Search Engine Optimization All-In-One For Dummies®

Chapter 6. Spam Issues: When Search Engines Get Fooled

In This Chapter

• Finding out about the different types of search engine spam

• Understanding the consequences of using spam

• Being wary of guaranteed results and other false promises

In this chapter, you find out about techniques used to fool or trick the search engines into delivering a higher listing on the results page, which we call spam. We go over some of the more popular methods that have been used, and then we delve into the guidelines search engines use to define what they consider spam, as well as our Search Engine Optimization (SEO) code of ethics.

Understanding What Spam Is

When you normally think of Spam, the first thing that comes to mind is either the canned meat product or the junk e-mail that's clogging up your inbox. (Or the Monty Python skit..."Spam, spam, spam, spam"...ahem.) When we here in SEO-land talk about spam, however, we mean something a little different than meat by-products, unwanted e-mails, or British comedy troupes. Search engine Spam (also sometimes known as spamdexing) is any tactic or Web page that is used to deceive the search engine into a false understanding of what the whole Web site is about or its importance. It can be external or internal; it may violate the search engines policies directly, or it may be a little bit sneakier about its misdirection. How spam is defined depends on the intent and extent. What is the intent of the tactic being used, and to what extent is it being used?

If you stuff ...