Basic cloaking

[Brian Turner]

I've come across a few basic examples of "cloaking" recently - ie, presenting keyword stuffered pages to search engines, while directing human users to different pages.

I'll mention a couple of different basic examples here, so you know what *not* to do on your business sites - or invite a possible penalty from Google:


1. Scripts and redirects

The user lands on a page, and a script that a browser can read - but not a simple search engine spider - sends the user to a properly presented page, leaving the search engine stuck on a page focused on keywords.

Javscript is a popular tool here - search engines traditionally have problems using it, so it's been abused alot for this purpose.

To see a simple example, disable Javascript in your browser (Firefox > Tools > Web Features > Disable Javascript):

gadget-box.com

Notice the simple use of keywords being targeted, plus the use of sitemap links.

What's sad about this method is that you should be able to target your keywords in your pages and links to your pages anyway - plus what's wrong with having the appropriate sitemap links in your pages as well?

Overall, an invitation for high risk, which isn't really necessary.


2. Hiding text in tags

Here's another one with a more varied used - you have the main site run through a script, and then add a <noscript> tag to then load up on keywords and hidden links.

The user will see the results of the script, the search engine is left simply reading the noscript or similar tags.

It doesn't have to be a <noscript> tag - another common method is abuse of the <noframes> tag as well for when using on framed pages.

This method is similar - and can be used in conjunction with 1. (above) - the difference simply being that the content is specifically hidden in a different way.

To see a simple example, disable Javascript in your browser (Firefox > Tools > Web Features > Disable Javascript):

flyonthewall.uk.com

Check the source code to see the site is built on about 4 sets of frames - then content is purposefully hidden in a noframes tag - watch for the keyword stuffed H1 tags.

The links themselves are to "landing pages" - natural keyword-rich pages, which in this instance are actually stolen from another site.

In fact, one of the nastier sides of SEO is that some people will set up perfectly normal looking sites - which are filled with content stolen from other websites, all hidden in noscript or noframes tags.

What is all the more ironic is that noscript and noframes are perfectly legitimate ways to describe your site to search engines under normal circumstances - for example, to describe the Flash content on a page.

Again, this method invites high risks, and reall isn't recommended on your business sites. And if you are considering stealing work from other sites to hide in your tags, remember that the owner may seek to prosecute, or file a DMCA report to have the pages removed from search engines.


Anyway, Basic claoking - for information purposes only.

[Brian Turner]

Just an addendum - here's a fairly high profile site using javascript and noframes tags to display a very different page to browsers and users:
http*://www.bradford-bingley.co.uk/

[click2britain]

Hi Brian,

hmmm...very interesting subject & info.

Thanks for sharing with us.