Should I report sites that are spamming/using hidden text?

should i report this site

[joshuaip]

I have ran across a competetors site on numerous occasions and they are blatantly abusing the hidden text rules. I am wondering if I should report them and also to whom I would do that.

Please let me know.

Joshua

[dvduval]

Yes, because Google is always trying to improve their filtering mechanisms. This will help them to see ways to improve the filter.

[curlykarl]

I would :)

[google.com...]

But then again they may be detected in the forthcoming update, so you may want to wait and see :)

Karl

[pmac]

Seems to me that WebmasterWorld has become Googles spam filter. :(

Let me guess, the site in question is above you rather than below you in a SERP?

[Sarah Atkinson]

here's a question (allthough it isn't relivent anymore.) on our old site I had sorta hidden text. it was in a frame behind a picture. It showed briefly while the pic was loading. Is that considered hidden text? It was a complete sentence and was relitive to the site.

[Blue Gravity]

I wouldn't report a site unless they used obvious spam techniques like, same color text/background crap, keyword stuffing, keywords that linked to them that had nothing to do with the site. scum stuff like that deserve to be reported.

[bshadle]

Burn em'! If they're using obvious spam techniques, go ahead and report them. You'll be improving the search results for the rest of the world.

[joshuaip]

they are using obvious spam...it is not qustionable. They have a green bg color and green link text in tapering font sizes with the same 50 links repeated 5 times!

so a total of about 250 links with their prefferred keywords in the same color as the bg

Thanks for the link...ill go report now

[joshuaip]

pmac yes they are above me ... in all 50 of the keyword searches they are cheating with. I am sure if I had their keyword frequecy i would do as well.

[luckyme]

Yeah, i just noticed that the top 2 sites that i have been trying to beat have been using hidden text all throughout there site....i reported them to google....whoo hoo!

[pmac]

>keyword frequecy i would do as well.

Don't assume that just because his kw density is high that this is the reason he ranks well. If it was that simple everyone would just stuff the page full of KW's. I would suggest that his off page factors are what is trumping you, not hidden text.

[Brett_Tabke]

>I am wondering if I should report them

Since Google has never published a "this is spam" list, what we think is a problem and what Google considers a problem is several different things.

Instead of worrying about the competition, why not go back to work building more pages? That will equal more long term content and in turn equals more long term referrals.

Take care of your own turf and let Google take care of itself.

[bshadle]

Brett man, Google made the Spam Report for a reason. If they consider it to be spam, they'll remove the site from the index, if they think it's okay, they'll leave it. Why would Google take the time to create a spam report if they didn't want people to use it? Actually, when filling out the Spam Report, Google gives you a list of possible spam techniques. Here they are:

Type(s) of problem (check all that apply):
Hidden text or links
Misleading or repeated words
Page does not match Google's description
Cloaked page
Deceptive redirects
Doorway pages
Duplicate site or pages
Other (specify)

This list can be found at
[google.com...]

By the way, that's a pretty nice horse you rode in on.

[heini]

Bshadle, welcome to WebmasterWorld!
You know, this is a board with members from all parts of the industry. We have search engine employees here, we have SEOs here, corporate users, mom & pop shops , webdesigners, large affiliate cracks, bloggers, journalists, people from large info sites.

What I'm trying to say is there are several different opinions, interets, approaches. Google's is just one of them.

Apart from that we highly value friendly, open, relaxed and professional debates.

[edited by: heini at 7:32 pm (utc) on May 14, 2003]

[le_gber]

I think Google created the spam report to be able to try and test their algo. It was too simple for them before and they wanted to have some kind of challenge ... twisted minds ;)

GoogleGuy to GoogleGirl: I bet you that if I create a form we will get a lot of input from webmasters to improve our algo, hence more fun for our long and cold nights :)

leo

[Clovis]

i think the spam report page was put up to be used for those who feel it necessary to report someone who is violating the terms of service that goolge has set forth.

yes, thats right... i stated the obvious. google is always looking to better the search experience and results, therefore it is what it is. if you see spam, report it.

regrading what brett had to say, i agree in the sense that you shouldnt be combing the pages of your competitors site to try and find the one instance of a single hidden keyword. chances are the hidden text has little effect on the overall "points" google gives to that website in order to have it ranked where it is.

bshadle, "By the way, that's a pretty nice horse you rode in on." nice tag line, but why so hostile, bro?! simmah! the most progressive minds in the world are OPEN. dont be so quick to hand out judgement, especially here. the point of the boards are to help.

[bshadle]

I was hungry and frustrated. Sorry.

[Clovis]

LOL, well ok, thats completely understandable

[Brett_Tabke]

>Google made the Spam Report for a reason.

