Posts tagged site
Example email to a hacked site
Apr 27th
Beyond clear-cut blackhat webspam, the second-biggest category of spam that Google deals with is hacked sites. The most common reaction we hear from webmasters is “The problem is with the Google search. There is nothing wrong with our website.” That’s a real quote from an email one site owner recently sent us. Sadly, it turns out that the site is almost always really hacked.
The single best piece of advice I can give to prevent website hacking is “keep your web server software up-to-date and fully patched.” That prevention is much better than the hassle of cleaning up a hack. Here’s an example email I just sent to a site owner with the identifying details removed:
Hi xxxxxxx, I’m the head of Google’s webspam team. Unfortunately, example.com really has been hacked by people trying to sell pills. I’m attaching an image to show the page that we’re seeing.
We don’t have the resources to give full 1:1 help to every hacked website (thousands of websites get hacked every day–we’d spend all day trying to help websites clean up instead of doing our regular work), so you’ll have to consult with the tech person for your website. However, we do provide advice and resources to help clean up hacked websites, for example
http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=163634
https://sites.google.com/site/webmasterhelpforum/en/faq-malware-and-hacked-sites
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2008/04/my-sites-been-hacked-now-what.html
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2007/09/quick-security-checklist-for-webmasters.html
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2009/02/best-practices-against-hacking.htmlWe also provide additional assistance for hacked sites in our webmaster support forum at https://groups.google.com/a/googleproductforums.com/forum/#!forum/webmasters . I hope that helps.
Regards,
Matt CuttsP.S. If you visit a page like http://www.example.com/deep-url-path/ and don’t see the pill links, that means the hackers are being extra-sneaky and only showing the spammy pill links to Google. We provide a free tool for that situation as well. It’s called “Fetch as Googlebot” and it lets you send Google to your website and will show you exactly what we see. I would recommend this blog post http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2009/11/generic-cialis-on-my-website-i-think-my.html describing how to use that tool, because your situation looks quite similar.
Anyway, just a reminder for site owners to keep their web server software up-to-date, because hacked sites are a real pain. Most Google searchers and even website owners don’t think about hacked sites much, but on our side have to spend a fair amount of effort writing classifiers to catch this illegal activity, helping the victims of hacked sites, adapting when the hackers change their techniques, etc.
View full post on Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO
Penguin Update Peck Your Site By Mistake? Google’s Got A Form For That
Apr 26th
Was your site hit by Google’s new Penguin Update that targets spam? Are you not guilty as charged? Google’s got a new feedback form for that, as well as a method to report spam that should have been caught. I’m Innocent! The head of Google’s web spam team, Matt Cutts, shared…
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View full post on Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
Site Performance, Subscriber Stats & Robots.txt Tool Removed From Google Webmaster Tools
Apr 25th
Google announced they are removing three features from Google Webmaster Tools. Google made the announcement on the Google Webmaster Central blog saying the three features going away include the site performance report, the subscriber stats and the robots.txt creation tool. Google placed reversed…
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View full post on Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
An SEO’s Guide to SEO Audits Part 4: What to Include in Your “SEO Site Audit Checklist”
Apr 25th
More Reading Part 1 The Pre-Audit Preparation Process What to Charge & What to Do Part 2: The Pre-Audit Preparation Part 3: SEO Site Audit Approach & Layout This is really the heart of the matter: what are you going to include in your SEO audit? This should be influenced by: Your price Your area(s) [...]
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SPONSOR MESSAGE: Staying On Course with SEO Site Audits – eSolutions Spotlight
Apr 19th
How does one manage the day-to-day health of the site’s performance while mapping a course to even greater treasures? Check out Covario’s most recent eSolutions Spotlight article to learn how to use site audits as a compass to guide the way.
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
View full post on Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
Facebook Topples Google as Most Visited Site in Brazil
Apr 18th
Facebook became the most visited site in Brazil over the weekend. The social network took 11 percent of all internet traffic, just slightly greater than Google Brasil, as the two fight for market share in the booming South American country.
View full post on Search Engine Watch – Latest
Top Rated SEO Company in Atlanta Launches Their New Site – WebWire (press release)
Apr 17th
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Top Rated SEO Company in Atlanta Launches Their New Site
WebWire (press release) A new site founded for those who are interested in the SEO world or simply to those who need help when it comes to ranking their site. Atlanta, Georgia – (April 17th, 2012) –– A new site named www.libeltyseo.com has been launched by owner and SEO … |
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An SEO’s Guide to SEO Audits Part 3: SEO Site Audit Approach & Layout – Search Engine Journal
Apr 17th
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An SEO's Guide to SEO Audits Part 3: SEO Site Audit Approach & Layout
Search Engine Journal In parts one and two of our series on conducting SEO site audits, we looked at how to price and scope your SEO audit as well as questions to ask, accounts to gain access to, and tools to have at your disposal. In this section I want to look at the … |
View full post on SEO – Google News
An SEO’s Guide to SEO Audits Part 3: SEO Site Audit Approach & Layout
Apr 17th
In parts one and two of our series on conducting SEO site audits, we looked at how to price and scope your SEO audit as well as questions to ask, accounts to gain access to, and tools to have at your disposal. In this section I want to look at the overall approach an SEO [...]
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View full post on Search Engine Journal
Make Search Engines Love Your Site With This SEO Software – PCWorld
Apr 12th
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Make Search Engines Love Your Site With This SEO Software
PCWorld SEO software doesn't come cheap, so research these well to see which best suits your business. Creating a money-making online venture is not a simple challenge. Market Samurai is a comprehensive suite of tools aimed at making the process easier by … |
View full post on SEO – Google News
