Forum Moderators: open
Very few people have written in with specific queries or sites, but I'll mention the url once more:
[google.com...]This isn't really a surprise. Hey Google, how about some form of diplomatic immunity where you can protect your own site when you "grass" on a bad neighbourhood?
I won't report anything on my chosen keywords because I'm terrified of being slaughtered in the cull. Who knows what they would ban me for? Perhaps just for not being relevant enough. I can just see it: "this site doesn't belong at the top. Let's do a manual adjustment the PageRank dampening factor. Ok, now what about those other sites specifically mentioned in the spam report?"
If Google had an "immunity from conviction" system whereby the informer can be sure he is safe and that his URL will not be tracked afterwards, I'm sure there would be many more reports. I don't think this would be unrealistic. Google would have to keep their word. If they didn't the whole community here would know of it within 24 hours.
[edited by: NFFC at 2:46 pm (utc) on Oct. 5, 2002]
[edit reason] No specific search phrases please [/edit]
They focus on applying a systemwide tweak to prevent a particular spam practice from influencing the results. Makes perfect sense. That is why he asked for patience if sometimes the spammer site seems to persist longer than you expected.
He's posted that a couple of times, problem is, IMO, it's not so much a question of spam as simply irelevant results.
And he was specifically asking for cases of irrelevant results. Just that that it is a search that you think is not returning relevant sites.
There doesn't seem much point in using the spam report then. Google cannot even catch hidden text, so how will they handle the more subtle spam?
GoogleGuy - can you let us know what percentage of spam reports are
1) acted on manually
2) covered by an algorithm
3) ignored because they were irrelevant
4) ignored because you are too busy
GoogleGuy - can you let us know what percentage of spam reports are
I am always surprised when specific Q's are directed at GG and wonder if I was in the same position whether I would reply. I am not having a go Sly, just something I have mused when I see requests for information that I would not divulge in a role reversal. In answer to a specific Q, I think I would refrain and let you play the game :), the same game we all play.
Just my thoughts.
PS GG any chance of flicking a switch on a clients site, they really need a PR 8 or 9. They need the business :) 10 would be even better.
In the past Google has been pretty forthcoming with hints where there was no danger of giving away their algorithm.
Don't ask....don't get. Right GG?
We don't grant "immunity" to any site--if they cheat, they are due for penalties. Plenty of SEO's claim that they have a "special relationship" with Google and that's always a bogus claim. If you're worried about bringing attention to your own site, then don't write in with a search term. Instead, just point directly to a site that's cheating.
GG, do you get an e-mail everytime someone posts your name on this board? Or maybe you are just clairvoyant?
>Added
I was thinking about your spam report. Well, I'd like to even the odds in my home area, but I could not really report spam. I mean, on the 1st page one company has 3 of the listings and another company has 2. It's not really spam though. One has a hotel site for the whole world which gets listed for my location. Then he has another site targeted to the location. And he has another site which gives tourist info on the location, and of course the "accommodation section" goes straight to his own booking system.
Same for the other guy. He has a hotel site and a travel site. Basically the same, but different.
None of the sites are linked together.
Is that spam? Not according to Google's commandments. But, well, it does degrade the index because it's basically the same content on each site. By the way, I'm not griping. My site is nicely positioned. It's more about a level playing field.
I had around 30 sites that were in no way related in topic, all of them was linked together as they all come under the one company name, at the bottom of every index page was a text link to all the other sites, the headline just said "other sites by ******" this was purley a way to increase advertising revenue but also generated customers interest in our other sites...
In the last refresh google dropped all 30 sites and every one I have spoken to has said that this happended becuase the sites was crossed linked, what is the problem with me advertising my other sites on one another?
We don't grant "immunity" to any site--if they cheat, they are due for penalties. Plenty of SEO's claim that they have a "special relationship" with Google and that's always a bogus claim. If you're worried about bringing attention to your own site, then don't write in with a search term. Instead, just point directly to a site that's cheating.
ROTFLAMO! That is exactly the claim, along with some fishy suggestions (hidden text and such), that I was getting as our site was going live!
On the other hand, I can claim a special relationship with google, but it has nothing to do with searching. But I can tell you a lot about network booting the server farms;) If I ever talked to any of the search guys on the phone, I didn't know it, and they would have been moonlighting as systems geeks.
Ie
doing this is spam, but this is fair play....
Im still a bit uncertain as to what to look for.
I know hidden text is blatant spamming, but im sure there must be different degrees of spamming.
cheers
JOAT
what is the problem with me advertising my other sites on one another?
