Search Engine Optimization All-in-One For Dummies, 4th Edition

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

Avoiding search engine penalties

Being wary of guaranteed results and other false promises

Understanding ethical SEO

When you hear the word spam, what comes to mind? You probably think of all those annoying emails with their poorly worded and often obscene messages that clutter your inbox daily. That’s spam, all right, but there’s another kind of spam that’s directed at search engines.

In this chapter, you find out about spam techniques that some websites use to fool or trick the search engines into delivering a higher listing on the results page. Any time you think you can achieve higher rankings by deceiving the search engines, you’d better think again! Google and the other engines get better all the time at sniffing out spam, and the penalties can be harsh. Even inadvertent spam can get a website in trouble, ...