Search Engine Optimization

October 11, 2004 9:28 AM

GoogleBombing: Suppose I register 10 domains, and upload an HTML page to each domain that has a named link - for example, "Click here to buy Cheap Shoes" - and these named links all point to the same webpage....when someone searches on Google for "Cheap Shoes", will the page that has 10 domains linking to it stand a better chance of being higher up in the rankings?
posted by SpaceCadet to Computers & Internet (19 answers total)

This is known as link farming, and Google -- along with other indexes -- actively discourage doing so.
posted by majick at 9:42 AM on October 11, 2004

Better than what? In the named example, you might get a ranking of 134,454 rather than 134,458, because that term is so common. Your overall ranking will still be crappy because nobody (presumably) is linking to each of the 10 pages you're using to point at your bombing target, so they have very little 'authority.'

If you do this with the term "coagulated cornstarch," you'll definitely outrank the one page that's out there with that term (my googlewhacking technique is unstoppable), because you've got ten pages pointing to yours. 10 crap pages, but still 10.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 9:44 AM on October 11, 2004

It will help a tiny bit, but not much, because Google rank is calculated based on not just the number of pages that link to a site but also these pages' own rankings. So the 10 pages that link to your main page don't have any "juice" of their own, because nobody links to them. You might bet tempted to try having them link to each other to try to manufacture some juice, but that won't work either because Google no doubt has filters that detect when a group of pages link only to each other.
posted by kindall at 9:45 AM on October 11, 2004

Um, btw, can I just get a little love for that? -- I just scored a perfect googlewhack off the top of my head. There was a point in 2001 when I spent days trying to do that.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 9:48 AM on October 11, 2004

No, I didn't. Never mind. 2001 was so long ago.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 9:57 AM on October 11, 2004

Results 1 - 10 of about 495 for coagulated cornstarch. (0.48 seconds)

Dorlands Medical Dictionary
... acid (CNA) agar, an agar medium containing peptone, cornstarch, sodium chloride ... Loeffler
coagulated serum medium, a culture medium containing veal infusion ...
www.mercksource.com/pp/us/cns/cns_hl_dorlands. jspzQzpgzEzzSzppdocszSzuszSzcommonzSzdorlandszSzdorlandzSzd... - 101k - Cached - Similar pages

Definition of Curd from dictionary.net
... milk curd; "bean curd"; "lemon curd" 2: coagulated milk; used ... clabber, clot, clotted
cream, coagulate, coagulum, condensed milk, cornstarch, crassamentum, cream ...
www.dictionary.net/curd - 7k - Cached - Similar pages

Definition of Gumbo from dictionary.net
... chicken soup, chowder, clabber, clabbered, clam chowder, clammy, clay, clayey, clayish,
clear soup, clotted, coagulated, consomme, cornstarch, cream, curd ...
www.dictionary.net/gumbo - 7k - Cached - Similar pages
posted by Khalad at 9:58 AM on October 11, 2004

Khalad, you've got to put the sucker in quotes.
posted by dobbs at 10:08 AM on October 11, 2004

ah ah ah! I just did it! USB bitches! and it goes to kuro5hin of all places.
posted by mcsweetie at 10:15 AM on October 11, 2004

If you put it in quotes, it's not a googlewhack. You're not supposed to search for a two-word phrase, but for a pair of words. This is a googlewhack (off the top of my head, to boot).

"USB bitches" (in quotes) also isn't one.
posted by kenko at 10:33 AM on October 11, 2004

props stupidsexyFlanders!

I don't think there's really an effective "inorganic" method to skew Google results, unless you want to devote loads of resources to outsmarting the search engine. And if you're selling shoes, as opposed to selling the google-skewing techniques to spam merchants, you can't really afford to do it.

Note: I don't have a lot of specific research to back that statement up, but that's the gut feeling I get from the reading I've done.
posted by jpoulos at 10:33 AM on October 11, 2004

BTW, "coagulated cornstarch" gets zero results for me. I guess Googlewhacking is relative to the particular server your search hits?
posted by jpoulos at 10:34 AM on October 11, 2004

Another.
posted by kenko at 10:37 AM on October 11, 2004

For reference on Googlewhacking, see here.
posted by rorycberger at 10:39 AM on October 11, 2004

conflated snarkfest is another one.
posted by sebas at 10:53 AM on October 11, 2004

Actually, conflated snarkfest isn't one, because "snarkfest" isn't underlined (i.e., isn't recognized as a word for which google will provide a definition).
posted by kenko at 12:14 PM on October 11, 2004

susurrant gravitas
posted by languagehat at 12:52 PM on October 11, 2004

Completely off topic, but woohoo, I got a googlewhack on my second try. amygdala hornswaggle. (That would be a great band name.)
posted by headspace at 9:01 PM on October 11, 2004

rumba durometer
posted by youhas at 2:27 AM on October 12, 2004

headspace, yours doesn't count because "hornswaggle" isn't a defined word (see kenko's comment above). And youhas, I get 4 results for "rumba durometer" (believe it or not). Try again!
posted by languagehat at 12:45 PM on October 30, 2004