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Warning Signs A Blog Isn’t Legitimate
Posted by annaswan • 9/22/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: scraper, splog
By now I'm sure you've heard the terms "splog" and "scraper", here are a few warning signs that a blog may not be what it appears to be.
If someone posts a shameless plug in very poor English, but has a blog that’s expertly written - there’s a chance the content has been stolen.
If the blog has been around for quite some time, 6 months or more, and has no Google rank - the bar is completely GRAY in color - there’s a good chance Google has already detected duplicate content, and blocked the blog from search results.
If the blog has only been around a month or so and has an extremely high Google page rank, such as a 4 or 5, there’s a good chance the blogger is stealing page rank by using a redirect and cloaking tactic.
There is nothing wrong with advertising! Advertising is not an automatic indication of wrong doing with a blog. However, if a blog has what appears to be an over abundance of TLA (text link ads) there is a chance the blog is for the sole purpose of making money. It’s advisable not to share links with a blog that contains an over abundance of TLA type advertising because the chances are great that Google will detect and block this blog from search results - rendering your back link useless.
An abundance of affiliate type advertising is also not a direct indication of any wrong doing! Affiliate marketing is a very viable source of income for a blog, and when done properly - an added bonus for readers as well. Even the “big dogs” such as Lowe’s and WalMart have affiliate programs. What you want to look out for are blogs with an abundance of “get rich quick” affiliate links. These types of links sometimes even lead to virus infections and severe browser problems such as homepage reset and redirects when surfing.
Watch out for unrealistic FeedBurner subscription numbers! This one is becoming increasingly popular. If you see a blog with little content, no page rank, no comments, and what looks like very little traffic - yet they have a FeedBurner subscription indicator that say’s they have 12,457 subscribers - beware! If they would willfully use code to alter and fake their subscriber list, you can practically rest assured they’ve used other tactics on their blog as well.
Other indicators that all is not well can include a lack of contact information for the owner, at the very least there should be an email address somewhere.
A lack of timely posts, huge gaps in the posting calendar followed by bursts of several posts in a row on the same day often indicates someone that blogs only when they have paid reviews to do.
Bad judgment where credits are concerned - I see this quite often, a blogger will alter the code on WordPress templates and remove the template creator’s name and replace it with their own. Photographs without a mouse over “alt” tag, and no credit given anywhere are another indication of bad judgment.
User Comments
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Thank-you for this information!
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Very good info. Thank You! -
I found this most interesting and informative. But I question your comment regarding the "alt" tag and lack of credit on photos: some of us have no idea what an "alt" tag is...and take our own photos so we don't feel a need to credit them.
The thing about blogging is there are those of us who are "just bloggers." We write, we post, we read others' blogs. We are hackers or programmers or SEO wizards. We don't really care that much about page rank...certainly not enough to clog our brains with all that technical stuff in order to achieve it. I don't even know how to find a Google page rank...mine or anyone else's.
So, while I find your cautions very helpful and interesting, please don't forget us "just bloggers" who may not conform to certains standards of legitimacy out of ignorance or ennui. We aren't sploggers or scrapers or even victims of bad judgment...we just want to write without unnecessary complications!-
Hahhaa - I completely understand the points you've made Violet. This was mainly intended for the people who are trying to establish their blog as a serious internet presence. Social Networking is a wonderful way to build traffic, actually - the best I've found. But it's so easy now days to get fooled by "bad blogs" and link up to them, not knowing.
The "alt" tags and photo credits are mainly meant for blogs that post professional sports photos, or any photograph that you know when you see it - came directly from a news story... i.e. there was a lot of this during the Olympics. It's just good blogging to give credits where credits are due. Some bloggers do it with a text credit under the photo, some do it in the "alt" tag.
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"If the blog has only been around a month or so and has an extremely high Google page rank, such as a 4 or 5, there’s a good chance the blogger is stealing page rank by using a redirect and cloaking tactic."
I have to say that my site is high on Google Rank PR1 the domain name Childhoodspeech is the only available name I could get. Yet there has been no redirect or cloaking tactic used. Now there are more than 1000 sites with the domain childhood##.com. I do not agree with this one on "a good chance".-
Okay - give me a minute to visit your blog Annie, I may be misunderstanding what you're saying. You said your blog is a PR-1? If so, this isn't high. The rank goes from 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest. But give me a second to visit your blog and look. Be right back.
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thanks. that is cool.
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Okay, sorry for the delay. Your blog has a very nice PR-1, and this is excellent for a blog so young! Judging by your content and the work and effort you've put into your blog, I would expect this to continue to go up and up! Your page rank is what would be called "organic". This means - in simple terms - you've EARNED it. You haven't employed any tricks or tactics to increase your rank what so ever. And an "organic" ranking is much valued in today's blogsphere. Well done!
But, if a blog as young as yours were to have, say a page ranking of 4 or 5 - it would indeed be suspect. It's practically impossible to EARN a page rank of that magnitude in such a short time. I only personally know of one case in which a person recieved a page rank of 5 in their first month of being online. This was achieved because their name - their personal name - was well known and had many Google listings. They bought a domain in their name... such as anna dot com - and of course all those back links and Google listings for the name bumped their page rank WAY up there incrediably fast.-
Yey! I am in cloud 9! Organic - wow - and I am a spicy, chilli loving person.
I should post your comment. Thanks for the motivation.
Bedtime for me now. Take care all.
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Great post, this was really helpful for me! Thanks! -
@annaswan
Great post! Thank you. -
Great tips, I've seen too many of the above offenses and felt someone should be spraying the net with this type of info.-
The problem is that as soon as the ways you can spot the garbage blogs become public knowledge, unethical bloggers start adapting their strategies to become less obvious. So you'd need to constantly update the information as the tactics evolve (kind of like virus protection software).
I guess that it's still better to call them out and shame them.
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Step by step instructions for dealing with content thieves, including a blank DMCA complaint form are found in this post:
Splog Off! Dealing with content theft
onecoolsite.wordpress.com/2008/05/10/splog-off-dealing-with-content-theft/
See also: How to copyright your digital works
onecoolsite.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/how-to-copyright-your-digital-works/
10 Big Myths about copyright explained
www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html
How to Spot a Splog
lorelle.wordpress.com/2006/09/23/how-to-spot-a-splog/
Antileech plugin redalt.com/Resources/Plugins/AntiLeech
Reporting sploggers:
SplogSpot splogspot.com/ -
when i comment on em!
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