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The Web Page Cloaking Controversy

Getting To The Top 

http://www.internetday.com/archives/022399.html

You've put in a lot of hard work to get your site developed. You've
added great content, you've optimized the site with meta tags, and
ALT text, HREF's and all the tips, tactics and strategies you've
managed to accumulate. And then you sent it to the search engines,
only to find out you ended up in the 432nd place in MSN. 

But you don't give up. You fix up your tags, adjust your keyword
density and re-submit. Over and over. And, after a few months, and a
number of frustrating attempts, you finally end up with a number 7
position. Pretty darn good. 

And now you begin to see some traffic … some business. And you know
what, your closest competitor (the guy you really don't like) isn't
even in the top 100. Sometimes life is fun. 

But a month or so later, as you are checking your position, low and
behold, your competitor shows up in the number 5 position … and
you've slipped to number 12. How the hell did he get there? 

It's simple. He copied your site. 

He just looked at the source code, checked out your keywords,
analyzed your keyword density, copied your tags, and re-did his page
to get as close a possible to yours. 

You did all that hard work, hours of struggle, months of waiting and
it took your competitor only twenty minutes to plagiarize your site.

Sometimes life ain't so fun. 

Protecting Your Work 

Is there a way to prevent this. Yes there is. 

Recently, a number of companies have created versions of programs
called "cloaking". And, in an abbreviated explanation, here is how
it works. 

Two pages are created. The first is the VISIBLE page, the one that
we want our visitors to see. The second is a HIDDEN page, visitors
don't see it but search engines do. 

What we do is submit the HIDDEN page to the search engines. These
are the pages that are optimized and designed specifically for a good
placement. The search engines rate this page and, hopefully, give
you a good ranking. 

But here's the crux. The page that they report in the search engine
listings is the URL of the VISIBLE page. And on it, there are no
meta tags or any other optimization procedures. It's just a regular
page that we want people to see. 

So your competition can copy your VISIBLE page all they want. It
won't do them any good. The VISIBLE page is just a doorway. It has no
affect on the positioning in the search engines. And the competition
can't copy your placement (HIDDEN) page because it can't be seen. 

Caveat 

One of the arguments against the use of "cloaking" is the possible
misuse by some to create false and misleading pages. A "bait" and
switch tactic. 

But it's really self-defeating in the end. If I'm looking for
"bicycle repairs" and end up on a sex site, I'm going to be ticked
off. That kind of tactic isn't going to help legitimate businesses. 

So what we are talking about here is a process of disguising
optimization procedures NOT an attempt to subvert the integrity of
the search engines by creating misleading pages. Enough said. 

The Two Sides Of The Issue 

The Pros 

Having done all the work, or paid for someone else to do it, why
leave all that work out in public just waiting for someone to take
it? 'Cause you know that's what they are going to do. 

The Cons 

Why do we need cloaking technology? It's inherently misleading. Why
don't we just work on creating well constructed HTML documents that
place well? And then we all have a level playing field. 

Where We Stand 

We go along with the PRO camp. 

Our clients pay us to develop pages that place well in the search
engines. We owe our allegiance to them. And we will take whatever
ethical tactics are available to us to help them maintain their
position. 

At the same time, sites who don't invest the time or the money
shouldn't be allowed to simply reap the rewards of everyone else's
efforts. And right now, without cloaking, that's what's happening. 

It's a contentious issue, fraught with all kinds of complexities.
And yes, there are opportunities to misuse the technology. But it
also rewards those who take the time or the effort to develop their
position in the search engines. 

The arguments will likely wage on until the search engines either
accept or reject cloaking. Until then we'll let you decide what side
of the issue you want to take. 

Resources 

If you are interested in more information, we have a list of a few
companies that offer the cloaking technology at
http://www.atop.net/pinnacle/web_links/links_05.htm 

Free Report 

One of the most time consuming jobs in search engine placement is
attempting to find out where your pages are located under your
selected keywords. Doing this manually is a tedious and time
consuming process. 

