It's Hell Being On Top / Google

[banseos]

It's Hell Being On Top / Google

I WILL NOT NAME NAMES BUTT ..........

I have several business ventures with partners online. I started putting my sites up in 1997 and as late as 2000. I'm not going to tell you what kind of business ventures we have, or what we sell, because we are constantly having to defend our sites out there in Search Engine Land. (We don't need any more attention than we already have from the SEOs out there) . Collectively, our business in 2003 grossed close to $1Million Dollars.

Presently, (and for years), all my sites have been listed in the top five listings or better in almost every major search engine (along with some very stiff competition), but I've maintained these listings without a SEO Company, or paying for targeted traffic and search engine positions, etc. I can tell you that I've never spammed a search engine, never infringed on copyrighted materials, never spent a penny for search optimization services, never hidden keywords in any body of text, never used any fancy programming or ghost pages, ETC, never spammed an email box, yet I continue to maintain the excellent standings. HOW DO I DO IT. I believe in RESPECT. Respect for the system, and Respect for the RULES.

We have found over the past two years that search engine optimization companies SEO's have been stealing our materials and in one case, a major SEO stole one of our whole sites, replaced our name and contact information with another, and was using over 48 pages of our website to gain higher search engine standings and drive traffic to his client, who was one of our competitors. We contacted his client(our competitor), and he informed us he was paying over $3,000 per month for that service. He paid $17,000 to set up the service ..... UP FRONT!

Our investigation revealed that not only was this major SEO stealing from us, but this SEO Company was driving traffic to their clients , who are MAJOR players in Corporate America, all with stolen materials from worldwide website sources. (I have extensive documentation) In addition, this major SEO had hundreds of thousands of spammed web pages throughout the major search engines. After filing a Notice of Infringement with this SEOs hosting service, a MAJOR PLAYER in hosting land, you wouldn't believe how fast things started disappearing off his servers! What's utterly amazing to me, this SEO was named a MAJOR PARTNER of a MAJOR SEARCH ENGINE about a year ago, and STILL IS.

Do I have any respect for SEOs ...................... NO. We have to defend ourselves daily, weekly, monthly from the SEO's who call themselves businessmen and women. I constantly and consistently have to check the search engines for MISUSE of our materials.

About two months ago, I stumbled, once again, upon approximately 235 pages of listings in a major search engine that had our Company Name, Address, Phone Number, Description, ranking high and driving traffic to one of our competitors when this listing was clicked. We notified the competitor, he advised he paid $2,000 per month for this service. We nailed this SEOs butt too .... his excuse, "I didn't know what I'm doing is wrong". He removed all the pages and links from his server. He had no choice.

A few days ago we complained to yet another SEO that our Company Name, Address, Phone Number, Description was being used to drive traffic to his "SEARCH ENGINE SITE", which has his clients listed, probably for the purpose of tracking "HITS" for charge. Our site is nowhere to be found on his "SEARCH ENGINE", yet he uses our Company Name, Address, Phone Number, and Description for his "WEBSITE" ????????????
His response ........ "FAIR USE"

If you have good search engines standings, beware of the SEOs . They will steal from you , make and take money from you, and may even ruin your Search Engine Standings.



MY ADVICE TO THOSE ON TOP WHO ARE MORALLY AND PROPERLY THERE:

* If you didn't already, Copyright your materials immediately.

* At least once a week, check your standings and beware of listings that have your Company Name, Product, Descriptions, ETC. Check to see if those listings are driving traffic to a competitors site.

* BEFORE you make a stink ..... Use PRINTSCREEN function, if using a PC, or any other method, and record everything you find. It's becoming easier to SCREW these SEOs in COURT, and if they're making money off of you, you will win in COURT. If you've really been screwed, consult with a Lawyer.

* Become familiar with how to file a "Notice of Infringement" with the Offenders Hosting Company. You can use use "TraceRoute" to trace the server and gather all information such as address, phone numbers, IP Addresses, Etc. Be VERY FIRM with the hosting folks "AGENT" responsible for enforcing the LAW, but file properly. I have had to file probably fifteen notices in the past two years. Some "AGENTS" work quickly, others, kind of need to be pushed to do their job. (ALL MY INFRINGEMENT NOTICES WERE COMPLIED WITH!) NOT ONE FILED A COUNTER CLAIM !

* BUT YOU MUST Copyright your materials !!!!!

MY ADVICE ABOUT SEOs .................. STAY AWAY FROM THEM!!!!!!!!!! ATTACK !!!!!!!!!!

[cbp]

Use PRINTSCREEN function, if using a PC, or any other method, and record everything you find. It's becoming easier to SCREW these SEOs in COURT, and if they're making money off of you, you will win in COURT.

Sorry to hear about your troubles, but don't taint all SEO's with the same brush. There are ratbags in every industry.

As for the advice above - what I have done is burn it to a CD (rather than printscreen), then send it via registered/certified mail to myself - then don't open it ... the date can serve as evidence in court. I have never had to go to court, but when tell site owners and their host that this has been done, things happen quickly.

CBP

[cbp]

I also meant to say do you contact Google re DMCA?

http://www.google.com/dmca.html

CBP

[ronniethedodger]

Originally Posted by cbp

As for the advice above - what I have done is burn it to a CD (rather than printscreen), then send it via registered/certified mail to myself - then don't open it ... the date can serve as evidence in court. I have never had to go to court, but when tell site owners and their host that this has been done, things happen quickly.

Ooooh, that is a very good idea. Damn that is a good one.

Although I am not too prone to that right now, I may be in the future. Very good advice !!!

[banseos]

Originally Posted by ronniethedodger

Ooooh, that is a very good idea. Damn that is a good one.

Although I am not too prone to that right now, I may be in the future. Very good advice !!!

Sending yourself the CD is a good idea, however, you should also fill out the paperwork and send one to Washington! Keep in mind it will not replace a Registered Copyright work. Having your material Registered is the difference between Actual Damages (Unregistered) and Additional Monetary Damages(Registered). Especially if, as was in my case, the infringement is willful and the intent is to make money off your work. When SEOs steal, it is willful. When they make money off it, it is stealing and most likely a Felony.

Always Register your Copyright ASAP.

[janeth]

banseos wrote
Quote
"I stumbled, once again, upon approximately 235 pages of listings in a major search engine that had our Company Name, Address, Phone Number, Description, ranking high and driving traffic to one of our competitors when this listing was clicked"

I do not understand this at all if someone steals my name, phone number and address then that works for me. I will let them do the advertising and I will be answering the phone.