Can deceptive ads help sites to rank? Pogosticking effect involved...
-
Hello,
I have a question for you.I have noticed that many music sites that appear in the first top results for keywords our users search for, include all the same ads that deceive people by inviting them to "Download" or get the "Full Album" of what people may be search for.
Look at the following websites that are often displayed at the first spots for keywords like "Christmas Sheet Music" (just an example):
[....]
They all have, most of the times, the same ads. Look at the following screenshots taken from the sites above (the ads are at the top of the page):
http://www.virtualsheetmusic.com/storage/google/Shot1.jpg
http://www.virtualsheetmusic.com/storage/google/Shot2.jpgThose deceptive ads could engage users more than legitimate websites not showing those ads or not showing ads at all, making Google think that people are more engaged on those website showing those deceptive ads.
If it is quality that Google is looking for, shouldn't they do something to avoid having sites ranking well just because of some deceptive ads that take users into action, but without any useful result?
I am eager to know your ideas on this issue.
Thanks!
Fab.
-
Ok, I understand what you mean, but I do think that those kind of ads (the ones you can see in the screenshot links I posted above) could let Google think that users are "engaged" inside the website more just because they clicked those ads and didn't get back to Google (pogosticking effect). That would actually affect rankings. Do you see what I mean?
Thank you.
-
Could visitors engaging the ads help them rank?
In my opinion, yes, maybe.
How might your site benefit from this idea?
A) Those ads are google adsense, so you could sign up for adsense and run those ads too. If they are getting clicked by the huge percentage of people that you suspect then you could make the same money that they are making.
B) You could make a nice portfolio of printable music and offer it for free. Offer it conspicuously at the top of the site, just like those ads. Lots of people would accept your generous offer. That would get your site some great engagement and get lots of people printing sheet music from your website - which might bring people back to make a purchase.
C) You could get really aggressive and offer lots of free music. You could do that in a variety of ways... offer them the first page for free... they could then try playing and see if it is at the right level for them, if it is an arrangement that they like, they can come back and buy the rest. Offer tons of free music for beginners. Offer a different selection of free music each month. Lots of people will come back over and over to see what you have. Some of them will become buyers, all of them can be shown ads.
There are many ways to structure free printables. I have a website that offers lots of free printables (not related to music). Printables had 160,000 visitors last month and 522,000 pageviews (not counting pdf views). I don't sell the products that are given away for free, I make money from the ads. The income was more than a lot of retail sites make. Free printables can be a great business model.
-
Those ads are generated by Google AdSense to target the user - you. Google keeps track of your search history and pages you've visited to generate relevant ads to increase clicks and sales for the companies paying for those ads.
So in short, the ads have nothing to do with the sites rankings. The fact that they are the same is explained by them being AdSense ads.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
2 sites with low DA and PA and unoptimised <title>outranking everyone for competitive search term - How ?</title>
Im doing some keyword research for a new client, Ive found 2 anomalies for competitive search terms where sites with unoptimised <title>tags, poor backlinks and other stats, (compared to the other sites listed in the SERP) are out ranking everyone and claiming the #1 spot</p> <p> The 2 search terms are :</p> <ul> <li dir="ltr"> <p dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=interior+designers+london&oq=interior+designers+london&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i65j69i60j69i65l2j69i60.2784j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8">Interior designers London</a>- #1 new-id.co.uk - <a href="https://mza.seotoolninja.com/researchtools/ose/links?site=new-id.co.uk&filter=&source=external&target=page&group=0&page=1&sort=page_authority&anchor_id=&anchor_type=&anchor_text=&from_site=">OSE