eBay affiliate spam pages on search engines.

deco-days · Joined: 09 Feb 2003 Posts: 213 Location: Toronto, Canada

This is very, very interesting and I am sorry that I had not though of it myself --- but this may be the axe that we need to bring ebay to it's knees (at least with respect to redirects.)

We don't have the clout to stop they -- they laugh in our face, but I'm wondering how loud they would be laughing if WalMart, QVC etc were on their ass to cease-and-desist.

We (on another site) have been working on a print campaign to get some media attention but no one seems to want to tackle the giant ---------- another giant might!!!

Would everyone who finds these redirects to the LARGE CORPORATIONS send them along to me via email at: deco-days@sympatico.ca

Once enough information is compiled directed at each of the companies WalMart, QVC etc we can then send the proof off to the powers-that-be at these organizations --------!!

I think this is going to be the only way.

Opinions?!?!
_________________
Andrea
Art Deco by Deco Days
www.tias.com/stores/foreverdeco

Robin E. Gadbury · Joined: 09 Oct 2002 Posts: 1037 Location: Oregon

Just thought I'd try this new game of Spoogling. I went to google and entered

coat hat

On the first 5 pages of results, I gathered these ebay affiliate pages:

http://www.strobeset.com/Ct_4_0_Coat_Hat_Racks.html

http://www.houseyardgarden.com/c22656-0-coat-hat-racks.html

http://stores.ebay.com/stores/category22656/ (an actual ebay stores item)

http://www.clothesforthekids.com/p117-3076-gymboree-winter-sparkle-winter-coat-hat.html

http://www.clothesforthekids.com/p227-15593-gymboree-sweet-romance-coat-hat-mos.html

http://www.houseyardgarden.com/p34-22656-cherry-coat-hat-rack-stand-res.html

http://www.grantique.com/p10-20087-antique-cast-iron-deer-coat-hat-hook.html

http://www.grantique.com/p19-12-antique-bronze-wall-mount-coat-hat-rack.html

http://www.homessence.com/p44-37635-hand-painted-pastel-peg-coat-hat-purse-rack.html

http://www.igamegrab.com/p105-19251-disney-winnie-the-pooh-piglet-coat-hat-rack.html

http://www.homessence.com/p15-20430-peg-wall-coat-hat-tie-rack-snoopy-peanuts.html

http://www.bestclothesspot.com/p233-15783-gray-fox-full-fur-earmuffs-coat-hat-hats.html

I saw one TIAS store and one goantiques store among all those pages.

I also saw an ioffer site that had the same first item as many of the ebay affiliates.

Spoogling can be interesting, but discouraging.
_________________

http://www.earthling.com/stores/lml
http://www.nbizz.com/colorfulsmartcat

Robin E. Gadbury · Joined: 09 Oct 2002 Posts: 1037 Location: Oregon

houseyardgarden.com, mostly devoted to directing to ebay, also had a panel to take you to Amazon.com. Does Amazon have an affiliate program?
_________________

http://www.earthling.com/stores/lml
http://www.nbizz.com/colorfulsmartcat

deco-days · Joined: 09 Feb 2003 Posts: 213 Location: Toronto, Canada

wow ~~~~~ great work.

I know what you mean about 'spoogling' being troublesome.

I just don't get how they do it.
Every single word under the sun when searched shows these pages.

It's as though someone has gone through not only a dictionary of common terms but an antiques/collectibles reference and put every single conceivable term in to be spammed and redirected to ebay!!

Frightening----- truly frightening.
_________________
Andrea
Art Deco by Deco Days
www.tias.com/stores/foreverdeco

Robin E. Gadbury · Joined: 09 Oct 2002 Posts: 1037 Location: Oregon

bestclothesspot.com also had a section leading to other stores. The item that said tias.com actually did lead to one of the tias stores.

