servicey

66 posts

How to abuse Google’s search ranking, for fun and profit

J.C. Penney, one of the oldest and most trusted institutions of commerce, was recently caught bumping up their search rank in Google by using deceptive tactics.

Google has been around since 1998, and ever since they came online, people have been trying to exploit its algorithm to make it so their pages appear first on Google’s listing. Have you ever gone to a website and seen a bunch of terms at the bottom of the page, or sometimes hidden (only visible when you highlight them with the mouse)?

The site was trying to artificially bump its search ranking. Google has “robots” that search the web and extract pertinent words. Loading your site up with descriptive words is one of the oldest tricks to try to get in to Google’s index. Google keeps their search algorithm secret, but they do disclose some information about how their bots work.

J.C. Penney exploited Google’s search algorithm through site links. Lets say you’re selling tires. If a bunch of automotive-related websites link to yours, Google takes that in account and assume that your site’s content is highly relevant and deserves a high rank. The more sites that link to yours, the better.

Google is smart enough to rank sites in terms of overall importance, so a link from someone’s tiny blog might give you +2 points, but if a site like Walmart links to you (they’re big, and get a lot of traffic) – you’ll get +10 points. The more points, coming from relevant sources, means a higher rank. You’re probably thinking “who cares if you’re #1 vs #2 on Google’s search ranking?” but the exact position matters. A lot. Researchers have done studies that say most people are proportionately more likely to click on the #1 link. If you’re a business as big as J.C. Penney, millions of dollars are at stake.

J.C. Penney decided to hire a shady SEO (search engine optimization) company to register thousands of websites whose sole purpose was to link to J.C. Penney. The SEO company would fill these sites with commonly-used search terms, and links. For an example, here’s a link to a Huffington Post “article” that was published before the Super Bowl:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/05/what-time-superbowl-start_n_819173.html

See how most of the “content” is short, simple paragraphs which seem to be factoids (at best)? This site is designed to be indexed by Google so that someone searching for “What time does the Superbowl start?” will be directed to the HuffPo page. This is way more advanced than J.C. Penney’s stunt. (Their pages are so un-interesting they’re not even worth linking to, unless you like looking at lists of household goods.) This HuffPo page isn’t really an article, it’s not really a “listicle” … its a page designed to drive traffic to the site.

Simple tricks like this have been vetted by Google since its inception. Since Google relies on bringing pertinent search terms to people, they really frown on stuff like this. A couple of years ago BMW in Germany decided to post a bunch of invisible text on their website (terms like “cars, auto, which car is the best?” etc) and Google de-listed them. They removed BMW from any and all Google searches! (BMW changed their site and got re-listed.) Every couple of months someone will come up with a “super ninja SEO technique” to drive traffic to websites. Generally any “super ninja SEO technique” will work for a couple of weeks, until Google changes up its algorithm. (Look in the “computer” section of Craigslist, and you’ll find all sorts of ads from people with “super secret SEO techniques.” It’s mostly bullshit.)

In response to J.C. Penney’s deceptive tactics, Google changed its search algorithm. Sites that used techniques like J.C. Penney lost  a ton of traffic. In fact, Google came out and said that approximately 12% of their search rankings have changed in the past week. That’s a ton of upheaval!

Here’s another thing: Web users should be aware of how search rankings are calculated. The number one link in Google might not be the best result for you. If you run a website, its really deceptive to get traffic like this. As someone who buys a lot of stuff online, be wary of links!

My name, my name!!

I’ve seen a great deal of sadness these last few days as people have joined the site. Some assholes took our screen names in Intense Debate before we had to create accounts!

Pitifully confined to one identity for all eternity, unable to mockingly change our names to add “peasant,” “ghetto,” or “entitled” as our designations change, we are bound to suffer a fit of depression.

But wait! There’s hope!

If you want to change your display name (which is not necessarily your username, though it can be), you just take a couple simple steps.

Log into Intense Debate, click on “profile” under “edit profile,” and change your display name. Add a description that will pop up if you hover over your icon in the comments if you’re feeling extra inspired.

