Hi, I've been looking through Open Site Explorer and found a bunch of dodgy pages/files which are supposedly (or have previously been) linking to our site.
Having looked at about five of our other competitors they all have similar links pointing to them, with the exception of of the one major competitor which raises suspicions.
For example, OSE reports these (be warned they start downloading files):
http://www.disneymobile.jp/pc/pdf/DM002SH_tukaikata_PC.zbf?func=viewtag&tagid=69867&tagname=malis&visit=19066
http://www.i-paradise3.jp/~music/file/free1/img/407.3gp?ID=5&tag=rtm-300c
http://www.samsung.com/us/system/consumer/product/xe/50/0c/xe500c21a01us/500C21_White.swf?cid=16692
http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/rmra/oe/rpts/hecmdata/hecmdata_current.zipx?rech=came&modele=&numfamille=&choisi=V&panier=1&ref=105534
Is this likely to be the result of a competitor actively attempting to damage our site (among others)?
And if so, how's best to report this to Google? So far it doesn't seem to have negatively impacted our rankings, but am concerned it could result in a spam report being filed against us.
Thanks
I don't think you can draw the conclusion that its a competitor doing this to damage you - it could just as easily be a referral spammer testing his software and not having that one competitor on his list.
But lets say those links *do* exist and they *do* get crawled. Why would this negatively impact on you?
I seem to remember Matt Cutts saying backlinks can't harm you, so algorithmically should be ok, although if someone were to report us for supposedly acquiring these links then not sure how Google would view it as they don't look very legitimate. Many have Japanese and Chinese extensions, and there's a lot of government sites which definitely have no reason to link to us (One was even from Nasa).
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=34449
QuoteAlmost nothing
:-)
Quote"Scott says that he's used Google bowling [...] but he tries to avoid using the tactic frequently. It tests his ethical limits..."
ehheeh he tests the
lower limits, just to make sure they are still intact and that is where the money is ;)
I really don't know about the UK, but in the States, I think someone could bring you to court and win for that. Americans are all for competing, and there
is some toleration for 'cheating' to get ahead. But when you attempt to get ahead by damaging
others.... in any way... the tables turn quickly in court. And once they see the
extent of the intent (measured in voluminous links and keywords) and that there is really no up-side for the company doing it
other than they have less competition... well, depending on how it's done, you could be liable for a
pile of damages.
I'm not saying you shouldn't do it. But I'm saying if you act maliciously... and it's fairly clear cut... the damaged company will sue the company doing it, and that company will in turn sue the SEO, claiming they had no idea what was going on with a plea of 'technological ignorance'. And the SEO will go bankrupt and the company who hired him will try to settle.
well clearly backlinks can hurt you - I just think you need to be a bit pragmatic about whether any given ones actually will, and how much time you can justify spending on worrying about it.
>I seem to remember Matt Cutts saying
You listen to Matt Cutts... *pats newbies hand*...You'll learn...
'salways a good idea to listen to Mr Cutts. Perhaps not to believe him, but to listen.....
Honestly - if you work through this step by step.
1. these sites may not have a reason to link to you, but in general links from government sites or from chinese or japanese extensions arem't bad in themselves - these also appear to be genuine sites, not ones with malware warnings or crappy spam ones?
2. unless you have other links you're worried about, and assuming these are a small proportion of links, its unlikely that these alone will raise an algorythmic flag
3. If someone reports you for spam, and #2 isn't enough evidence that thats stupid, you have the fallback that exactly the same links also go to various competitors. Its pretyy unlikely you would place the same links for you and competitors therefore its pretty unlikely you placed the links. Google do very strange things but I *think* most hand inspections are looking for something more deeply dodgy than that.
Probably the easiest thing to do if you want insurance is to email the webmaster at each domain and ask for the link to be removed. I suspect its probably not even a real link, but if it is, then you've asked and you have proof you tried if you have issues in the future.
I'm pretty sure that inbound links cannot damage your site. The worst is that they won't give you any benefit. I think the key is in your assessment that they don't appear to have done any damage.
We're pretty good at worring about the monster in the shadows in this industry. Most of the time it's just a funny shaped tree. More great metaphors coming soon...