Fur Outlet
Prada Fox Fur Hat with Tail Overstock.com
Leather Hat With Genuine Black Fox Trim - SmartBargains.com CatalogCity
Luxurious Fox Hat Yahoo! Auctions
Vintage Fur Fox Hat w/ Orig Receipt Hudsons TIAS.com
New Indigo Fox Saga Fur Headband Hat Vendio
Vintage Black Mesh Hat With Original Box Ruby Lane
The Magic Hat by Mem Fox and Tricia Tusa Booksamillion.com
Yth-Kids Faux Fox Fur Roll Hat bestdressedkids.com
Fox Victory Hat Jenson USA
_________________

http://www.earthling.com/stores/lml
http://www.nbizz.com/colorfulsmartcat

angelsplace · Joined: 22 Jul 2002 Posts: 6025 Location: Port Richey, FL

Hi Robin!

ya know..this particular link and the others too..but this one.. http://www.homessence.com/p44-37635-hand-painted-pastel-peg-coat-hat-purse-rack.html has nothing to do with a coat rack...it has some invalid auciton links at the bottom of the page that contain the keywords coat rack..but if someone is looking for a coat rack why on earth would they expect the person to be happy to come across a precision digital TV cable along with a Nascar Baby Quilt, and a vintage black and decker drill! Oddly enough...all the things on this page have nothing to do with what you searched for and yet the title of the page is "Hand Painted Pastel Peg Coat Hat Purse Rack"

They're making it get to the point that no one will ever be able to find what they're actually looking for on the internet anymore!
_________________
Donna

http://www.goantiques.com/members/angelsvintageattic
also visit me at GoAntiques!

cobaltlady · Joined: 01 Jun 2003 Posts: 147

Yes amazon does have affiliate program. This spammer has developed himself a nice piece of software that with access to Ebay's API he can go to Ebays database and extract the "terms" needed for his webpage and likely build a webpage in a matter of seconds. Remember he has over 2 MILLION web pages as of last count.

angelsplace · Joined: 22 Jul 2002 Posts: 6025 Location: Port Richey, FL

one thing with these links is if you notice what you search for only the eBay auctions are a match. All the other links have nothing to do with what you're searching for..or are similar but in no way what the person is looking for.

Here I searched for a Royal Grafton pin dish what came up first along with the rest is this one... http://www.pottery-place.com/p189-25-royal-worcester-bone-china-floral-pin-dish.html

Now...if you look at the first links on the page...yeah..they're all Royal Grafton pin dishes ON eBay...but the rest below that are not eBay aucitons are things like dog dishes, vegetable dishes etc etc...then under that are dead auctions...these either lead you to a dealers eBay store with OTHER items listed since the auction is over or one of those dealer has no items listed pages...THEN below that is just a list of unclickables.

so....even if our links on there are good links because they lead a person back to our stores or any other store...see QVC on that list? The odds of someone clicking on those links are rare since what is listed is NOT what they're looking for in the first place..the only links that will be clicked are the ones that match..the eBay auction links!

Sooo...if anyone thinks they're doing us a favor by putting our links on their pages...think again....they're just there to up their rankings in the search engines..like a links page would do..but these links are never going to be clicked on since they don't put the links that would have anything to do with what the person is searching for.

HERE's the big kicker! I just happen to HAVE a Royal Grafton Pin Dish in MY store....why isn't THAT link being used on this page as a ligitimate link instead of the Syracuse Plymouth bone dish from another Tias store? BECAUSE by putting that Syracuse Plymouth bone dish doesn't match the search and therefore won't be clicked on..if they put MY Royal Grafton Pin Dish on that list...mine would have most likely been clicked on and away from eBay!

soooo...hijacking our links to up their rankings which of course is pushing us to the bottom of the list is BAAAAD! Couldnt' we just sue them for stealing business from us by using our own information?
_________________
Donna

http://www.goantiques.com/members/angelsvintageattic
also visit me at GoAntiques!

angelsplace · Joined: 22 Jul 2002 Posts: 6025 Location: Port Richey, FL

ok now....wouldn't these two links be "mirror sites"?? they both lead to the same exact auctions but some of the rest of the page is different....but you know how if you just put your curser over the little box at the bottom of your screen for the window? It will tell you the name of the site which of course is the name of the link.

