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Is The 'Rip Off Report' Ripping-Off Google's Algorithm?

The "Rip Off Report" (ROR) is a site that aims to help consumers spread the word about dishonest businesses, scams and possible rip-offs, but Chris Bennett takes them to task for what he calls SEO spam and gaming Google's algorithm.

As a source of constantly renewed user-generated content, the ROR has hundreds of thousands of pages that can make it into Google's index. According to Compete data, Google refers nearly 610,000 searchers to the ROR each month--with the referrals stemming from roughly 5,700 different keywords. But since the ROR doesn't censor or fact-check these user complaints, Bennett argues that people wishing to hijack a competitor's brand name can do so by posting a fake, keyword-stuffed review.

Bennett uses screenshots, research, material from the ROR's Terms of Service and his company's own personal experience to illustrate how spammers have been using the site to game searchers and Google. Like Wikipedia, the ROR seems to have a chokehold on Google's SERPs--but the bulk of the information the site contains is potentially damaging, possibly untrue, and never monitored--a deadly combination for honest business owners.

Read the whole story at 97th Floor »

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