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How long has Mahalo been using keyword domains like this?

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Re: How long has Mahalo been using keyword domains like this?

#11

Post by davidu »

volomike wrote: post #7

This is autoblogging. This won't work. Google will see the blog theme fingerprint and will either lessen the index or de-index. Also, the dupe content is another factor that gets you de-indexed. Now if they used a generic, common theme, and different themes; and then if they used unique, synonymized content -- these things would perhaps get past the Google filter unless of course something triggers a manual review at…

It's lame, but what they are doing is not exactly auto-blogging. They are driving traffic (eventually) to Mahalo.

Re: How long has Mahalo been using keyword domains like this?

#12

Post by sjs382 »

volomike wrote: post #7

This is autoblogging. This won't work. Google will see the blog theme fingerprint and will either lessen the index or de-index. Also, the dupe content is another factor that gets you de-indexed. Now if they used a generic, common theme, and different themes; and then if they used unique, synonymized content -- these things would perhaps get past the Google filter unless of course something triggers a manual review at…

  http://dormontplumber.com/ 
  http://www.google.com/search?q=dormont+plumber
  http://bridgevilleplumber.com/ 
  http://www.google.com/search?q=bridgeville+plumber
  http://bethelparkplumber.com/ 
  http://www.google.com/search?q=bethel+park+plumber
This plumbing company seems to be getting away with it just fine. I really wish Google did a better job at smacking down this sort of thing.

Re: How long has Mahalo been using keyword domains like this?

#14

Post by Aaronontheweb »

micheljansen wrote: post #8

I think calling these these kinds of practices "Search Engine Optimisation" is a little perverse. "Search Engine Deception" would be a better term. This is precisely the sort of thing that makes SEO such as shady business nowadays. It might work for now, but it's still a hack based on the current implementation of search engines that will likely be punished later on.

Personally this kind of practice doesn't bother me, but if it bothers you then you can probably send Matt Cutts an email about it - his entire job role is to eliminate this kind of noise out of Google's rankings.

Re: How long has Mahalo been using keyword domains like this?

#15

Post by mahmud »

jergason wrote: post #13

Can someone explain what exactly this is and why it is bad? I am not very well-versed in the Google-fu.

Mahalo registered hundreds of domain names that are actual search queries to improve their search ranking. For example, when Mahalo discovered that people searched for "Car Repair" enough times, Mahalo registered "CarRepair.com" and ended up the first result in google search from that point onward, because google regards the domains that match the query very highly.

Then they repeated this for hundreds of other queries.

This is considered bad form because these shell websites are all indistinguishable in terms of substance, and duplicate content already offered by the main site.

Re: How long has Mahalo been using keyword domains like this?

#16

Post by tedunangst »

volomike wrote: post #7

This is autoblogging. This won't work. Google will see the blog theme fingerprint and will either lessen the index or de-index. Also, the dupe content is another factor that gets you de-indexed. Now if they used a generic, common theme, and different themes; and then if they used unique, synonymized content -- these things would perhaps get past the Google filter unless of course something triggers a manual review at…

What dupe content? If I go to starwarsanswers.com I see different questions than astonmartinanswers.com. If I open a SW question and change the domain to AM, I get redirected back to SW.

Re: How long has Mahalo been using keyword domains like this?

#17

Post by jotto »

volomike wrote: post #7

This is autoblogging. This won't work. Google will see the blog theme fingerprint and will either lessen the index or de-index. Also, the dupe content is another factor that gets you de-indexed. Now if they used a generic, common theme, and different themes; and then if they used unique, synonymized content -- these things would perhaps get past the Google filter unless of course something triggers a manual review at…

where did you learn these details about how google's indexing algorithm works?

Re: How long has Mahalo been using keyword domains like this?

#18

Post by terrellm »

So not only are they content thieves, they are also cybersquatters with names like:

  starwarsanswers.com
  iphoneqna.com
  facebook-questions.com
  nfl-questions.com
  squarespaceanswer.scom
  astonmartinanswers.com
  volkswagenanswers.com
And that's just the first 2 pages of results.

Re: How long has Mahalo been using keyword domains like this?

#19

Post by andrewljohnson »

Aaronontheweb wrote: post #14
micheljansen wrote: post #8

I think calling these these kinds of practices "Search Engine Optimisation" is a little perverse. "Search Engine Deception" would be a better term. This is precisely the sort of thing that makes SEO such as shady business nowadays. It might work for now, but it's still a hack based on the current implementation of search engines that will likely be punished later on.

Personally this kind of practice doesn't bother me, but if it bothers you then you can probably send Matt Cutts an email about it - his entire job role is to eliminate this kind of noise out of Google's rankings.

Matt Cutts is completely aware of everything Mahalo does, if from nothing else than the constant threads on HN.

Re: How long has Mahalo been using keyword domains like this?

#20

Post by ryanhuff »

mahmud wrote: post #15
jergason wrote: post #13

Can someone explain what exactly this is and why it is bad? I am not very well-versed in the Google-fu.

Mahalo registered hundreds of domain names that are actual search queries to improve their search ranking. For example, when Mahalo discovered that people searched for "Car Repair" enough times, Mahalo registered "CarRepair.com" and ended up the first result in google search from that point onward, because google regards the domains that match the query very highly. Then they repeated this for hundreds of other queri…

This may be a naive view, but using the terms in the domain name as an attribute in measuring relevance (and rank) seems to have outlived its usefulness.
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