
Published: Aug 04, 2008 - 11:31 am
Story Found By: tomcritchlow 4548 Days ago
Category: SEO

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Comments
Really interesting little idea.Definitely an element of gaming SEs here, so it would be interesting to see how it would be viewed.Additionally, even with a link to the correct website, if it was my URL that was being hijacked (maybe a harsh term, but not overly wide of the mark), Id be less than happy I think.As someone on the blog writes, need a bit of time to digest how it could be used.
Good stuff. Removing the www can also vary the results.
The example is a litle sneaky, you can do that 100% white hat too.
Methods like this are especially potent when the legitimate number 1 result is spiced up with a "This site may harm your computer" message, and nobody dares to click on it.
Interesting. Id like to see a non sneaky example like onreact mentions.
Just seems a little too spammy for my tastes. Anything that takes SERP spots away from more relevant results seems exploitative to me. How many of the visitors thought it was a worthwhile click?Sphunn for making me think.
I dont see how this is spammy or sneaky.For a URL search, there are at most 2 really relevant results (the actual URL + a close match from the same domain as an indented result). Perhaps 4 good results, if there is an alternative URL (subdomain instead of directory, or something like that).The rest of the SERP is up for grabs.Its Googles search engine. They could easily decide that because there is only one perfect result for a URL search, they show only one result instead of ten. Then this "trick" wouldnt work. But they still choose to show 10 results, so whats wrong with getting in there among those 10?
I do think this is a little deceptive for natural search, but I use competitor domains as keywords in my PPC campaigns. That way, my competitors organic listing will still be there for the consumer to find, but they may also want to check out the alternative I offer in PPC ads.
How is it not spammy? Its designed purely for the search engines and not the visitor. It provides no useful relevance to the visitors query, despite claiming it does by making claims that are just plain untrue (offering a discount on taxdiscs). It relies on tricking users into detouring through Patricks site while gaining no value on the way (unless their shopping list that morning was "replace tax disc, find new SEO services").As far as SEO goes, Im the novice and many of you are the experts, and Im a big fan of Patricks stuff. But if it smells like bacon and carves like a loaf, Im guessing its spam without waiting for Matt Cutts to show me the tin.Happy to hear why it isnt, cause otherwise its brilliantly clever.
I havent tried this one...I might as well give it a try..anyways thanks for sharing.
Kimota - The use of this on my site was merely an illustration, if you rank for a url your biggest competitor has been promoting offline then you should be able to figure out a way to offer them value.And even with the example on my site the visitors couldnt find the link without my help so Im guessing they went away happy.
Great idea, cant imagine the bounce rate is below 70%