We use a nifty program called TopDog which can analyze your position
in 37 different search engines. It's our pick of the litter. (ok,
ok, it's a terrible pun) 

If you'd like to see a sample of the report, send us your name, URL
and a keyword or keyword phrase that you want to be found under and
we'll run off a report for you and send you some information on how
you can get hold of the people who distribute TopDog. Send it to
info@lemaze.com 

Good luck in your efforts to get a good placement in the search
engines. The reward is worth the effort. 

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Also in this issue:

- Cashing In on Email Lists
    The ubiquitous if humble Internet email list has steadfastly
    resisted commercialization -- until now. 
- Report: More classrooms wired, but teachers falling behind 
    WASHINGTON (CNN) -- More schools are getting more computers and
    Internet access, but too many teachers aren't ready to teach the
    burgeoning technology, according to a study released Monday by the CEO
    Forum on Education and Technology. 
- Canadians on the Net, Where They Access, What They Do 
    More than half of the Canadian population has access to the
    Internet, and more than one quarter of the population uses the Web at
    least once a week, according to Toronto-based research firm ComQUEST.
- Survey: E-Mail Most Popular Net Tool Among Israelis 
    A recently published survey revealed that e-mail was the most
    popular Internet utility among commercial users in Israel. 
- The Web Page Cloaking Controversy, Getting To The Top 
    You've put in a lot of hard work to get your site developed. You've
    added great content, you've optimized the site with meta tags, and
    ALT text, HREF's and all the tips, tactics and strategies you've
    managed to accumulate. And then you sent it to the search engines,
    only to find out you ended up in the 432nd place in MSN. 
- Nobody does the Net like . . . KFC? 
    It's common knowledge that the Web is chock full of porn,
    bomb-making recipes, Satan-worshipping sociopaths and pro-drug
    propaganda. Even the seemingly innocuous act of sending an email to a
    newsgroup can lead to a deluge of porn spruiking spam. 
- Personal And Relevant: Targeting With Email
    There is a powerful tool available to marketers, and its name is
    email. 
- Nuremberg Files anti-abortion site back online -- in Holland 
    It may be ironic that the Nuremberg Files, a Web site that packaged
    its anti-abortion militancy with banners of dripping blood, has been
    resurrected by "a liberal, smoking, cursing, bisexual, pro-abortion
    writer." But free speech issues, shrugs the writer in question,
    Karin Spaink, make for "strange bedfellows." 
- Internet tax panel spinning its wheels due to membership dispute 
    A commission Congress created to study taxing Internet commerce was
    supposed to begin meeting in December but remains in limbo because
    of a dispute over who got appointed to the panel. 
- Door slams in face of US cyber-spies 
    It is a badly kept secret that IT companies often like to check on
    rivals' activities through their Web sites.
- U.S. Group Reports Sharp Rise In Web Hate Sites 
    ATLANTA (Reuters) - The Ku Klux Klan and other racist groups are
    increasingly spreading hate messages via the Internet and shifting
    their target audience from street thugs to college-bound teens, the
    Southern Poverty Law Center said Tuesday.
- Gore's virtual government goal unveiled
    New multi-agency 'portal' for seniors covers everything from tax to
    postage stamps.
- ICANN Critics Call for Protest February 23, 1999
    A protest has been called against the Internet Corp. for Assigned
    Names and Numbers, the non-profit corporation that will take over
    managing the Internet's domain names and addresses. 
- First-Hand Lesson in Censorship
    Michaun Jensen's troubles began innocently enough in a computer lab
    at Southern Utah University. She was researching a sociology paper on
   censorship of offensive words and images. 
- New Lists and Journals
    * NEW: Frugal Mom
    * NEW: CENTERPIECE USER'S GROUP MAILING LIST: CPUSER
    * NEW: Heroic Ideals



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