Google does NOT have a spam report - Google has a problem results report. That is a very big semantical difference.

To paraphrase NEO: There is no spam.
There are only problems with the algo.

[worker]

[google.com...]

It looks like a spam report to me.

And I think that any site that uses hidden text and hidden links should be reported.

[kevinpate]

<too slow; worker beat me to it>

[EliteWeb]

Good Morning WebmasterWorld!

Let me come in here saying one thing very strongly, no matter how much you report other peoples spam your site will still be lower then theirs, it shows your site isn't at the top yet, its just at the top of what 'competition' there may be. When Brett said work on your own content that is the #1 thing you can do and you can have a complete site which outbeats spam, that is the ultimate site. Regardless of how much spam there is if your site is worked on and really loved it can obtain top placement. I believe there are differnt levels of ranking and what ranking your sites fall into. If your site is far from parr in being a well ranked site you will have problems fighting people off, and instead of working on your site you find yourself blaming other people for cheating and getting ahead spedning your time fighting them off.

I have MANY sites, and I know which ones of my sites need more work and I know which ones can not outbeat me unless they were to put all the work into it and for those cheating I commonly see less time being spent on developing it. I can create my own competition sites linking to my affiliate programs, set up the links and whatnot, they will show #2, because they outrank what used to be #2 but still not outrank #1.

And whenever you think you have a stable site think again because the search engines change their algartyhm and the sites not prepared suddenly find themselves fighting again. ;) I live in a peaceful world because I build my sites that way and with that intention.

Sure report spam, but if you find yourself doing it ooOo too often Id look at your site to see what you can do to make it more complete so the people taking the 'short cuts' dont get ahead of you.

[jatar_k]

well said, EliteWeb

so anyone figure google put that up for any reason aside from getting us to feed on each other?

Type(s) of problem

the average user wouldn't understand anything in that list. Either would most of the people who work on the web. That is an SEO/SEM specific list.

The only time I would ever report a bad result is adult results for kids terms or some such. The rest of the time I couldn't care less, I'll just keep working and it will all shake out.

[Napoleon]

I never know whether to laugh or cry when I read a thread like this.

I think you'll find that most long time experienced players would agree with Brett.

[Loki99]

“Google does NOT have a spam report - Google has a problem results report. That is a very big semantical difference.”

Exactly.

It doesn't help that Google is using WebmasterWorld to encourage the use of their “problem results report”.

Fueling the mostly useless “is this spam”, “should I report this site” post.

New members get enamored when they get a reply (answer to their spam post) from Google’s WW member. Old members get bored.

[worker]

I don't understand the debate on this issue. It's pretty cut and dry.

Google created the spam report so that people have a way to report sites.

They can't monitor their entire database all the time because new sites are added, and changes are made to existing sites every day...so they have asked people to help them, by pointing out the bad guys/sites (those using the techniques they spelled out as being inappropriate).

Whenever I see a site that is using hidden text and hidden links, I take a minute to report it.

And I can't understand anyone arguing that people shouldn't report sites using hidden text and hidden links. It only takes a moment, and hopefully it will help Google get those sites out of their index.

Of course you should spend time building your own site, and making it better. That doesn't mean you can't take a minute or two whenever you find a 'bad' site, and report them.

When sites using these techniques are removed from the index, everyone wins.

[bshadle]

What I really think is going here is the Old members are bashing the New members, or at least they are making it seem that way. If you feel that the debate is childish, don't take part. Everyone seems to be getting so excited about some technicallity. Is it a spam report or a problem results report? Who cares?!

“Google does NOT have a spam report - Google has a problem results report. That is a very big semantical difference.”

What's the debate here again? I could have swore it was somebody asking whether they should report a spammer to Google. NOT what is considered spam, NOT whether the reporting service is a spam report or a problem results report. IT IS a simple question.

I'm very sorry that I had anything to do with this.

Sweet Jebus.

[joshuaip]

wow I never knew i would start a debate over this :)

Pmac I know you have much experience in this matter but I have to disagree. This person has state specific keywords (State ***** ******, State ****** ******) repeated for each state 4 times all hidden text as links at the bottom of his page (they all link to valid pages). In addition to that at the top of his page he has **** **** repeated hidden 4 times. His total word count other than keywords is 8. Almost all his links (when i hit bw links) are his 100's of pages that are duplicates (his content).

So you tell me. With rankings (i heard this on this board) being more and more dependent on page relevency and not pr how do I beat him?

Brett,

I have been taking your advice and am trying to add 3-5 news articls/content pages a day.

Thanks everyone for the replies.

I think I will continue to report blatant spam. It seems silly not to.