What is page-jacking and how does it affect the ethical web site owner trying to make an honest living on the Internet? Read on and learn about a modern day racket squad.
The word, page-jacking, comes from hijack and in more recent years, skyjack, and whoever Jack is, he is a very illegal soul and should hit the road like it says in the old Ray Charles song. This illegal activity involves the stealing of content from a web site (usually in the form of a source code) and the copying of it into another web site in order to siphon traffic meant for the former into the latter.
Those who page-jack are lazy individuals (not to mention dishonest), leaving the search engines to spider the contents and index the results so that the copied site will appear in the search result rankings along with the original site’s rankings. Once users realize they are not at the site they originally requested, they may be subjected to mouse-trapping, which involves the disabling of browsers so that back and forward buttons cannot be used. (No cheese involved here, but just as bad.)
Users can avoid this illegal practice by disabling the “Java script” function of the browser BEFORE surfing the Internet and by obtaining software, which would filter offensive material. You can also manually enter a new URL or web address, should you find yourself at the scammer site. Both page-jacking and mouse-trapping are prohibited under the Federal Trade Commission Act and should be reported to their complaint center if encountered.
These search engine practices, like crime, don’t pay in the long run. Stick with ethical strategies and you can never go wrong!
September 10, 2007
August 27, 2007
What Are Doorway Pages and Why Are They Unethical?
What are doorway pages and why are they so named? Why are they unethical? Read on even if you don’t want to enter the room in question.
Doorway pages are web pages that have been created for the sole purpose of spamming the index of a search engine by inserting unwanted results (sending users to a different page than intended). They are also known by other names but as Shakespeare once said about roses, well, you know the rest. Stay away from bridge pages, portal pages, zebra pages, jump, gateway and entry pages.
Doorway pages are very easy to identify because they are designed not for human users but rather for search engines. Sometimes a doorway page may be copied from another high-ranking page, but if the search engines discover it, that page will be excluded from search engine listing as a duplicate. If you click through to a doorway page from a search engine results page, usually you will be redirected to another page via a META refresh command.
Due to the fact that search engines penalize the use of META refresh commands, some doorway pages use the ruse of having the user click on a link to get to the desired destination. More sophisticated doorway pages, known as “content rich doorways,” do not use the ploy of redirection to gain high placement in search engine results. Their appearance is more user friendly and natural and they call on visitors to click on standard links as “calls to action.” This accrues traffic, which is directed within the context of pay-per-click campaigns.
Get help with setting up an ethical SEO program. Understand the pitfalls. Avoid falling into an unethical trap either by inadvertently receiving or emitting doorway pages.
Doorway pages are web pages that have been created for the sole purpose of spamming the index of a search engine by inserting unwanted results (sending users to a different page than intended). They are also known by other names but as Shakespeare once said about roses, well, you know the rest. Stay away from bridge pages, portal pages, zebra pages, jump, gateway and entry pages.
Doorway pages are very easy to identify because they are designed not for human users but rather for search engines. Sometimes a doorway page may be copied from another high-ranking page, but if the search engines discover it, that page will be excluded from search engine listing as a duplicate. If you click through to a doorway page from a search engine results page, usually you will be redirected to another page via a META refresh command.
Due to the fact that search engines penalize the use of META refresh commands, some doorway pages use the ruse of having the user click on a link to get to the desired destination. More sophisticated doorway pages, known as “content rich doorways,” do not use the ploy of redirection to gain high placement in search engine results. Their appearance is more user friendly and natural and they call on visitors to click on standard links as “calls to action.” This accrues traffic, which is directed within the context of pay-per-click campaigns.
Get help with setting up an ethical SEO program. Understand the pitfalls. Avoid falling into an unethical trap either by inadvertently receiving or emitting doorway pages.
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