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Wordpress Banned by Google for Spamming
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."
Google : You are cheating!
Wordpress : Here is 1000000$US
Google : You are so kind!
It will come... oh yeah...
No sig for now.
...the more they yadda yadda yadda. Invent any new tech for transmitting useful info on the net and sooner or later someone finds a way to massage the system to their advantage. Fix it and they find a way around. Now if they were totally pro-active across the board at Google and shut this down completely no matter what the search terms, we'd be living in a perfect world but they can't and as good as they ever get, someone will get around it.
BTW, how long until Google becomes the Microsoft of search engines and a rebellion begins because we realize we've come to rely on them to the point that other avenues have withered away but at the same time they are far from perfect and perhaps in our view then possibly malignant?
If my grammar and spelling are off, I am [distracted/tired/careless] (take your pick)
Fewer Junk-chars you say? Ok, how about this, FUCK YOU!?
This is *not* Google's internet. What people do on their own webpage is their own damn business. Who gives a flying flip if it's "against Google's rules"? I believe the site is hosted in the United States, and last I checked, in most of those states, the 1st Amendment still applies.
How is what was done any worse than a googlebombing, or any other "abuse" of Google's indexing criteria? This technique is not new. This technique IS NOT the same or similar to e-mail spam. Perhaps Google needs to work on its ranking criteria. Like most tech companies, when they were small they embraced the hackers, now that they're big they and their fanboys seem to be about to begin attacking them.
Matt has spent more time working on the Wordpress project than most of these whiners spend masturbating, which is a lot. It's sad that his work and recognition has made him a target of these leeches.
A mistake in judgement, among many months of doing things right, was made. It was nothing more than a P.R. error. I wish people would just grow up and deal with it. Threatening to boycott a free product is just stupid.