Don’t leave your fingerprints everywhere!
The Google algorithm changes slightly every day. Most of their very small algorithm changes are implemented to look for new signs of SEO spam. Most of the times when a new spam tactic is detected, it is verified manually and its characteristics are then fed to the algorithm. Google spamcops can also roundup all your spam manually aided by cool Google tools for internal use. So: “Don’t leave your fingerprints everywhere!” When one of your projects is caught, sacrifice it and save everything else you’ve build. (I type with my fingers, so I won’t call them footprints)
Search engines like Google collect so much data, that there is bound to be something to link multiple websites together. The only question is; with how much certainty can Google then say: “This is the work of the same spammy optimizer”. My tip if you plan to break the quality guidelines: Alter your SEO tactic and everything that could be fingerprinted to you with every website you optimize/build. Here are the most common mistakes of leaving fingerprints for Google to find.
The obvious: leaving your identity (identity prints)
With the use of centralized logins for all Google services and logging of everything you do, Google knows much more about you than you might think. When you use the Google toolbar or login to multiple accounts from the same computer you are bound to slipup and connect your spam activities together unintentionally. When you stay under the radar with all of them, this is not a problem. But when one is caught, the other ones will be looked at more closely. To hide your identity, you need to use multiple identities.
Your scripting style (coding prints)
The most common fingerprint you can leave is in your HTML, Javascript or Stylesheet scripting style. If all your websites have a specific buildup that is somewhat unique for just you, that is a certain print to link them together. Using the same javascripts or HTML pieces in all of them might not showup in normal Google results, but Google’s spamcop tools will certainly find them. Even if you have found a scripting style that works best for you (or the search results), alter it as much as possible. Coding prints can be both in your spam tactic as your normal coding.
Linkerprints
I hope my new definition will become standard for these types of fingerprints. Linkerprints are the common signs in your link structure that tie your websites together. A linkerprint can be used as print when the link sources or targets are common within your websites and more unique compared to other websites.
For example:
Somebody selling linkbuilding services that uses the same link sources all the time is bound to raise some red flags. When this red flag is confirmed, all websites with the same inbound link structure will probably loose much of the value of those links.
Another example:
When you directly or indirectly link your websites together, these fingerprints combined with questionable identity prints are enough to indicate a common ownership and one ban can spread to all your properties. So prevent linking to another property from the first and prevent using directories you moderate to boost all your property. Never link to all your property in one breath!
From prints to penalties
Identity prints, coding prints and linkerprints are used to categorize online fingerprints a search engine can use to find common denominators throughout the websites you optimize/build/own/etcetera. Because search engines need a degree of certainty before they give heavy penalties, they need to have unique fingerprints from more than one category. If they search hard and long enough, they will probably find them. But when finding the prints takes too much time and resources, they will probably give up and leave you penaltyless.
Linking sites together doesn’t always lead to propertywide penalties, but if one is penalized they will take a better look at your other properties to find other spam.
To sum it all up:
- Leave as little prints as possible (in every category) and make it harder to find them.
- Make your prints too common to point just to you.
- Stay under the radar!
- Alter spam tactics continuously and don’t use common denominators within them.
And of course my main tip is: Don’t spam, just make the best website ever build! ;)
June 17th, 2007 at 9:03 am
One mistake I once made, was thinking they wouldn’t take the effort to fingerprint my standard, almost unique, HTML buildup.
Although my spammy tactics where different with every site, they where all further investigated and most of them where a blatant break of the quality guidelines, they just had to be investigated manually to detect them.
I used different domain owners, dns-ses, ip-ranges, different linkerprints and nothing other than my standard HTML usage to pinpoint me. Let’s hope they don’t take the effort to manually detect the spam of some of my colleages, because I see fingerprints all over all their work.
February 20th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
I have problems with my online reputation. Is there a way I can track who is posting negative comments about me?