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� MALWARE AND MALICIOUS in place, w e can certainly w ork tow ards

BEHAVIORS m inim izing the im pact they can have on our

w ebsites and our users’ experience online.
M alw are o�ten �inds its w ay onto

com puters through deceptive or m isleading

� THIN AFFILIATE PAGES
links, w hich can cause severe dam age to

devices and even com prom ise sensitive data. These pages are created solely �or a��iliate

As such, G oogle has taken steps to rem ove m arketing and typically contain very little

these types o� links �rom search results and original content. M any o� these pages are

penalize w ebsites that contain them . This nothing m ore than a list o� links to products

reduces the risk o� m alw are in�ections �or
available on other sites. The problem w ith

users and m akes it m ore di��icult �or m alicious
these pages is that they provide very little

actors to generate tra��ic �or their sites using
value to users and can o�ten be loaded w ith

spam m y tactics.
m isleading or deceptive links.

Besides �ocusing on m alw are incidents,
As such, G oogle has now begun

G oogle has also begun introducing new

dow nranking these types o� pages in search

m easures to target other harm �ul behaviors.

results to prevent them �rom appearing as

O ne key exam ple is cloaking – a technique

prom inently as they had in the past. This

used by spam m ers that involves presenting

change is intended to im prove the overall

di��erent content to search engines than w hat

quality o� search results and m ake it easier �or
is show n to users.

users to �ind the in�orm ation they are looking

�or.
For exam ple, they m ay hide autom ated

scripts behind seem ingly innocent code

snippets so that w hen craw lers com e across Key best practices

them , they are directed tow ard unrelated

W hen it com es to SEO , you should alw ays
content. To com bat this issue, G oogle now

�lags pages that use this tactic and displays a keep a �ew key best practices in m ind. These

w arning m essage directly on the page to alert include:

users be�ore clicking on suspicious links or

buttons w ithin the site. � Your content should alw ays be original and

relevant to your target audience.

� HACKED CONTENT

� You should �ocus on creating keyw ord-rich

G oogle has taken a m ore proactive
titles and m eta descriptions that accurately

approach to identi�y and �lagging

re�lect the contents o� your page.

com prom ised or hacked content, w hich has

increasingly becom e a prevalent issue online

� M ake sure to keep your w ebsite structure

over the past several years. Speci�ically, by

and navigation clean and user-�riendly to

prioritizing hacked content in its ranking

ensure that both search engines and users

algorithm s, G oogle aim s to protect users �rom

can easily �ind their w ay around.
m alicious links that could harm their devices

or steal sensitive in�orm ation.

� Engage in active com m unities and prom ote

your content through social m edia and
W ebsite ow ners m ust now be even m ore

other channels to increase its visibility.
vigilant about m onitoring their ow n sites and

those o� external vendors that they depend

on to pow er certain �unctions on their pages.

M aintaining ongoing com m unication w ith

external partners and closely tracking any O verall, these changes represent a

changes m ade by third-party developers huge step �orw ard in creating a sa�er online

or code providers m akes it m uch easier to experience �or all users. By recognizing and

identi�y potential hacking threats be�ore they prioritizing the threats posed by m alw are and

can do too m uch dam age. other m alicious behaviors, G oogle’s Search

Essentials have entered a new era w here

W hile hack attacks are never com pletely spam is no longer tolerated as m uch as it

preventable, w ith the proper precautions once w as.

PAYOUTMAGAZINE 33