Poll: Should I Out SEO{dot}com for their Naughtiness?
VOTED HAVE BEEN COUNTED: The full entry will be released on Monday, since traffic is slow on the weekend
Pardon the awkward title. I just don’t know if I want to try and rank for SEO.com yet.
So on sphinn recently some(or one) employee of SEO.com manipulated their story submission, trying to rank up. And they did it terribly. However, after I called them out, and some debate, one of their employees came on and said
“agreed. That sounded a little spammy. We’ll make sure everyone here has a little more tact and respect in Sphinn.” – A respectable response. Now, that said, I protect sphinn. No other social news site. Ever. I like sphinn.
I have screenshots of every “dummy” user’s profile/join dates/votes, and could make a pretty decent story out of this. What not to do when manipulating social media.
But since they handled it decently enough, I have mixed feelings about calling them out. So I’m going to put it to a vote. In order for me to publish the details on this, I need 60% in favor, minimum 25 votes.
[poll=6]
February 28th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
I don’t think the fact that they handled it responsibly really weighs in. They’ve already done their damage control and it’s clear their tactics weren’t the best. In fact, I think building up a little case study and using the experience to give back to the community and help other avoid their mistake is the best thing that could be done. Of course, it’d be better if they did it instead, but if they’re not going to, you should.
February 28th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
kinda stupid to call out your peers.
February 28th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
@Cakes: They’re not my peers. They are
1)Commercial SEO – If I do stupid crap and affect my own sites, it’s no problem but my own. Not so for them
2)Spamming Sphinn. I’ve stated maybe a dozen times that sphinn is the only social site I will protect.
February 28th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
I’d love to hear about it, but it’s probably not in your best interests to out them as sketchy SEO’s. Kind of funny coming from “slightly shady SEO”. You know what they say… what goes around comes around.
February 28th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Good point Gyutae.
Should I mention them by name you think(if I do it)
February 28th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Wonder how many fake votes they will make here…
February 28th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
@DangerMouse: I caught em once, I’d catch em again. I’ve thought of it
February 28th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
I voted ‘yes,’ but because I’m sure you will do so constructively. You’re not much of the “get involved in sensationalist BS” type.
However, I’m more interested in hearing whatever came of Shoemoney’s suspected multiple accounts (I don’t remember the details, but I know it came up during the 95% thing).
Also, if this type of thing is of interest to you, I know of another company that did/does the same thing. Bot on Sphinn and for their clients. If your interested, and you pursue this, let me know what info you need and I’ll get it to you for your poking.
February 28th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
I guess I should back up why I think you should as well.
I’m also very fond of Sphinn. Danny has done a lot for our community. I find Sphinn a decent place to talk SEO, because I don’t get to very often. I’m in a city not known for its SEO population.
I see nothing wrong with a little self promotion every once in a while, but when it gets too deep and takes away from the community, it’s not so cool anymore. Whatever XMCP (or any blackhat) does on his own time/dime hasn’t much to do with it. Sphinn is supposed to be a community where we can all share and learn, not litter.
February 28th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
I think it would be a great example as you said of “what not to do when manipulating social media”. Real life examples are always the best!
February 28th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
don’t out other bh’s/spammers… not cool
February 28th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Sphinn might be the ONLY site of its kind left that is still worthy of respect, so I say yes, punish any and all “gaming”.
February 28th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
What would be the point of outing them, now?
February 29th, 2008 at 4:14 am
I say this…
See also: http://www.slightlyshadyseo.com/?p=215
But that’s just me.
I’m vengeful.
February 29th, 2008 at 4:48 am
The voting results speaks for it self! Bring it on!
February 29th, 2008 at 5:24 am
Go for it – as others said, what’s done is done. Sure they apologised but that doesn’t mitigate them doing it in the first place.
On a related note – I just went to the seo.com site and they have a fancy ‘highlight the terms you used to search’ thing but when you search for seo.com and click through it highlights all mentioned of ‘com’ which just looks really odd! Perhaps they should look at that!
February 29th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Aren’t you outing them already with this post? Or are you talking about outing their particular technique?
I say no to the former. Take the high road.
But techniques are fair game.
February 29th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
First of all. “Outing” them will just drive more traffic to them. There is no such thing as bad press.
Also, who cares? People spam, so what? I think 95% of the crap that makes it hot on Sphinn is noob garbage anyway, so who is to way where the line is drawn as to what is spam or not? Does simply promoting your own crap make it worse than the hoards of noobs sphinning crap naturally?
February 29th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Well, so far you have 131 votes (76%) saying yes, including me. So I say go for it.
If you dont’, i will
March 1st, 2008 at 5:28 am
Why would someone want to game Sphinn? 90% of Sphinn traffic is virtually worthless. Social Media wannabes who just send Thank You notes.
Very few users who actually are worth visiting our blackhat sites so … think of a new post Shady. This ain’t worth it.
March 1st, 2008 at 6:57 am
@James Dunn: Cheers on the noob stuff. Sooo true!
March 1st, 2008 at 8:48 am
You calling somebody out for questionable practices, regardless of the site, is like the pot calling the kettle “slightly shady” and I hardly think Danny Sullivan desires a blackhat to “protect his site”.
@ James Dunn – can we finally bury the “There is no such thing as bad press”, misnomer once and for all?
There absolutely, positively IS such a thing as bad press.
March 2nd, 2008 at 11:42 am
Out ‘em already. The poll results are unquestionable. Over 75% want the beeches exposed. So long as you don’t just flame the guys and keep the post constructive (as per usual on SSSEO), I feel it’d be rather beneficial.