What is Google spam?

First we must ask what is spam? One definition of Google spam is pages created deliberately to trick the search engine into offering inappropriate, redundant, or poor-quality search results. This is akin to the definitions offered by Google and MSN.

There are various questions that site owners should ask related to content and optimization techniques. While acknowledging that these are plain questions, it is apparent that they don’t get asked enough. Site owners should ensure that content benefits the site visitors—and is not just thrown together on a web page to contort search engine ranking algorithms.

The varieties of Google spam

Following is a list of 15 ploys considered to be Google spam.

• Mirror content
• Small type
• Doorway pages
• Domain Spam
• Invisible links
• Mini-sites
• Page Swapping
• Typo spam and cyber-squatting
• Link Farms
• Cloaking
• Keyword stacking
• Nonsense text
• Invisible text
• Unrelated keywords or tags
• Redirects
• Keyword stuffing

Google, Yahoo, and other search engines claim to take spam very seriously and spend a lot of time trying to eliminate it.

There is a grey line between optimization and over-optimization. It appears that in some product categories, it is normal to use more zealous procedures and those who have a requirement to compete in that space, may have to venture into the grey zone from time to time.

How to report Google spam

There are two types of people when it comes to reporting search engine spam. Some people report every single occurrence they encounter and then there are those who don’t report it because they believe it will only be replaced by another site that will use more subtler processes. Sandy Hutchens Whistleblower believes that while you may not need to report every case, it is important to report from time to time especially in the more egregious cases.

To report Google spam click here.

Google spam is not just about specific techniques. The real dilemma has more to do with the purpose of an individual search engine optimizer. Basicaly a spam site is one which uses techniques in a deliberate manner to sabotage Google’s algorithms, to synthetically trend their search engine rankings higher. Sandy Hutchens and the Sandy Hutchens Whistleblower wonders how serious they really are. Sandy Hutchens found the following video on Google.

Google AdWords Spam Explained by Matt Cutts

A cartoon version of Matt Cutts explains why Google spends much less effort policing their own site than they do policing your sites. Sandy Hutchens of Sandy Hutchens Whistleblower notes that this video is not an official production of Google. It has come to our attention that this video on Google spam is a parody created by another agent. However there is some interesting and pertinent Google spam information so we left it up for the edification of our readers.

Sandy Hutchens Whistleblower – Google’s purpose is return relevant results for every search query made by its users. Google therefore urges webmasters to attempt to deliver direct and veracious content that is easily apprehended by users as well as by search engines. Regrettably, there are websites that do not have users’ needs and interests at the top of their list of good things to care about. Breaching the Google Webmaster Guidelines by nefarious means such as hiding text, creating doorway pages, misleading cloaking, deteriorates the quality of Google search results and ruins the search encounter for all Google search users.

This is obviously a negative aspect of the internet, and so Google asks its users, if their Google search returns a result that appears to be spam, that they inform Google. Google’s spam report forms are provided in two different types: an authenticated form that requires Webmaster Tools registration, and an unauthenticated form as well. At this time, Google purports to investigate every spam report from registered users. Spam reports to the unauthenticated form are assessed in terms of their perceived value (although it is not clear how that is assessed). A large number of those are also reviewed but not as many. Google claims to take felicitous action when they uncover bona fide abuse. In especially flagrant cases, they may remove spammers from the Google index post haste, so they don’t show up in search query results anymore. At the very least Google will use the data from each spam report to better their site ranking and algorithms for filtering, which, over the course of time, supposedly increases the search result quality of the Google parameters.

Internet users waste much time and effort from the effects of spam. Click here to inform Google about search spam and improve the experience of millions of internet users.

Web 2.0 Expo – Matt Cutts – What Google Knows About Spam

Full rights to this video belong to Google and Matt Cutts. Sandy Hutchens and Sandy Hutchens Whistleblower did not produce this video. We only embedded it on Sandy Hutchens Whistleblower whistleblower for the edification of our readers.