Expert Exchange gets narky after snub from Q/A site review

Post by bmuenzenmeyer » Wed, Feb 16, 2011, 4:30 AM UTC

Vivtek wrote: post #77

bmuenzenmeyer wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By the way, if you scroll ALL the way down to the bottom of any question page you do see the best answer. Apparently they bank on the fact most people won't scroll that far and get discouraged by the "paywall" on the top. The Google crawler requires the text to be visible I've heard

Only if your referrer is google.com. If you link from here, for example (e.g. http://www.experts-exchange.com/Virus_and_Spyware/Anti-Virus... ) you really will just see the paywall.

Post by pbiggar » Wed, Feb 16, 2011, 4:50 AM UTC

bmelton wrote: post #47

"What do YOU think makes this site different from other Q&A sites?" Why, at one time, I was one of the highest ranked volunteer 'experts' on the site, having amassed the EE equivalent of a zillion karma, or whatever they're called, and then, literally, the first time I go there to ask a question, they're all of a sudden premium? I literally helped build that site's content, and not only got nothing for it, but I have…

Post by lwat » Wed, Feb 16, 2011, 5:05 AM UTC

bobds wrote: post #42

barrkel wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And of course, if you change the Referer header to http://www.google.com/ , you get a different page with the solution at the bottom. I find myself wondering though - why don't they get punished more for feeding different content to the GoogleBot vs what the normal viewer sees? Isn't it basically cloaking - even though clicking on the link in Google search results will still serve up the solution, a normal, organic l…

Google sort of encourages this kind of cloaking. It's called First Click Free. http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en...

Post by sgdesign » Wed, Feb 16, 2011, 5:28 AM UTC

Post by htp » Wed, Feb 16, 2011, 6:07 AM UTC

icco wrote: post #48

jarin wrote: post #9

Honestly, I'm just shocked to see that there's a real person behind the site. I don't know why, but whenever I stumbled across an EE answer through Google, it's always seemed like a place full of crystallized ancient knowledge.

They are based in San Luis Obispo, CA, and I have met a few people that work there. It's interesting to hear all of the complaints from people who work there right out of college (Cal Poly is near by). Apparently they are not very nice to their developers and many burn out after a year and quit.