Black Hat SEO from BloomNet

Status
Not open for further replies.
CHR

CHR

Design matters
Nov 28, 2002
8,951
8,442
113
Anaheim
www.avantegardens.com
State / Prov
CA
Did you know BloomNet now has a directory for consumers? http://www.locatemyflorist.com You'll notice that most listings lack a phone number or web link. The site will only link to BloomNet members with one of their hosted sites. Sound familiar?

To see what kind of site optimization 1-800 was doing, I ran a link command at Yahoo and lo and behold - http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/search?p=http%3A%2F%2Flocatemyflorist.com&bwm=i&bwms=p&bwmf=u&fr=yfp-t-501&fr2=seo-rd-se 421 incoming incoming links - all from florists. !!!

But when you look at the pages from the florist sites, there's no visible links to locatemyflorist.com. The webmaster has done them in white on white (hidden):
<a class="SmallTextWhite" href="http://service.corerewards.com/flowerfinder/floristsByState.aspx" border="0">
<img border="0" src="../images/Misc/spacer.png">.</a>
<a class="SmallTextWhite" href="http://service.corerewards.com/flowerfinder/" border="0">
<img border="0" src="../images/Misc/spacer.png">.</a>
<a class="SmallTextWhite" href="http://locatemyflorist.com/" border="0">
<img border="0" src="../images/Misc/spacer.png">.</a>
<a class="SmallTextWhite" href="http://locatemyflorist.com/floristsByState.aspx" border="0">
<img border="0" src="../images/Misc/spacer.png">.</a>
<div id="divCart" style="VISIBILITY: hidden">
<div id="divCartId" style="VISIBILITY: hidden"><input name="cart" id="cart" type="hidden" value="bfja2z45mzuky5fkmoukez45" /></div>
</div>
Click to expand...
That's about as black hat as it gets and will result in severe penalties for the florists from search engines. (How many shops would actually refer their customers to that directory?)

Every one of those florist sites may get banned, but the directory won't - since it doesn't have the hidden links. :( :( :( They're using the florists to build link juice - until they get caught.

Disgusting.
 
Oh isn't that just lovely?! Cathy, great find. Now only if we could send out a smoke signal to the bloomnet florists...
 
Does anybody have a direct email addess to a senior staffer at BloomNet? Or even better, copy & paste the first post and just send it yourself. PM me, please.

The web hosting and directory are being handled by a third-party, CORE Rewards, based in Georgia. As much fun as it would be to out this black hat stuff in a blog post, I don't want to be responsible for possibly getting real florists' sites banned from search engines.
 
Cathy, I did send the first post to 800 last week, they are aware we know, but the ones I have talked to so far are uneducated in this stuff and think this is a good directory for florists. Someone else is supposed to call me Monday.
 
I sent it to a senior person who is seeing that Nance gets it on Mon..if enough of us let them know we are not pleased then I think we will get some action...if not then they are digging their own grave.....hopefully they will fix it....
Sher
 
Here is the real problem with all this, and its just like the steroid problem in sports. No one *really* wants to "cheat" or "black hat", but in the competitive environment we all find ourselves in, and in the never ending greed that defines the human conditions, we realize if just ONE company black-hats, or ONE other athletes juices up, that OUR living is jeopardized, because that person now has a artificial advantage over us, forcing us to consider "keeping up" by doing the same things.

It's an old adage..."one bad apple etc etc". There are so many examples in business (and I just got done reading "Conspiracy of Fools" about the Enron thieves...what a book!) how, in the name of profit and greed, that "good" people feel forced to do bad things in the name of profitability.

Anyway, good job Cathy, as usual. I would venture to say that as long as the management sees a bump in the numbers, they could not care less HOW it being done...unless, of course, they get caught, and then they will simply fire the "black-hat" company and deny any knowledge of their activities.

JMHO.
 
Truth is, this will harm the 800 directory as well. Google analyses a site partly based on its "community" - the sites that it links to and receives links from.

If the directory is receiving 421 links from (soon to be) banned sites, the directory will be guilty by association and have it's ranking reduced substantially. If the directory is linking back to those sites, it will be hurt even more.

Ryan
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom
Back