In theory, there's nothing wrong with it... that is your right as a webmaster.
In practice, Google started penalizing such heavy cross-linking due to professional spammers that were creating networks of dozens upon dozens of sites purely to inflate their PageRank.
It *is* possible to interlink your sites without penalty provided you also have a large number of inbound links from other quality sites outside your network.... otherwise you've created a "closed loop" that has created it's own artificial authority.
It's always a safe long term strategy to be thinking of your users first... interlink your sites in a fashion that would be valuable to them. (on theme, in context links rather than just linking everything on every page)
So, why should I continue to do the right thing, and find myself on 131.
Just doesn't seem right, but I see it as a useless chore to continue reporting it
Oh, Well!
PS GGuy if you want to know who it is, sticky mail me
There is a check list of the major items on the Google spam report form. It includes such topics as duplicate content, doorway pages, excessive keywords, etc.
I think that Google should put a bounty on spam sites or at least have some incentive program, like report 5 spam sites in a month and get a free Google T-shirt. ;)
I can see it, you report A, A reports B, B reports D, A also reports B and guess what? All your sites are taken down.
I have read through many pages on this site, which by the way I think is great :) and can see many people moaning about google not doing there job by taking down the spammers, give them a chance! Lets stop frowing our toys out of our prams, lets get back to making our site work, there are many other search engines and many other ways to get traffic, I have learnt this the hard way after losing over 30 sites on google, but the funny thing is after losing all these sites, I am still making the same amount of sales, I think I proved to myself that google isn't all that it's made out to be, yes I agree you get traffic but the quality of that traffic is another question
I've always favored, trying to beat the compitition, feels more like a challenge. And when you do, and the money is rolling in, it feels good!
This is pure nonsense. All the spam may be taken down, but anyone who doesn't break the rules should have nothing to fear.
Every responsible webmaster should have spam reporting in their top five things to do, and spammers are just going to have to live with it. Either get good content or not appear in search results. Cheaters aren't allowed.
Every responsible webmaster should have spam reporting in their top five things to do, and spammers are just going to have to live with it. Either get good content or not appear in search results. Cheaters aren't allowed.
Group: google . public . support . general
The above is an unmoderated forum which may also be screened by Google employees. People often report stuff there and it is rarely a distraction. This is probably due to the quoted 3-9 hr time (read 6-14 hr) it takes for posts to go online. I think I remember Marcia or Heini posting that there is nothing wrong with wanting to see spammy results as it can be a valuable learning tool for those trying to win the love of Gbody. I agree, occasionally sacrificing a virgin (spam report) can only help too.;)
I did that the last time, just as you said. They are still there.
This is wrong and everyone here knows it, and yet it still is not addressed.
So why not do just what this person does. Anybody want to know how it is done, please feel free to sticky mail me, cause it is obvious to me that Google feels that it is okay to use this technique. I won't use the technique cause I am sure that I would be targeted.
But at the end of the day its their professional integrity on the line.
Dont get drawn into a spam battle and risk your own hard work.
Personally, Id name and shame them somewhere their customers are likely to see (but of course, how many non-techies care about the techniques a website uses to get to number 1?).
JOAT
[webmasterworld.com...]
I did want to point out that spam reports are anonymous. We don't even log IP addresses or cookies--it wouldn't be hard to submit through a proxy that stripped these anyway, and we want people to know that they're safe when they submit a spam report.Randex, it could have been our index switchover, but submitting a spam report didn't cause the drop. I'll add this to the long list of "google myths", like advertising on Google helps your ranking.
I've not seen Google make public statements rashly. If it's a matter of credibility, I'd have to say it's no contest.
I reported a few sites that were being redirected to a certain website and all those pages were taken off the search results page. It did take about 3 weeks, but they have been taken care of. I just did another search and reported one more site that was being redirected to the same site I reported last month, which tells me that Google was not able to tweak the algo enough to completely gid rid of this redirecting but they I'm sure are looking into just how best to catch people that do this.
Reminds me of the Microsoft operating system, once you get everything up and running....a hacker figures out a way through and you gotta work out how to keep these thugs out.
Don't be a thug, and do everything legit and Google will love you, and you will love Google. It will be well worth your hard work.
I also believe that Google has a timeline for everything they do. Daily 'Fresh' crawls, Deep crawls one week a month, monthly updates, tweak the algo monthly, and look at the spam report once a month. If you report a site at the beginning of the Google month - it may take three weeks for them to get to it...but they will most likely get to it, especially if you explain what you know in extreme detail :)
