VW busted for scamming Google search, gets off easy

[Zafiro]

Both Volkswagen and Google have responded to criticism that the automaker's web pages were in violation of Google's quality guidelines. The uproar centers around hidden keywords in flash-based pages.

Rather than include the keywords in the meta tag of the HTML page, which is where information about the document is typically placed, VW was hiding search keywords inside the page. Using a div layer, which is a technique of building pages with style sheets, Volkswagen had loads of search terms that would register with web spiders, but not show up to end users. The end result would be the Volkswagen pages would be called up for more searches on Google than they otherwise would be.

The name of this suspect layer, "invisibleContent," seems to clearly register its intent. Since being flagged, Google and Volkswagen's agency had a chat, and the search terms are now properly placed under the Meta description in the page. Oh yeah, the pages now block web crawlers from caching the pages - a total 180 degree turn from spamming search engines with hidden terms. Very weird.

Some webmasters are a little miffed that Google didn't throw the book at VW and kick it from the search engine's index, a particularly devastating reaction for websites that Google often has when a site is found to be violating its quality guidelines. Apparently it doesn't matter, however, since VW's blocked its site from being cached anyway.

[Source: cartoonbarry.com]

 

[phaeton]

Well seeing as though Google and VW have developed and are developing new tech together, I guess Google was just protecting its partner

 

[YoUhimhER]

now a day it's good to have google as your partner.

 

[Osnabrueck]

Some webmasters are a little miffed that Google didn't throw the book at VW and kick it from the search engine's index, a particularly devastating reaction for websites that Google often has when a site is found to be violating its quality guidelines. Apparently it doesn't matter, however, since VW's blocked its site from being cached anyway.
[Source: cartoonbarry.com]

This is a whole bunch of hooey over nothing. My wife took a crack at being a part-time QA worker, and keyword stuffing is a very common technique among numerous others that get automated software (spiders) to throw a site in a directory where it doesn't belong.

Whatever. There's thousands of people working for Google around the clock that improve and correct search so that you find what you're looking for instead of something competely unrelated or inappropriate. That Volkswagen or any other company would use questionable methods to attract eyeballs is no surprise. It's seems beneath them but... whatever.