info</a></p> </li> <li dir="ltr"> <p dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=interior+designers+london&oq=interior+designers+london&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i65j69i60j69i65l2j69i60.2784j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#q=interior+designer+london">Interior designer London</a>- #1 nstudio.co.uk - <a href="https://mza.seotoolninja.com/researchtools/ose/links?site=http%3A%2F%2Fnstudio.com%2F&filter=&source=external&target=page&group=0&page=1&sort=page_authority&anchor_id=&anchor_type=&anchor_text=&from_site=">OSE info</a></p> </li> </ul> <p> (interestingly they hardly rank at all for any modification of those search terms)</p> <p> The only thing i could think of is that they both had some really good links using that exact anchor text, but ive been checking OSE for the past month both in the backlinks and the just discovered but couldnt see anything like that.</p> <p>I conducted the SERP checking from a laptop with a broadband connection based in London, although im not very local to either of these locations im about an 8th of the cities distance away from one of those location and about half a cities distance away from the other. So i dont think its a local skew thats causing the SERP rankings.</p> <p>For both sites i can see they had old domains which now redirect to the them :</p> <ul> <li dir="ltr"> <p dir="ltr"><span data-mce-mark="1">New-id.co.uk = </span><span data-mce-mark="1"><a href="http://newidinteriors.com/">newidinteriors.com</a> - <a href="https://mza.seotoolninja.com/researchtools/ose/links?site=http%3A%2F%2Fnewidinteriors.com&no_redirects=1&filter=&source=external&target=page&group=0&page=1&sort=page_authority&anchor_id=&anchor_type=&anchor_text=&from_site=">OSE info</a> - PA1, DA1</span></p> </li> <li dir="ltr"> <p dir="ltr"><span data-mce-mark="1">Nstudio.co.uk = intarya.com - <a href="https://mza.seotoolninja.com/researchtools/ose/links?site=www.intarya.com&filter=&source=external&target=page&group=0&page=1&sort=page_authority&anchor_id=&anchor_type=&anchor_text=&from_site=">OSE info</a> - Da 32, PA43</span></p> </li> </ul> <p> Although the intarya domain was quite strong with good backlinks (but nothing above par comapred to the other sites the nstudio.co.uk site is now outranking, the anchor text was mostly natural with only some keyword anchor text from PA1 pages. </p> <p>The <a href="http://newidinteriors.com/">newidinteriors.com</a> didnt seem to have a backlink profile, both PA1 and DA1.</p> <p> Ive taken screenshots of the SERP pages below, but feel free to dig further</p> <p>Any idea what's going on here ?</p> <a download="HWkjmDf.png" class="imported-anchor-tag" href="http://i.imgur.com/HWkjmDf.png" target="_blank">HWkjmDf.png</a> <a download="A70jXse.png" class="imported-anchor-tag" href="http://i.imgur.com/A70jXse.png" target="_blank">A70jXse.png</a></title>
Competitive Research | | mike8780 -
What to do about one site dominating search results? (multiple pages ranking)?
Anybody have thoughts on dealing with search results where the same site gets listed multiple times? "weebly vs wix" is one example (same site #1-3, repetitive articles, not crazy high authority), but I see this now and then. I know Google likes variety, so it's weird for me to see results like this dominating search results. Thoughts? What gets these sites to take over the top rankings for a specific term? Any way to rise up in this situation, outside of the usual? Any tips on duplicating this kind of success?
Competitive Research | | davidwaring0 -
Can anyone explain to me why this website is top of the listings?
Hi folks, Since the latest penguin update, this website: <cite class="bc">www.sterlingbuild.co.uk</cite> is now appearing top of the listings for most 'Velux' related search terms e.g. velux windows, velux, velux windows online. I say top, VELUX themselves are actually top but then Sterling Build are top of all the other retailers that sell VELUX Windows. Why? Their link profile is appalling, the website is no better than their competitors as far as I can tell, their prices are more expensive - it makes no sense? Would be very grateful if anyone can work out why Google has decided they have the best website? Thanks, Luke
Competitive Research | | LukeyB300 -
Out of Stock page ranking
When a competitive site is consistently ranking for a product that is never in stock, or in some cases, has been discontinued for several years and will never again be in stock, is there a way to communicate that information to Google?