See the graphic below – it’s so easy. In other servicey news, it seems that the upload image problem dealing with gravatar is tied to Firefox. It worked for me when I switched browsers.

graphic of editing display

Daily free music from Minnesota Public Radio

Inspired by the other NPR post, my local and hearted public conglomerate has a music station that has a free song every day, downloadable in podcast form on the iTunes store.

It’s wonderful.

Song of the day

And you’re welcome to freely utilize our public radio awesomeness unless you say mean things about Minnesotans being snobby about our awesomeness. You can still utilize it, but you have to debase yourselves by saying we’re at least a little bit awesome.

So you want to be in a research study

PostingIf you have ever been in college, grad school, or been poor, you’ve stared at the pieces of paper tacked to the wall or the ads in the back of the Village Voice.

Bipolar and untreated? We may have $300 for you. Female smoker between the ages of 18-34? Let’s say you get $200.

Most researchers aren’t nefarious, cruel, downright evil, or complete idiots. However, it is not unlikely that they are distracted by trying to get tenure, published, finish a dissertation, etc. So they aren’t exactly your friends either.

Here is a quick guide on how to choose a study and what your rights are.

What to shoot for

Avoid “going big”
The larger the payoff, the more likely you’re in for something painful, like a lumbar puncture; something dangerous, like early stage drug testing; or something time intensive that will have you chronicling minutiae of your life on a daily basis.

A $25-$50 study is your best bet. It’s likely a one time investment of one to two hours of your life. It will buy you a night of drinking or a nice meal. It also will not include drugs, medical procedures, or severe emotional trauma.

Expand beyond health research
Computer scientists need participants too. Usability tests may not net you a ton of money, but you can get anything from a free lunch to $50 for sitting at a computer and telling people you can’t find anything on their website for an hour.

Shut up, Sara. I’m going big.

AKA

Seriously, I’m bipolar and untreated, my life can’t get any worse

Okay. This is where things get tricky depending on how ethical your researcher is. Most are moderately ethical, but that isn’t enough.

1. You get to ask questions before you enroll.
And you should. As a participant, you get to know:

  • What is the purpose of this study?
    • What happens with the results?
    • Who does this help?
  • What am I putting myself at risk of?
    • Scary medical procedures?
    • Scary psychological testing?
    • New and relatively untested drug side effects?
  • Other than money, what am I going to get out of this?
    • If a drug helps me, what happens when the study is over?
    • If I’m on the placebo, but you find out the drug works, how will I know?
    • Will you let me know what the results are regardless?
    • Are any alternative procedures, help, or support available for me?
  • Is there someone on call 24/7 in case anything goes wrong?
    • Will you be in contact with my regular doctor?
  • What happens if something serious happens and I have to have emergency treatment or ongoing treatment to recover: who pays for that?

2. You get to say no
You do not have to enroll just because you showed up to sign the paperwork to enroll. If what they’re asking you to do freaks you out, you can leave.

Additionally, you can leave the study at any time. If the researcher badgers you or pressures you to stay, stand firm and say that you made the decision that is best for you and then hightail it out of there.

I am a heroin-using pregnant woman and would like to participate in the mother study pictured for big money

Sorry. There is often no cash given for research targeted to vulnerable populations. It continues to suck to be desperate, addicted, homeless, institutionalized, or in severe poverty. If that’s your situation, you can still ask all of those questions above, but it’s not as easy to walk away due to your circumstances.

Finally

If you decide to become a guinea pig, tell us how it goes and what you do with the money!

Things to do while procrastinating at 3:40 AM

I returned to my apartment home roughly 4.5 hours ago following a car trip from Texas back to home sweet California.  I’ve been up since 5 AM PST, and am too tired to think straight, let alone write a paper.  So here are things you can do, should you ever find yourself in just this situation.

1.Write a totally useless blog post

2. Play this game.

3. Have you ever heard of grooveshark?  Well, now you have.

4. Do you know what StumbleUpon is?  Well, now you do!

5. Did you know that it’s Cyber Monday, the online shopping companion to Black Friday? Well, now you do!  So, go to Amazon and get some cheap(ish) DVDs.

6. Facebook stalk your cute TA from freshman year.

7. Have a good cry.

8. Stand in front of your oven to warm up a bit.

9.  Maybe tomorrow.