Editing Spamdexing (section)

==Content spam==
These techniques involve altering the logical view that a search engine has over the page's contents. They all aim at variants of the [[vector space model]] for information retrieval on text collections.

===Keyword stuffing===
'''Keyword stuffing''' is a [[search engine optimization]] (SEO) technique in which keywords are loaded into a web page's [[meta tag]]s, visible content, or [[backlink]] [[anchor text]] in an attempt to gain an unfair rank advantage in [[Web search engine|search engines]]. Keyword stuffing may lead to a [[website]] being temporarily or permanently banned or penalized on major search engines.<ref>''[https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/66358?hl=en Irrelevant keywords]'', Google Keyword Quality Guidelines</ref> The repetition of [[Word|words]] in [[Meta element|meta tags]] may explain why many [[search engine]]s no longer use these tags. Nowadays, search engines focus more on the content that is unique, comprehensive, relevant, and helpful that overall makes the quality better which makes keyword stuffing useless, but it is still practiced by many webmasters.{{cn|date=February 2020}}

Many major search engines have implemented algorithms that recognize keyword stuffing, and reduce or eliminate any unfair search advantage that the tactic may have been intended to gain, and oftentimes they will also penalize, demote or remove websites from their indexes that implement keyword stuffing.

Changes and algorithms specifically intended to penalize or ban sites using keyword stuffing include the Google Florida update (November 2003) [[Google Panda]] (February 2011)<ref>''[https://www.wired.com/2011/03/the-panda-that-hates-farms/ The Panda That Hates Farms: A Q&A With Google’s Top Search Engineers]'',  Wired.com, March 3, 2011</ref> [[Google Hummingbird]] (August 2013)<ref>''[http://searchengineland.com/google-hummingbird-172816 All About the New Google "Hummingbird" Update]'',  SearchEngineLand.com.com, September 26, 2013</ref> and [[Bing (search engine)|Bing]]'s September 2014 update.<ref>''[https://blogs.bing.com/webmaster/2014/09/09/url-keyword-stuffing-spam-filtering Bing URL Stuffing Spam Filtering]'', Bing.com Blogs, September 10, 2014</ref>

Headlines in online news sites are increasingly packed with just the search-friendly keywords that identify the story. Traditional reporters and editors frown on the practice, but it is effective in optimizing news stories for search.<ref>''[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128356609 On Language, The Web Is At War With Itself]'', Linton Weeks, for [[National Public Radio]], July 15, 2010.</ref>

=== Hidden or invisible text ===
Unrelated [[hidden text]] is disguised by making it the same color as the background, using a tiny font size, or hiding it within [[HTML]] code such as "no frame" sections, [[alt attribute]]s, zero-sized [[Span and div|DIVs]], and "no script" sections. People manually screening red-flagged websites for a search-engine company might temporarily or permanently block an entire website for having invisible text on some of its pages. However, hidden text is not always spamdexing: it can also be used to enhance [[web accessibility|accessibility]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Montti|first=Roger|date=2020-10-03|title=Everything You Need to Know About Hidden Text & SEO|url=https://www.searchenginejournal.com/hidden-text-seo/208866/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-11-22|website=Search Engine Journal|language=en|archive-date=2021-11-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211122134735/https://www.searchenginejournal.com/hidden-text-seo/208866/}}</ref>

===Meta-tag stuffing===
This involves repeating keywords in the [[meta tag]]s, and using meta keywords that are unrelated to the site's content. This tactic has been ineffective. Google declared that it doesn't use the keywords meta tag in its online search ranking in September 2009.<ref>{{cite web |title=Google does not use the keywords meta tag in web ranking |url=https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2009/09/google-does-not-use-keywords-meta-tag |website=Google for Developers |publisher=Google Inc. |access-date=21 September 2009 |language=en}}</ref>

===Doorway pages===
"Gateway" or [[doorway page]]s are low-quality web pages created with very little content, which are instead stuffed with very similar keywords and phrases. They are designed to rank highly within the search results, but serve no purpose to visitors looking for information. A doorway page will generally have "click here to enter" on the page; autoforwarding can also be used for this purpose. In 2006, Google ousted vehicle manufacturer [[BMW]] for using "doorway pages" to the company's German site, BMW.de.<ref>{{cite news |first=David |last=Segal |title=The Dirty Little Secrets of Search |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/business/13search.html?pagewanted=all |work=[[The NY Times]] |date=2011-02-13 |access-date=2012-07-03 |archive-date=2012-07-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723123935/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/business/13search.html/?pagewanted=all |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Scraper sites===
[[Scraper sites]] are created using various programs designed to "scrape" search-engine results pages or other sources of content and create "content" for a website.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}} The specific presentation of content on these sites is unique, but is merely an amalgamation of content taken from other sources, often without permission. Such websites are generally full of advertising (such as [[pay per click|pay-per-click]] ads), or they redirect the user to other sites. It is even feasible for scraper sites to outrank original websites for their own information and organization names.

===Article spinning===
[[Article spinning]] involves rewriting existing articles, as opposed to merely scraping content from other sites, to avoid penalties imposed by search engines for [[duplicate content]]. This process is undertaken by hired writers{{citation needed|date=May 2021}} or automated using a [[thesaurus]] database or an [[artificial neural network]].

===Machine translation===
Similarly to [[article spinning]], some sites use [[machine translation]] to render their content in several languages, with no human editing, resulting in unintelligible texts that nonetheless continue to be indexed by search engines, thereby attracting traffic.