The Axandra newsletter archive - 30 March 2004
Welcome to the latest issue of the Search Engine Facts newsletter.

This week, we're taking a look at your competitors who spam the search engines and what you can do about it.

In the news: Google changes its design and rolls out two new search services, Microsoft announces new search features, AllTheWeb results are now powered by Yahoo, Yahoo buys a big European shopping search engine and more.

Table of contents:

We hope that you enjoy this newsletter and that it helps you to get more out of your web site. Please pass this newsletter on to your friends.

Best regards,
Andre Voget, Johannes Selbach, Axandra CEO
1. How to report spam to Google, Yahoo and others
A real nuisance for search engines are webmasters that try to deceive them to obtain high rankings (called "spamming").

The following techniques are usually considered spam by the search engines:

  • cloaking (the server returns different web pages for search engine crawler programs and for web browsers)
  • cybersquatting (using domains that resemble common domain names to get traffic from users that make a typo, for example, www.gogle.com)
  • doorway pages or multiple domains with identical or nearly identical content
  • invisible text (text in the same color as the background color)
  • offensive content (e.g. hate views or offering illegal services)
  • overuse of keywords
  • overuse of tiny text
  • submitting to inappropriate categories (on directories)
  • using deceptive or misleading links
  • using irrelevant keywords in the title and in the meta tags

What can you do if you discover other web sites getting better search engine rankings than you because they use one of the spam techniques above?

Search engines encourage you to report spam to them. 18 months ago, we compiled a handy list of addresses where you could report spam to the search engines.

Meanwhile, with all the acquisitions and mergers, the list has become out of date. For this reason, we've now updated and extended the list:

AllTheWeb:

"...send an email entitled 'Spam Report' to spam_websearch@overture.com. In the mail please set out the search query you performed, and the URLs of the pages you believe exhibit spam techniques." (source: AllTheWeb's spam policy page)

AltaVista:

Go to AltaVista's contact page, fill out the form and select "Spam Reporting" as the subject.

AOL Search:

AOL displays Google listings.

Ask Jeeves:

There's no special spam feedback address but you can use their contact form.

DMOZ.org

If you think that an editor is spamming or promoting its own domains, send an email message to staff@dmoz.org. (source: Posting Guidelines of the inofficial Open Directory Public Forum)

Google:

Just complete this form. At the bottom of each search results page, you can also click the link called "Help us improve".

HotBot/Lycos:

Go to this form, select "Searching the Web" as the topic and enter the URL of the search results page.

Inktomi:

"Reports of sites that do not follow our guidelines, but still appear in search results, are welcome at reportspam@inktomi.com" (source: Inktomi's search FAQ page)

LookSmart:

At the bottom of each search results page, you can click the link called "Tell us how we're doing".

MSN Search:

Displays Inktomi and LookSmart listings.
Overture:

Log in to your account and contact Overture. If you don't have an account, write to feedback@Overture.com.
Teoma:

They only have this one-fits-all email address for feedback.
Web.de: Use this form to report spam to this popular German Internet directory.
Wisenut: Refers to LookSmart.
Yahoo:

"If you have found a site that seems inappropriate for the category it is in, please forward the URL and category to the Directory Support Department." (source: Yahoo help page)

Always be fair to search engines and don't try to cheat them. You'll get the best long-term results for your web site by building good content and a thoughtful reciprocal linking strategy. Use web site promotion tools that use ethical web site promotion methods.

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2. Search engine news of the week

Google rejigs its interface

    "Search engine Google has revamped it's user interface to provide a more commercial face to the outside world. The shopping engine Froogle has now been promoted to a main category and the company has given much greater prominence to its contextual advertising alongside search results. [...]

    Another change which will cause anguish amongst many searchers is the demotion of the Google Directory."



Google rolls out personalized search, Web alerts

    "Google Inc.'s Labs has cooked up two new search offerings, introducing a Personalized Web Search and Web Alerts, as part of the Mountain View, California, company's plans to continue to heat up the market.

    The new services, currently in beta test, were unveiled Monday by Google's Labs testing ground division. The first, Personalized Web Search, has users fill out a personal preference profile and then provides search results based on interests."



Microsoft preps MSN search overhaul

    "Microsoft's MSN business unit [...] revealed three new services: MSN Newsbot, MSN Blogbot and MSN Answerbot.

    MSN will launch Newsbot and Blogbot by the end of this year, while Answerbot - an Ask Jeeves-like natural language interface for search results - will go live at a later date."



Ballmer: MSN's search to debut within a year

    "Microsoft Corp.'s CEO [...] declared MSN would enter the search space with its own algorithmic engine within the next year [...] Ballmer said, 'there's no magic about search; all it takes is good, hard work,' and when MSN's algorithmic search hits the market, 'you'll see good competition in the search arena.'"



AllTheWeb results now powered by Yahoo

    AllTheWeb results are now powered by Yahoo. That means that one of the biggest search engine database is no longer available. It seems that Lycos.com still accesses parts of the old AllTheWeb database but it's not sure for how long they'll offer that option.



Yahoo says bienvenue to Kelkoo

    "Yahoo [...] agreed to buy European e-commerce provider Kelkoo for around $579 million to widen its worldwide shopping services and generate new advertising opportunities overseas.



InfoSpace to bring Switchboard on board

    "InfoSpace on Friday announced that it plans to acquire Switchboard, a provider of online yellow pages listings, for about $160 million in cash."



Kanoodle debuts ClickFactor ranking service

    "Kanoodle [...] unveiled a new proprietary ranking/listings management service [...] for its advertising customers. Kanoodle executives, many of whom are formerly of Sprinks, say the new service could give their customers a new degree of control over how their ads perform."



Search engine newslets

  • President of Chinese search engine Baidu takes on Google
  • The DogPile toolbar now supports RSS and Atom news feeds

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3. Articles of the week

Yahoo cosies up to MSN

    "When it comes to online advertising, Yahoo and Microsoft are both sellers and thus on the same team, Yahoo chief executive Terry Semel said. 'It's important... for companies like Yahoo and Microsoft to start working more together, because we have a common goal -- to take a greater and greater share of the marketplace.'"



Interpreting search

    "Commercial search services such as Yahoo and Google have revolutionized the ability to find vast amounts of facts on disparate topics in a short period of time. Now, start-ups and established companies are devising products that they say will extend how people work with information found on the Web or inside company databases."



Microsoft concedes misstep in search

    "Chief executive Steve Ballmer conceded [...] that one big misstep by Microsoft over the past few years is that the company did not put resources toward in-house research and development of search technology."



Going beyond Google - what's next?

    "One company has an idea for how search engines can catalog the Web more completely. Another believes it can better divine what a searcher wants. Yet another is trying to synch all that with how the human brain works."



The grownup at Google

    An interview with Google's CEO Eric Schmidt.

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4. Recommended resources
Over a hundred top 10 rankings with IBP
    "I'm still getting over a hundred top 10 rankings on Yahoo, MSN, AltaVista, Google and all the rest of the major search engines and directories using IBP. And top 20 and 30 rankings are in the hundreds. I quit counting them. Well done..."
    Dennis Begnoche, http://www.palmspringsposters.com



Another 5 out of 5 rating for IBP

    The software download site Softizer.com has given IBP a 5 out of 5 rating:

    "IBP is the top-rated web site promotion software tool that helps you to get more revenue with high search engine rankings."



People also love our link popularity tool ARELIS:



Tip: Active webmasters directory

    Find affordable web hosting companies, get a bonus when you sign up on a pay per click search engine and more on the active webmasters directory.

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5. Previous articles

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