I was checking my SE placement on my site and ran across another site I am not familiar with who had copied my site content and keywords. Down to the point of making an entry link to my site from theirs. I am not affiliated with this site and have no idea who this person is.

The problem I have is that technically they are promoting my site for me. This is a good thing. The Bad part is the short descriptions on the google listings include questionable or adult content.

The site linking to mine is
http://www.home-decoratingideas.net

My site is
http://www.copperstatecollectibles.com

Any opinions on what, if any, actions I should take?

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SteveAZ

www.coinsncurrency.com

Have you called them, or emailed them?

When I viewed it, the Google ads on their page were all just gift related sites.


WHOIS results for home-decoratingideas.net

home-decoratingideas.net

Registrant:
Paul Pardo (paul@home-decoratingideas.net)
1809 Jones Est
Monroe, SD 57047
US
605-948-2466


Domain Name: home-decoratingideas.net


I also noticed that you do not own your domain. Is it possible that the person who does own your domain has mixed up you accout with someone else?

Registrant: Domains by Proxy, Inc. 15111 N Hayden Rd., Suite 160 PMB353 Scottsdale, Arizona 85260 United States Registered through: MerchantQ Wholesale Domain Names Domain Name: COPPERSTATECOLLECTIBLES.COM Created on: 29-Apr-03 Expires on: 29-Apr-06 Last Updated on: 23-Mar-04

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Rik Rasmussen
Two Way Radio Directory
http://twowayradiodirectory.com

both called (no answer of course)
and emailed (no reply)

I also looked and the sites listed have the same thing happening to them.

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SteveAZ

www.coinsncurrency.com

It appears that the only thing he is getting out of this is the Google ad revenue.

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Rik Rasmussen
Two Way Radio Directory
http://twowayradiodirectory.com

You can contact the registrar. They have to keep an up to date address and contact information listed, or the site can be taken offline.

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The Merchant Account Blog | The Ecommerce Blog

Here is where the other site is hosted, with contact information. Contact them, and tell them the site has stolen your content, explaining everything you know. Also, add the whois information for the site, the hosting company may find the person that owns the site is different than the registrar information.

http://media3.net/aboutm3.htm

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Pete Carr
Editor
Chatmag.com

I emailed the other sites that are listed in the ads. they are not even google ads. they are just made to look like them. It ends up that a company that all of these sites owners including myself hired for SEO is using these mini-sites as a way to increase site popularity for their clients. It would have saved a lot of hassle if they would have mentioned this to myself and the other owners.

Luckily this was not foul play.

Thank you to everyone for their replies and advice.

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SteveAZ

www.coinsncurrency.com

I came across this post by an errant click. However I am suprised that these forums allow the posting of personal WhoIs information on a public forum.

Firslty, let's say they were not related to the original poster's mistake. Let's say that the registrant could be some pimply kid with criminal dreams of making money without any effort. Let's say the address is in fact his dear old aunt.

I once had a crazy woman who threatened to kill me for not giving her a job (she asked by email). For months I got harrassing emails, with evrything from witches curses to foul language. I was not worried about WhoIs info as the residence was sold as part of a shopping redevelopment. But my point is that there are crazies out there.

Posting WhoIs information is irresponsible and unprofessional. Problems like these should be addressed privately without disclosing personal information. Sure, someone can get the information, but at least the IP is tracked for every enquiry.

I for one would be horrified to think that my own address would be published anywhere when i did not have the right of reply first.

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Jeremy

I agree with Jeremy ... really unprofessional. Not only did he post data he probably shouldn't have (as that guys name is not permanantly stuck in cyberspace related to a question in a post) he also told the original poster that he didn't own his site.

Go look up Domainsbyproxy before you tell someone they don't own their site.

Arthur

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Chief Blogster | PCSecurityShield

I see the points you folks are making. I'll not do that again.

If the forum moderator wants to edit or remove the message it is ok with me.

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Rik Rasmussen
Two Way Radio Directory
http://twowayradiodirectory.com

I'm curious what people here would define as "owning" my site? I have complete control of it and can alter it in anyway I see fit. My hosting is done through someone else but I dont have the tech knowledge(yet) to know the first thing to do with a server. I know that I will most likely need one in the future with my current plans but thats another thread entirely. :)

Basically, Do I not own my site?

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SteveAZ

www.coinsncurrency.com

I have not done a whois but the gentleman earlier who did showed you used domainsbyproxy to avoid having the world see your information. I think he misunderstood that to mean domainsbyproxy owned the site.

Did you register or buy the domain? If so, you own it.

Arthur

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Chief Blogster | PCSecurityShield

You mentioned a company you hired to do SEO was involved in this. What did that company actually do for you?

It would bother me if someone created a web page that copied the text of my site. This seems to me to be a strange method of SEO. Their tactic of making another domain appear to be your web would be annoying at the least.

My use of the word "owned" earlier may have been incorrrect. The point I was trying to make was that someone else is "involved" with your domain, and I was speculating as to whether a mistake, perhaps honest, may have been made by them.

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Rik Rasmussen
Two Way Radio Directory
http://twowayradiodirectory.com

I've check with the powers to be and as 'Whois info' is available to anybody that does a whois, and therfore is public domain information, there is no reason why it shouldn't be posted on WPW as long as it is relevant to the subject under discussion and is not used in a way that breaks the normal forum rules.

Regards

carju1 - moderator

I've checked with the powers to be and as 'Whois info' is available to anybody that does a whois, and therfore is public domain information, there is no reason why it shouldn't be posted on WPW as long as it is relevant to the subject under discussion and is not used in a way that breaks the normal forum rules.

Regards

carju1 - moderator

They took my money. Other than that, I am not really sure. They were hired for SEO but in reality they just created spider food in my site. They made several pages, 5 off each keyword, and put them in my site pages for the spiders to find. Each one directly forwards to my main page. 20 keywords for 100 total pages added. I did and still do get traffic from these pages but I would not recommend them to someone else. I also wont mention the company in this thread. If you want to know PM me and I will tell you.

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SteveAZ

www.coinsncurrency.com

I'm surprised then that the powers that be have not follwed the WhoIs controversy over the last 3 years. Search Google with terms such as WhoIs dangers, threats etc. and you'll find what that we're not a small group. If so called Public Domain why did they institute IP tracking and non-robot response procedures for every inquiry made? Even now it is an ongoing controversy. Also the so called 'Public Domain' title on registration is in fact untested in court, and still objectionable to many.

Maintaining a forum policy of bypassing and ignoring the WhoIs protocols is itruly regrettable.

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Jeremy