One say's "Arcade Crystal Coffee Grinder Glass Jar Lid"
and the other says
"Vintage Wood and Cast Iron Coffee Grinder"

both came up on the same search results. They both have the identical active auctions..one has links to other stores NOT selling coffee grinders on those links and both have all those dead auctions at the bottom. Both those titles above are the name of one of the links on the pages in the "dead auctions section" the one thing both have in common....the active auctions on the top are identical! The rest has either nothing to do with the search or dead auctions..making THESE pages..the only thing the person would be interrested in are the eBay auction active links.

http://www.oldrarethings.com/p0-13930-vintage-wood-and-cast-iron-coffee-grinder.html

http://www.oldrarethings.com/p5-13930-arcade-crystal-coffee-grinder-glass-jar-lid.html

Oh by the way..notice the other store links...KMart, Amazon.com, Crate and Barrel, Kohl's etc..these are big corporations! Not one of their links are for a coffee grinder..and we ALL know..they sell coffee grinders!
_________________
Donna

http://www.goantiques.com/members/angelsvintageattic
also visit me at GoAntiques!

angelsplace · Joined: 22 Jul 2002 Posts: 6025 Location: Port Richey, FL

ok..here's another one... I did a search for Albert Pick & Company and this was the first result

http://www.pottery-place.com/p1-1232-set-vintage-buffalo-china-demitasse-cups.html

Now...notice it's for Buffalo China but that wasn't my search..when you come to the page..the link on there is exactly what I typed in the search box on Google, which is how it always comes up...click that link and there are zero results on eBay but it takes you to eBay for you to search some more there.

then the links below are all the "other" links which have absolutely nothing to do with what I searched for. The bottom links which are the dead auctions is where you'll find the keyword of what I'm searching for. So basically...clicking on this link brought me nowhere that I wanted to go and cannot find what I'm looking for on this page..therefore this link shouldn't come up in the results.

the strange thing is..how the first link at the top is always an exact match to what I type in the search box..as if the pages get created as I'm searching for something...could this be possible that there is some sort of Master page that when you search..it automatically comes off of there..creates the page and pops up in the results?
_________________
Donna

http://www.goantiques.com/members/angelsvintageattic
also visit me at GoAntiques!

colorfulpast · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 300

Donna --

I don't know how much shopping you do online for items not related to antiques/collectibles. If you use the internet to shop for anything, you will get snagged by these re-directs. My husband was searching on Google for various electronic components for a prototype he is building, and the redirects showed up for that!!! IMO, it is essential that we think outside our little antiques/collectibles retail box when we attempt to analyze what is happening with Ebay and Google.

poetswares · Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2004 9:32 pm Post subject:

Jana
Yep pretty much anything that has a category on ebay is being snagged..and I can't at the moment think of something that doesn't have a category on ebay, lol..maybe body parts?
_________________
Susie

angelsplace · Joined: 22 Jul 2002 Posts: 6025 Location: Port Richey, FL

Hi Jana! Yes I agree..it's everything that they've hijacked! I figure if Walmart is coming up on an antiques search..then I'm sure what ever is sold in Walmart is being hijacked as well! Same with all the other merchants. They wouldn't use their links without using their inventory to up their rankings with the searches. The thing is..what they're doing is a Monopoly and well...isn't there something illegal with that?

I know if I owned a physical B&M store..I couldn't possibly put up detours and roadblocks all over the roads leading everyone to my store and no where else..and get away with it....this is basically what they're doing.
_________________
Donna

http://www.goantiques.com/members/angelsvintageattic
also visit me at GoAntiques!