SearchRank Blog: Spam Archives

Trading In My White Hat For a Black One

While I did not expect much in the way of news here in the U.S. due to the Thanksgiving holiday, it appears that Google took the opportunity to update their web master guidelines regarding paid links. The changes essentially reveal that buying or selling links that pass PageRank can penalize a site not only in its Google Toolbar PageRank status, but also in Google search results. What does this mean for those that consider themselves "white hat SEOs?" Better go shopping for a new hat - a nice black one.

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Posted by David Wallace | Permalink | Comments (12)

When Is It Okay To Cloak?

How do you get the search engines to recognize the content of a site when it is all Flash? I have written before on the problems that Flash sites impose as far as a site's search visibility. Because flash is composed of highly compressed graphics and/or video, the text that is often contained within the Flash elements are invisible. Furthermore if a site is completely Flash, meaning everything is contained with the Flash object - the graphics, the navigation, the content, even the interface, then engines have a difficult time understanding the topic of the site and is some case experience difficulty in crawling pages (if they exist in the first place). So what to do? Read on to find out.

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Posted by David Wallace | Permalink | Comments (4)

Personalize Your Link Request Spam Already!

I get request for links from link builders all the time, what I refer to as "link request spam." The content of the email is typically the same because they are using some kind of form letter. Simply fill in the blanks to somewhat personalize it even though most often the sites requesting links have absolutely nothing to do with my site (except that they are both on the Internet). It is a lazy way to build link popularity as opposed to building quality content that will attract links naturally or actually taking the effort to seek out quality links whether they are requested, purchased or both. Today I get an email from a really lazy link request spammer who forgot to "fill in the blanks" of the form letter. If they are going to spam me for links, at least try to personalize the email already!

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Posted by David Wallace | Permalink | Comments (0)

Data Thieving Scam With eCards

In one of the latest data thievery scams to be uncovered, cybercrooks are using eCards that appear to come from a secret admirer in order to collect sensitive personal information. The attacks involve e-mail messages that at first glance appear to be greeting cards. Clicking on the link to view the card, however, first sends the target to a malicious Web site that tries to silently install software that logs the user's keystrokes. After that the card is displayed.

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Posted by David Wallace | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dumb Forum Spammers! Go Away Already!

It never ceases to amaze me how stupid people are, especially those who try to spam forums. Case in point - a post I found today on Small Business Ideas Forum, which I administer. Typically I edit or move posts into a trash area that the general public cannot see. Often times I ban the user. Once in awhile, I out them as I am doing here.

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Posted by David Wallace | Permalink | Comments (0)

Email Spammer Gets Off Easy With a Slap On The Wrist

Another email spammer gets slapped on the wrist! Ryan Pitylak, an individual who is know as the world's fourth most-prolific spammer, has settled a lawsuit with Microsoft and the state of Texas which accused him of sending up to 25 million e-mails per day. The settlement cost Ryan Pitylak 1 million dollars, as well as the seizure of many of the assets he accumulated during a short-lived career as one of the world's worst spammers. No jail time? No lifelong banning of access to the Internet?

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Posted by David Wallace | Permalink | Comments (0)

Email Spamers - Planet Target aka Boosting YourTraffic

A company called Planet Target has been email spamming me and my staff to death as of late. I'm sure we are not the only ones. Email spam is irritating enough but when the same message comes again and again, it kind of boils my pot. So why not use to power of blogging to warn others of email spammers unscrupulous and invading tactics?

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Posted by David Wallace | Permalink | Comments (3)

Forum Spammers - A New Breed of the "Clueless"

What in the world is wrong with forum spammers anyway? If you are a frequent visitor to any forum you have surely seen them. They join an existing forum simply to promote themselves, drop a link or two, post an article or fill a post with a bunch of gibberish. The irony of the whole thing is that their posts never stay up long. Hardly anyone sees them and even if they do, I cannot imagine they are well received.

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Posted by David Wallace | Permalink | Comments (0)

New Tool Launched by Digital Defense on War Against Phishing

Digital Defense, a company that provides affordable security solutions that allow executives to assess their network security condition, manage their IT risk and meet compliance and regulatory needs, has added a new weapon in its arsenal to crack down on fraudulent Web sites that are set up to take on the same look and feel as actual sites, otherwise known as "Phishing". The San Antonio Business Journal reports "through a partnership with Internet services company Netcraft Ltd., Digital Defense is marketing a new tool called Countermeasures designed to monitor the Internet for these type of look-alike sites and shut them down. Digital Defense will offer the service on a subscription basis.

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Posted by David Wallace | Permalink | Comments (0)

Phishing Shield To Be Added to Firefox

From CNet News, an upcoming version of Firefox will include protection against phishing scams, using technology that might come from Google.

I didn't even know what "phishing" was until I read in the CNet story the following analysis, "Phishing is a prevalent type of online scam that attempts to steal sensitive data such as user names, passwords and credit card details. The attacks typically combine spam e-mail and fraudulent Web pages that look like legitimate sites."

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Posted by David Wallace | Permalink | Comments (0)

Email Spammer Ordered to Pay $11.2 Billion in Lawsuit

A Midwest internet service provider was recently awarded an $11.2 billion judgment against a Florida man for sending millions of unsolicited e-mails advertising mortgage and debt consolidation services reports Wired News. The judgment was issued against James McCalla of Florida on December 23rd. He has also barred from accessing the internet for three years.

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Posted by David Wallace | Permalink | Comments (0)