Competitive Research | | ChristopherGlaeser0 -
Penguin Case Study: Need sites that were hit
I am currently trying to do a massive study on Penguin right now, you can read more about it here if you wish http://www.seomoz.org/q/my-penguin-recovery-attempt Anyways I need some data, can anyone who is willing give me a list of known sites that were hit from Penguin 1.0 Only. This can include the 2 Data refreshes after that, but basically nothing from 2.0 I also need a site in the same niche that you are aware of that did not get hit from Penguin 1.0. Possibly the #1 guy at the top would be nice. So I need Domains Hit from Penguin 1.0 Top Domains in same niche that were not hit You can send me a message with the domain if you are not comfortable posting it here. Thanks all ahead of time 🙂
Competitive Research | | cbielich0 -
How can I project changes to Page Authority?
Lets say I have a PA 50 website, and I just got a PA 60 link from another site. Is there any way to project, mathematically, what that new link will do to my page's authority? Would the formula look something like this? New PA = Current Page PA + ((New Link PA*dampening factor)/Total number of links on new page) In the absence of a mathematical model to predict shifts in PA, how can you be confident that a specific action will help you progress towards an authority objective?
Competitive Research | | phantom0 -
My average visit duration is UP by 110% from 2 minutes to 4 minutes... and my visits (rankings) are down by 6 %.... I would have thought to see more positive ranking affects from that..
Latttteee last night I asked this question Just like the question says, I would have thought that Google would reward a site with more traffic that clearly has a growing level of user engagement. I can't imagine that there are other sites in my niche that are having a longer rate of user engagement... Well, since I can't guarentee that, let's not debate what we don't know.. But shouldn't SOME benefits be seen for a 110% increase? I mean shit, if I could replicate those results with sales, I would really be able to afford higher rankings... Maybe that's how they feel? If I get longer duration, I should get more sales, which means I should be able to afford to pay a professional more to get me to rank higher....? A nice guy Marcus Miller(http://www.seomoz.org/users/profile/78416) answered by saying Hey Tyler Google analytics data is not used in anyway in the search ranking algorithm. It's a great thing that your user engagement is up, but it will not benefit you with a better rank on the back of that. That said, if people are enjoying your site more, it should be easier to generate more links and sharing to get more traffic and hopefully boost your standing in search. This is worth a watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cg... Hope this helps. Marcus I was still a little unsure though, so I said Solid answer man, I really appriciate the youtube link too, gotta love when an answer is chizzled in stone. I was thinking though.. Google does track data for bouncing back to search for similar queries, and some types of time on site, etc, right? Do you, or does anyone else know the specifics about the data that Google tracks, in relation to how a user interacts with your site?
Competitive Research | | TylerAbernethy0 -
Ranking keyword VCA
We want to rank higher on the keyword VCA. Our direct competitor VCAnederland ranks one place higher and we want that place. If we look at some statics from the Open site explorer, we score better. PA: VCAdirect = 53 VS competitor = 46 DA: VCAdirect = 43 VS competitor = 39 Total links = VCAdirect = 8415 VS competitor = 3051 External followed links = VCAdirect = 8178 VS competitor = 1059 Linking root domains = VCAdirect = 146 VS competitor = 105 SEOmoz competitive Domain Analysis (gives other numbers) DA: VCAdirect = 44 VS competitor = 40 DMozrank: VCAdirect = 4.30 VS competitor = 4.50 DMozTrust: VCAdirect = 4.00 VS competitor = 4.18 when I analyze the site with the SEOmoz tool. We see this figures: VCAdirect: PA: 53 / MozR: 5.89 / MozT: 5.89 / Tot links 8415 VCAnederland: PA: 46 / MozR: 6.95 / MozT: 6.16 / Tot links 3051 On the on page Report card we score both an A. Where should we focus on to win the position?
Competitive Research | | PlusPort0