All Entries Tagged With: "Spam"

Hidden Text – It’s All About the Intent

I’ve always had a problem with the hard fast rule of “don’t use hidden text.” Even though it is technically against search engines guidelines, there are valid reasons to hide text. Sites that are developed completely in Flash, pages that are graphic heavy and web designers who want complete control over font styles are just a few examples. Whether for one of these reasons or possibly something not quite so ethical, webmasters have always been warned by both search engines and white hat search marketers that is is risqué. “Go ahead and do it but do so at your own risk.”

Does Google Frown On Links From Paid Directories?

Owning a few directories myself, this is a question that is of interest to me, especially after Matt Cutts recently stirred up some controversy when he invited people everywhere to report paid links as spam. With our directories, some listings are editorial while others are paid. In the beginning, every site added was editorial simply to populate the directory. Today we require payment for every submission simply to compensate for the time that is taken to review, edit and include the listing. Therefore the submitter is not necessarily paying for a link but rather paying for the editor’s time to consider the submission for inclusion.

Would Digg As a Whole Survive Its Own Policy on Digging and Burying?

Stoney deGeyter poses this question at E-Marketing Performance. Subject to the reasons why Diggers will bury an article, would Digg itself survive? What is the supposed reasoning behind the process of burying a story?

1. Duplicate Story
2. Spam
3. Wrong topic
4. Inaccurate
5. OK, this is lame

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.

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. That’s right – billions! The judgment was issued against James McCalla of Florida on December 23rd. He has also barred from accessing the internet for three years.