Gawker: valleywag, seo

BusinessWeek's new online strategy: search-engine spam

Owen Thomas — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:20:00 EDT

BusinessWeek has tried it all — comments, blogs, podcasts. But with its latest online strategy, it's really giving up on the idea of serving up quality content. Instead, its new site, Business Exchange, will specialize in gaming Google. Sort through the gobbledygook about "aggregation" and "verticals" and "user-generated content," and you arrive at this vision for the site:

Roger W. Neal, senior vice president and general manager of BusinessWeek Digital, said that as Business Exchange pages work their way up through search engine results, the site should double BusinessWeek’s traffic on the Web within two years, allowing it to sell more ads.

There you have it, bluntly, from a senior BusinessWeek executive: Business Exchange is a search-engine spam trap, meant to capture Google users on their way to actual information. What makes the plan brilliant: In the short term, ad salespeople will sell these pages at BusinessWeek.com rates, raking in a fortune on throwaway content. In the long term, though, BusinessWeek risks turning all of its online inventory into junk by association.

(Photo by Chester Higgins/The New York Times)

Don't hate the SEO player, hate Google's game

Jackson West — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 18:00:00 EDT

From Houston, Texas comes the rhythm and rhyme of Moserious, the "Poetic Prophet" of Search Engine Optimization — AKA Chuck, a marketing specialist from SEO agency Pop Labs. Because even online marketing concepts like conversion closing make more sense in couplets over a catchy beat.

google rules are strict, its a must you abide,
do it right and get rewarded that's how we survive

For real.

Mahalo walking fine, spammy line with Google

Jackson West — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 18:00:05 EDT

Last week, a 43-page internal Google document detailing guidelines for the company's search result "quality raters" was leaked online. It details exactly what qualifies as Web spam, and as SEO pro Aaron Wall points out, much of Mahalo fits the bill. Content copied and pasted from other sites? Check. Lots of AdSense ads and affiliate links? Check. Mostly links to other sites? Check. Anything left after that stuff is removed? Not really. Google doesn't differentiate between human-curated link farming and automated link farming. And a pagerank demotion for the domain would also affect the "how to" content Mahalo shifted its focus to, leaving founder Jason Calacanis and his investors to depend on traffic generated by Veronica Belmont obsessives.

"Google tells us we're polluting the Internet.......

Megan McCarthy — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 18:00:49 EDT

"Google tells us we're polluting the Internet.... In fact, we're just messing with their algorithm. Google created an algorithm that puts all its weight in links. That's their problem, not ours." — Search consultant Michael Gray, an advocate of paid links, daring to suggest that what's good for Google may not be good for the Internet. [Forbes]

Mention "nude pics", increase site traffic — duh!

Tim Faulkner — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 17:44:36 EDT

Silicon Alley Insider is trying to figure out how AOL's BloggingStocks has surpassed Seeking Alpha in the stock blogging market, and they've discovered the obvious: mentioning nude pics, particularly those of controversial pop figures, is a tried and true method of promoting your site through search engines. The top keywords people use to find BloggingStocks are "vanessa hudgens nude" and "amanda beard playboy," whereas top terms for the more serious and boring Seeking Alpha are "seeking alpha" and "visa ipo." Valleywag and BloggingStocks are not alone in appealing to the salacious side of the Web. Many sites know the search engine optimization, or SEO, value in mentioning the latest nude photographs of an attractive young pop star. Including, curiously, Mahalo.

Mahalo, run by professed SEO-hater Jason Calacanis, has been buoyed by two separate Vanessa Hudgens pages in its top ten results since shortly after the story initially broke. However, they have failed to fully capitalize on the Amanda Beard Playboy spread by linking the Olympic athlete's name with "Playboy" or "nude." Perhaps Calacanis should take a break from criticizing optimizers — and start taking notes instead.

Gary Ruplinger will hunt you and try to eat you

Chris Mohney — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 13:40:47 EST

That's just what Hollywood wants you to think! Turns out that linksluttery consultant Gary Ruplinger is something of a Renaissance man, lecturing about fields as diverse as "common snake myths" as well as something horrific called a "pudge pie." It also appears that his little brother will teach you about guitars. Truly, everyone's an instant expert with proper search engine optimization.

Gary Ruplinger: The Aleksey Vayner of Social Media

Chris Mohney — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 17:40:31 EST

"Hi. My name is Gary Ruplinger. You've probably never heard of me. And that's not an accident." No fucking kidding. Unfortunately for you, dear readers, that's about to change. Ruplinger, a self-styled search engine optimization svengali, comes to us by way of Pronet and a small swarm of moderately angry bees tipped over by Jason Calacanis. Ruplinger advocates gaming social media sites any way you can, a la multiple Digg accounts or other skullduggery, in order to get maximum linkwhoreage. But really, it's all in the delivery: the reedy voice, the offensive goatee, the uncontrollable facial twitch. Note the misspelling of "blueprint" in the first appearance of his site logo. Enjoy, if you dare.