Are Maplin Search Engine Spamming?

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EH7

  • #1
    I keep noticing that Maplin are showing up for products that they do not sell - the link you find just sends you to a search results page for the phrase you typed into google?! I found this blog about it here - http://303s.com/2006/04/12/are-maplin-search-engine-spammers/

    Here is another example - http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/9324/screenshot20100801at214.png

    As you can see i google an exact model number and maplin bought up there results for some of the keywords in the title i.e 'sony'.


    Surely this can't be legal in Googles eyes?
     
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    crossdaz

  • #2
    EH7 said:
    I keep noticing that Maplin are showing up for products that they do not sell - the link you find just sends you to a search results page for the phrase you typed into google?! I found this blog about it here - http://303s.com/2006/04/12/are-maplin-search-engine-spammers/

    Here is another example - http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/9324/screenshot20100801at214.png

    As you can see i google an exact model number and maplin bought up there results for some of the keywords in the title i.e 'sony'.


    Surely this can't be legal in Googles eyes?
    Click to expand...

    Yeah, I'd call the police if I were you?

    Well done on finding that blog post :)
     
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    E

    EH7

  • #3
    crossdaz said:
    Yeah, I'd call the police if I were you?

    Well done on finding that blog post :)
    Click to expand...

    Google 'maplin searches'

    I assume you are insinuating that i am trying to advertise my own blog - look at the date the blog entry was posted "This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 12th, 2006"
    Why would i wait 4 years to advertise it? lol.

    I have looked through Googles rules and it states under the section doorway pages "Doorway pages are typically large sets of poor-quality pages where each page is optimized for a specific keyword or phrase. In many cases, doorway pages are written to rank for a particular phrase and then funnel users to a single destination."

    Theres also a few other rules this appears to break - like the fact it doesn't match the description google gives of the page.

    Now if i could have serious answers it would be appreciated.
     
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    crossdaz

  • #7
    EH7 said:
    Ok, thank you. Am i justified in doing this? Or is this perfectly legitimate SEO?

    That is the question i am hoping to find the answer to.
    Click to expand...

    There is a give us feedback link at the foot of every search page - they need to be told when results are not relevant.

    Lots of companies return search results based on the search query - in Maplin's case I don't think it's doing them much good. I think they'd be better off spending money on a decent server or the actual products they want to rank for?

    I agree it is a poor quality result though - so needs to be reported.
     
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    EH7

  • #8
    MASSEY said:
    Just report it to Google as suspicious, if your that way inclined.
    Click to expand...

    I am that way inclined when Maplin are stealing traffic from people selling the relevant item searched for and then re-directing them to a page full of similar content at maybe a cheaper price - without ever having to stock the original item.
    All they would need to do is find the most popular searched for keywords regarding e.g 'sony car cd players' take all the model numbers of the most popular and set up pages that re-direct that search to maplins own brand of cd players at a cheaper price.

    Maplin are doing this for thousands of products - potentially stealing traffic from thousands of sites - so i don't think being a 'certain way inclined' like this is petty and not effecting anyone is the right term to use.
     
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    awebapart.com

    awebapart.com

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  • #10
    EH7 said:
    Surely this can't be legal in Googles eyes?
    Click to expand...
    I'd say it is a grey area, open to different interpretation and different opinion. It could be argued that they are writing for the search engines rather than writing for people, so spamming to some extent. But that's just one opinion, another opinion could be that they making their website easier to use and offering advice on product alternatives.

    What they are doing is using a "Low graphics pages" link at the bottom of their home page to offer an alternative view of their website for supposedly low bandwidth connections, but it does look like this part of the site is more geared to the search engines rather than the user, since it doesn't appear to be too user friendly.

    Whether or not it is breaking any rules, only google can decide on that. Google make the rules, and with some rules or issues, Google do not explicitly make clear what those rules are, and ultimately Google is the decision maker.

    The Googe search engine might automatically like a site, like as in think it is OK and not breaking any rules, but you can manually complain about a site, and someone from Google might manually check out that complaint. Even if Google agrees that something might be dodgy, they might not do anything immediately, they might simply use that feedback to see if future improvements to their algorithm can re-rank the page appropriately to offer more relevant pages first.
     
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    EH7

  • #13
    Andy Walpole said:
    No, because nobody likes a rat - and they will complete ignore your report anyway
    Click to expand...

    Why is this site full of little businesses trying to put in there input where its not wanted.

    Yet another "web designer" offering there service despite not being able to create a half decent website for themselves.

    Seriously, what sort of comment is "nobody likes a rat" Its google, they didn't get to be the best search engine by letting people breach there terms.
     
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