{"id":2099,"date":"2016-05-04T11:52:48","date_gmt":"2016-05-04T11:52:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.searchenginewatch.com\/2016\/05\/04\/how-google-fights-webspam-and-what-you-need-to-learn-from-this\/"},"modified":"2020-02-25T17:52:02","modified_gmt":"2020-02-25T17:52:02","slug":"how-google-fights-webspam-and-what-you-need-to-learn-from-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2016\/05\/04\/how-google-fights-webspam-and-what-you-need-to-learn-from-this\/","title":{"rendered":"How Google fights webspam and what you need to learn from this"},"content":{"rendered":"

Google has this week revealed its annual report on how it has policed the internet over the last 12 months. Or at least how it policed the vast chunk of the internet it allows on its results pages.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although it\u2019s self-congratulatory stuff, and as much as you can rightfully argue with some of Google\u2019s recent penalties<\/a>, you do need to\u00a0understand what Google<\/a> is punishing in terms of ‘bad quality’ internet experiences so you can avoid the same mistakes.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to remember that Google<\/a> for some people IS the internet, or at least the \u2018front door\u2019 to it (sorry Reddit<\/a>), but it\u2019s equally important to remember that Google<\/a> is still a product; one that needs to make money to survive and (theoretically) provide the best possible experience for its users<\/a>, or else it is off to DuckDuckGo<\/a> they\u2026 uh\u2026 go.<\/p>\n

So therefore Google<\/a> has to ensure the results it serves on its SERPs (search engine<\/a> results pages) are of the highest quality possible. Algorithms are built and manual reviews<\/a> by actual human beings are carried out to ensure crappy websites with stolen\/thin\/manipulative\/harmful content stay hidden.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how Google is currently kicking ass and taking names\u2026 and how you can avoid\u00a0falling between its crosshairs.<\/p>\n

\"google<\/p>\n

How Google fought webspam<\/h2>\n

According to Google, an algorithmic update helped remove the amount of webspam in search results, impacting 5% of queries<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The remaining spam was tackled manually. Google sent more than 4.3 million messages to webmasters notifying them of manual actions it had imposed on sites affected by spam.<\/p>\n

Following this, Google saw a 33% increase in the number of sites that went through a spam clean-up<\/strong>\u00a0“towards a successful reconsideration process.\u201d It\u2019s unclear whether the remaining sites are still in the process of appealing, or have been booted off the face of the internet.<\/p>\n

Who watches the watchmen?<\/h3>\n

More than 400,000 spam reports were manually submitted by Google users around the world. Google acted on 65% of them, and considered 80% of those acted upon to be spam.<\/p>\n

Hacking<\/h2>\n

There was a huge 180% increase in websites being hacked in 2015<\/strong>, compared to the previous year. Hacking can take on a number of guises, whether its website spam or malware, but the result will be the same. You\u2019ll be placed \u2018in quarantine\u2019 and your site will be flagged or removed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Google has a number of official guidelines<\/a> on how to help avoid being hacked. These include:<\/p>\n