Google Cloaking and Stuffing Its Own Pages?

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Rumors that Google may have been engaging in a cloaking and keyword stuffing activities, forbidden by the search engine’s own policies, have gained more credence, as examinations of Google HTML code seem to point to the search giant displaying different results for surfers than it does for its own spidering tool.

The discovery places an ominous tone on a seemingly innocuous statement made by CEO Eric Shmidt in an August 2004 article about the company’s IPO.

When asked about “Don’t be evil,” the Google corporate motto, Schmidt said, “Evil is what [co-founder] Sergey [Brin] says it is.”

Typically, Google frowns deeply on both cloaking, the act of displaying one web page to surfers and a different one to bots, and keyword stuffing, or placing a ton of similar keywords within a page in order to artificially increase its page rank. In fact, Google’s own guidelines warn webmasters that either activity could result in a permanent ban from the Google index.

A look at the source code of both this page about AdWords policies and a cached version of the same page that Google has since removed seem to bear out the accusations.

While the title of the non-cached version that users typically see reads, “Google AdWords Support: Why do traffic estimates for my Ad Group differ from those given by the standalone tool,” the title of the cached version, the one that is displayed to search engine bots as they spider sites, reads, “traffic estimator, traffic estimates, traffic tool, estimate traffic Google AdWords Support.”

What the implications of a corporate entity like Google, which has a fiduciary duty to its stock holders and, therefore, a right to tailor its engine to make money, violating its own terms of service are unclear, as is whether Google even did something wrong.

The page in question was one of Google’s own help pages and not competing for ranks with outside pages.

“Looks to me like they’re using the technique internally to file things orderly, since they’re generating content that directly populates the database,” wrote Slashdotter Mr. Z. “The nice, handy newline between the keywords and the actual title in the HTML source also makes it trivial for scripts to strip it out later. If they were trying to hide something, they’d teach their cacher to delete the ‘secret’ keyword.”

“Absolutely,” responded pbranes. “People tend to forget that Google is a corporation. They can do whatever they want with their search engine. Their goal in life is to keep you looking at their pages and using their search engine so that they can show you more ads. It’s all about money.”

Google was unavailable for comment at deadline and had not issued a statement about the source code or why they removed the page.

Copyright © 2024 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

Niki Media Acquires BritSexCash

Production studio Niki Media BV has acquired affiliate program BritSexCash.

FSC Warns of Nude Photography Site Falsely Claiming Affiliation With Organization

Free Speech Coalition (FSC) published a statement Friday warning of a nude art photography website fraudulently claiming to be associated with the industry trade organization.

MojoHost Reaffirms Commitment to Adult Industry Amid Project 2025 Implications

In the wake of Tuesday's election and amid concerns about the possible ramifications for the adult industry, MojoHost President Brad Mitchell has releases a statement addressing Project 2025 and the future of the industy.

Adult Web Hosting Service 'Midnight-Host' Launches

Midnight-Host, a new web hosting service designed specifically for adult websites, has launched.

ASN Lifestyle Magazine Joins Pineapple Support as Media Sponsor

ASN Lifestyle Magazine has joined the ranks of over 60 adult businesses and organizations committing funds and resources to Pineapple Support, partnering with the organization as a media sponsor.

Adult Industry Reacts to Trump Victory

On Tuesday, former President Donald Trump was reelected, defeating Vice President Kamala Harris to reclaim the office he lost four years ago.

Fetisfy Online Fetish Marketplace Launches

Fetisfy.com, an online marketplace for users to sell fetish items, has launched.

Pineapple Support Launches 'Spill the Tea, Colombia' Community Support Event Series

Pineapple Support has launched "Spill the Tea, Colombia," a monthly, in-person community support event for adult industry professionals.

Streamster Launches 'Tip2Peep' Camera-Switching Feature

Live-streaming software provider Streamster has launched Tip2Peep, a new feature that allows viewers to switch between multiple webcam viewing angles by tipping the creator.

Tyler Wu Guests on Chaturbate's 'Sex Tales' Podcast

Tyler Wu is the latest guest on Chaturbate’s “Sex Tales” podcast, hosted by Melissa Stratton and Vanniall on the company’s “Camming Life” YouTube channel.

Show More