»» Introduction

Search engines exist to retrieve the best results for the end-user. A true search engine optimizer works alongside search engines. They help search engines to better understand what their website is about.

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»» What is Spam

Spam is anything on a website that is designed to trick search engines and to compromise search engine results. Spam is created specifically to trick search engines and has no benefit to the end user.

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»» Examples of Spam

Search engines generally consider the following to be spam:

• Hidden text or links - Text the same color as the background.
• Keyword Stuffing - Keywords repeated over and over again.
• Misleading Text - Text on the page that has nothing to do with your website.
• Cloaked Page and Deceptive Redirects - Web pages that trick search engine spiders into crawling a page the end-user doesn't see.
• Doorway pages - Multiple web pages on the same URL that link to your website but have no links from your website.
• Duplicate site or pages - Copied web pages with different file names or URLs.

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»» Where Can I Report Spam

If you suspect a website of spam, please help by reporting it. Below are direct links to spam report forms on the major search engines.

• Google
• Google Quality Guidelines
• Google Terms of Service
• Google Spam Report Form
• Report Copyright Infringement

• Yahoo Search
• Yahoo Content Quality Guidelines
• Examples of What Yahoo Considers Spam
• Yahoo Spam Policies
• Yahoo Search Spam Report Form

• MSN Search
• MSN Content Guidelines
• Techniques Discouraged by MSN
• Live Search Spam Report Form
• Procedure For Making Claims of Copyright Infringement

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»» About the Author

Sean Odom runs a Houston, Texas based SEO Consulting firm specializing in search
engine marketing and Social Media Optimization.