]

Hello bobmark. If I'm not mistaken, <!--comments tags--> are not indexed, or, if they are, there is no weight given to them.

A few years ago I believe there were a couple engines that indexed comments tags and quite a few people hopped on the bandwagon and started abusing them.

Comments tags are an excellent way to divide and annotate your html content. That is their only purpose. Your own testing proved that they mean little if nothing in the indexing scheme of things.

[bobmark]

Thanks pageoneresults!
yeah, I thought it was too good to be true. The little sites which don't have a whole lot of links in but rank very high on general keywords always puzzle me. It seems like longevity is a factor as I noticed a site I was involved with that is basically dormant has improved in ranking position despite radically reduced content