Some Q&A answers

GoogleGuy answers some questions from last week..

[GoogleGuy]

Okay, I sat down and thought about answers to some of the questions that people asked last week. Brett, how about we work it like this; I'll do the next several posts, with one answer per post. Please wait for me to finish posting answers, and then we can keep this thread open for people to discuss. Does that sound good? I'll let people know when I'm done posting my responses, and if everyone is courteous to each other, I'll try to post some more responses in a few days. As always, I'll try to do my best to give good answers, but bear in mind that this is my personal take on things. Does that sound fair?

[why2kit]

GG mentioned spamming and the need for google to see methods of spamming, and to be honest I'm not really sure of how one defines spam, is it that a site ranked above mine, or this site uses a system I hadn't thought of? Or should the real definition be that the serp was not what was expected? From the majority of "spam" complaints I've seen on this forum it appears to be sour grapes (or would that be bad apples and oranges?). The official google guidlines are really a tad bit on the gray side, and I could see an instance where some song lyric pages could be kicked out because of a repeated phrase.

So GG (mods) if I'm being an idiot please delete this post.

[Powdork]

I'm not really sure of how one defines spam, is it that a site ranked above mine

No, because that would 'sram'. 'SPAM' is Sites Positioned Above Mine.;) Spam could be defined as 'trickery used to enhance rankings which at the same time devalues the users experience.' I'm sure that makes it crystal clear. If you are unsure you can always report it and if its not spam, nothing will happen.
Some examples to look for,
hidden text
negative value div's (layers placed off the visible screen)
redirects to different content than described in serps
hidden links
funky links (i.e. a backlink from a page listed in dmoz, yahoo, etc. that no longer fits the category and exists solely to pass on pr from dmoz, yahoo, etc.)
more