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Wordpress Banned by Google for Spamming

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the there-be-scammers-everywhere dept.

The Real Nick W writes "Wordpress, an incredibly popular Open Source Blogging system was found to be spamming google by inserting hidden links to junk content on high paying Adsense keywords such as mesothelioma and debt consolidation. Following Threadwatch picking up the story an anonymous Google rep appeared in the original thread admonishing bloggers not to use sneaky tactics to rank highly for "duplicate content" such as the 100,000 hidden articles on the Wordpress site. The articles have now dissapeared from Google and it remains to be seen whether Google will ban Wordpress outright as they tend to do when SEO's and web dev's pull these kinds of stunts."

15 of 472 comments (clear)

  1. Er... by ZiZ · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "Mesothelioma"? It's a cancer, I guess (or so Google says), but not one I've ever heard of. How did that get to be an expensive adsense word?

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    This flies in the face of science.
    1. Re:Er... by The+Jonas · · Score: 4, Interesting

      True. A couple of years ago books with commercial and government applications and recommendation for asbestos use were selling for upwards of $2000.00 on eBay. Here is another example of some of the continued interest in collecting evidence in these lawsuits. One of the better selling books back then was "Naval Machinery" which detailed the use of asbestos in US battleships, etc.

      An ebay search for "asbestos" sometimes yields some surprising results.

    2. Re:Er... by ergo98 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      My father worked for a couple of decades for Grace in a processing plant in St. Thomas, ON., and of course in his mid-50s he developed, and passed away from, a quick spreading lung cancer caused by asbestos.

      Of course the cause was the heavily laced vermiculite (I remember hopping in big bins full of the stuff when I was a kid. It was a really neat spongy stuff that looked really interesting) that Grace was processing at the St. Thomas plant, and they knew for many years that it was packed full of asbestos but decided that lawsuits due to death and injuries were less costly than cutting off the asbestos lined mine.

      Anyways, a lot of executives at Grace should have gone to jail for gross negligence causing death, but of course they didn't. As it stands we never did sue Grace, as that sort of case is much less common here in Canada, but I'm sure my father wasn't the only victim.

    3. Re:Er... by tompaulco · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Just to clarify, vermiculite itself does not contain asbestos. In fact, it is a type of rock in and of itself which, like a ballpark frank, "Plumps when you cook it", becoming a very light rock.
      The reason the two became associated was, as mentioned in parent, one particular vermiculite mine had asbestos in it as well. All the vermiculite mines which tested positive for asbestos are now closed down.
      I used vermiculite and cement for the bottom of my inground swimming pool (under the liner of course). The result is a bottom that is easier on the feet than a traditional concrete bottom. While vermiculite and cement is not as strong as gravel and cement, it is still able to support a 30 foot water column, which is far deeper than my pool.
      Vermiculite is also commonly used as insulation, especially in masonry applications.

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      If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
  2. Lots of problems like that... by chris09876 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Although it's good that Google's taking a step in the right direction by trying to keep their index clean, there are lots of sites who try to spam the index. SEO is a huge 'industry'. Cracking down on some of the big perpetrators is a good start, but more needs to be done if Google wants to maintain (and even improve) the quality of their searches.

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    I store my recipes online (the way nature intended)
  3. SEO by chiapetofborg · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I work for an SEO company, and we hear about all the sneaky tricks, but it isn't all that hard to be optimized while not pulling sneaky attacks. Google has a very complicated algorithm that take a lot of things into effect. The reason that they rank pages that have certain characteristics, is because those pages can actually be good, they don't have to be sneaky. A very closely monitored network of domains, can get a very high page rank. One need not revert to sneaky tactics to do well.

    1. Re:SEO by rjelks · · Score: 4, Interesting

      "One need not revert to sneaky tactics to do well."

      If Google gives higher rankings to sites that have more links pointed at them, would you consider link exchange programs sneaky? For instance, lots of websites link to slashdot.org, but I doubt that CowboyNeil has a SEO company getting reciprocal links for /. I'm really not trying to flame, but I'd like to understand the perspective from the SEO's.

      Are link exchanges just another example of exploiting a flaw in google?

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      Tech News, Reviews and Tutorials
  4. Google by Schezar · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This is why I love Google. They approach problems in an intelligent manner.

    Problem: Spammers are very obviously trying to muck with our results.

    Solution: Block said spammers.

    The only problem is that it's hard to notice all but the most egregious offenders.

    I've love Google to add a link to the standard search results. Something like "Report Spam." If enough (100k, a million, whatever) unique people/IPs reported a site or result, it would be flagged for human review.

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  5. Wordpress collaborating with spammers ? by Merik · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I use wordpress on my blog.

    And i get a loads of comment spam that use keywords similar to the spam words that the wordpress website was hosting.

    I wonder if the wordpress website maintainer has aided the creation of spam bots to identify worpress users and post on thier sites using weaknesses of the default install.

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    What is the sound of this sentence?

  6. none by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The current issue of 2600 had a letter suggesting people do exactly what Wordpress was now caught doing. Funny thing is, the letter writer was given a dismissive response, because everyone thought it wouldn't work (at least not for long.)

  7. Geez - what a kneejerk by Dethboy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Reaction...

    Go here: http://planet.wordpress.org/

    Read. Maybe read it again if yer slow. Sounds like the guy was simply trying to raise a few bucks to support what is IMO one of the best blogging apps out there.

  8. their own shit don't stink by Rinisari · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Blogger is full of this shit, too.

    Just keep hitting "Next Blog" and you'll find a ton of blogs set up for advertising, just like those.

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    Colin Dean Go a year without DRM
  9. About time dammit by onyxruby · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If Google would do this kind of thing much more often, it's results would stop becoming watered down. They should make their policy simple. Googlebomb google and stop getting linked from Google. After a few businesses get nailed and put out to pasture the rest will learn and their results will once more become relevant.

  10. Well, at least they dont try to hide it.... by imsabbel · · Score: 5, Interesting
    just now from their frontpage:
    <div style="text-indent: -9000px; overflow: hidden;">
    <p>Sponsored <a href="/articles/articles.xml">Articles</a> on <a href="/articles/credit.htm">Credit</a>, <a href="/articles/health-care.htm">Health</a>, <a href="/articles/insurance.htm">Insurance</a>, <a href="/articles/home-business.htm">Home Business</a>, <a href="/articles/home-buying.htm">Home Buying</a> and <a href="/articles/web-hosting.htm">Web Hosting</a></p>
    </div>
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    HI O WISE PRINCE. WHT TOOK U SO DAM LONG?
  11. what a shame by Hallow · · Score: 3, Interesting

    First they don't tell anybody about it. Then they stop people from talking about it.

    Stuff like this is just sleazy, and calls into question the character of the devs and site admins. Either that, or it's just a really stupid, really immature move.

    I wonder if they've realized they've just upset a lot of users, who are now wondering if they can trust the devs and the software they produce anymore. I wonder if they even care.