Technorati Spam
How does a blog that has existed for only 5 months have a technorati ranking of over 5000? How does a blogger whose postings include a lot of references to how high his rankings are – do so well on Technorati and Google? The answer Technorati spam. Gary (and many others I won’t link to) use “link trains”. What is a “link train”? (from John Chow):
1. Write a short paragraph at the beginning of your post and link back to the blog that put you on the list in the paragraph. This isn’t a suggestion. You need to break up the duplicate content string. Someone took the time to add you so the least you can do is give them an extra linkback.
2. Copy the list of originals below COMPLETELY and add it to your blog. If you would like a different keyword for your blog then change it when you do your post and it should pass to most blogs with that keyword.
3. Take the adds from the blog that added you and place them in the “Originals” list.
4. Add no more than 5 new TECH, SCIENCE, or CONSUMER ELECTRONICS blogs to the list in the “My Adds” section.
As John goes on to say these will drive Technorati and Google nuts. Sadly they also drive the real users of technorati and google nuts as they are more likely to find this blogs instead of the valuable content they’re looking for. After all Technorati doesn’t exist to boost the ego and readership of (some) bloggers. It exists to help real people find useful content. In their attempts to game the system John, Gary and others will eventually destroy the value of Technorati.
In his latest game Gary has a run a favorites link train – you favorite everyone else on the list and then Gary will favorite you back – etc.
What is technorati doing about this? Ian Kallen has an answer “Breaking the chains” from Feb 27/07. Ian its May 18 and these bloggers still have an unusually high ranking – it would seem your first fix was not enough. In addition what are you going to do stop the spamming of the favorites system? Perhaps you should discount votes when users just appear to exchange them.
Matt Huggins is playing a similar game asking you to review his blog and link to it with the following anchor text: “Entrepreneurial Blog of Matt Huggins”. My knock here isn’t the linkbait (I’ve played that game “Tigger says your code is suboptimal – that’s what Tiggers like best“) – but by asking users to use specific text for the link – he’s gaming the search engines.
Why have I not linked to Gary Lee or anyone else who play these games? Because they don’t deserve another boost to their technorati and google rankings.
Finally to Gary, John and every else who plays these games – if you actually focus on writing real content then I might just subscribe to your blog. (Matt at least fills his blog with real content).
To my regular readers I apologise for the way off topic post – I just need to blow off some steam. To the newcomers, look around, come hang out and stay a while.
Update: In my original post I knocked Ted Demopoulos for linking to Matt – that was out of line – sorry Ted. Also I clarified my issues with Matt, for more discussion on Matt’s blog see
Since When Is Link Baiting Unethical?
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June 4, 2007 at 11:34 pm | Ben
Hey there man, great entry. I definitely agree with you partially, although I do give credit to those who want to make a name for their site. I believe that “we” (profiters of the internet) need to work together instead of tearing eachother apart. Let’s face it, someone with a higher Technorati ranking isn’t hurting you or your profits, are they?
I really appreciate the writing of this article, I do see where you are coming from. Keep it up man!
June 5, 2007 at 2:19 am | Ted Demopoulos
Errr Mark, excuse me first of all because I’ve been flying all day, just got to a hotel where the Internet isn’t working so I’m sitting in the bar using wireless drinking cheap wine while a better bottle sits in my room, and I’m just tired and CRANKY right now. 30 wasted minutes with Hotel Internet support in India doesn’t help my mood.
Not sure exactly what you’re talking about, will reread tomorrow for sure. Matt bought some of my books from Amazon, and I donated a few “Secrets of Successful Blogging” booklets too. I haven’t noticed any horrendous behavior on his part, although I haven’t exactly been watching him. And I just scanned Jeremiah’s post — must of missed it as I enjoy reading him. Matt’s behavior (and I only know him through maybe a couple emails back and forth) doesn’t seem at the level of spammers, thieves, or worse, although perhaps it’s borderline at worst.
OK, now I promise I’ll read your blog in more detail to see what kind of wine you link (my biggest ‘holdings’ are Port and Champagne, but my tastes are diverse. The white zinfadel on display at my home is a joke, although if someone ikes it who am I to derive them of their pleasure?