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Modern Day Search Engine Manipulations

An anonymous reader writes "I fondly recall the days of yore when search engines could be manipulated just by sticking thousands of extraneous filler words in the META tags or hidden at the bottom of the page. Nowadays search engines work by more advanced techniques that generally don't fall prey to these simplistic tactics, but it'd be folly to presume them impervious. Does it still happen?"

2 of 201 comments (clear)

  1. who cares? by reaper20 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Nine times out of ten, when using Google, exactly what I am looking for is in one of the first few links.

    I had a boss that was asking me "How do we improve our site on google?"

    Answer: Provide actual information instead of some glossy maketrdroid garbage that is so prevalent in webpages today and you wouldn't have to worry about the search engines would you?

  2. Re:this trick works every time by woogieoogieboogie · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Create a well-designed, easy-to-use web site that follows accessibility and useability guidelines.

    You forgot to say "make sure it works in lynx because all disabled people use lynx as their browser."

    Who makes the "guidelines" for usability. For accesibility? Do all disabled people get lumped together so that one guideline fit's all? Each disabled person has their own difficulties and there is no one size fits all approach. Disabled people are no different that any other person and it is up to them to empower themselves with the technology to view any webpage regardless of guidelines used.

    Maybe we can use the gubment's guidelines and use PDF files which rate along with Flash as major web annoyances. I mean, so what if a disabled person gets annoyed having thir computer freeze because some clueless moron decided that the best way to give out a 1 page brochure was to put it into a 2 mb PDF. Don't you think disabled peopel get annoyed at this crap also. But it's okay, because it fit's the disability guidelline.

    The best guideline any web developer can use is both common sense and do not interfere with the user regardless if they are disabled or not.

    --
    ... Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed...