The Moz Q&A Forum

    • Forum
    • Questions
    • My Q&A
    • Users
    • Ask the Community

    Welcome to the Q&A Forum

    Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

    1. SEO and Digital Marketing Q&A Forum
    2. Categories
    3. Intermediate & Advanced SEO
    4. Has anyone seen a spammy competitors website hit by the Google changes?

    Has anyone seen a spammy competitors website hit by the Google changes?

    Intermediate & Advanced SEO
    7 4 291
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as question
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • NileCruises
      NileCruises last edited by

      I wonder, after all the talk of Penguins and Pandas if anyone has seen evidence of a competitor who you know has 1000's of spammy links removed from their page one position in Google.

      I have a trade competitor who appeared from nowhere about 12 months ago with 11,000+ back-links most of which were totally unrelated to our trade and appear to be link-farm links for the most part.

      After reading about Google's changes I thought the site might be hit but it remains up there in the first 2 or 3 results on page one.

      I wonder if anyone has seen similar sites penalised?

      Colin

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • wrttnwrd
        wrttnwrd last edited by

        I've seen plenty, but I only remember the ones that keep their rankings 🙂

        In all seriousness: I know it's hard, but you have to ignore competitors as far as spammy practices go. Google's far from perfect in detecting spam, even now, and their ability to rank may come from other factors. Even if it doesn't, you don't control that. It's frustrating as hell - believe me, I get it. But focus on what you do control: Your site.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
        • irvingw
          irvingw last edited by

          We have seen several competitors get trashed in the rankings. Spammy links does not guarantee that a site will be penalized. They may enough good quality links to counteract their spam links and there are probably several other factors taken into consideration in the Google spam penalty algorithm.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • IanTheScot
            IanTheScot last edited by

            We've seen a competitor that has used spammy practices for years that no matter what continues to sit at the top of the rankings.

            As Ian said, it's maddening as can be but you can't fix Google so you just have to work on improving your own site. (Still working on taking this advice)

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • NileCruises
              NileCruises last edited by

              Thanks Ian, Irving and Ian,

              I take your point about controlling what I can control and your right.

              Just frustrating to watch after following Googles recommendations. But, as you say, there might be other factors.

              Thanks guys.

              Off now to kick the cat!

              (Just joking).

              Colin

              irvingw wrttnwrd 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 2
              • irvingw
                irvingw @NileCruises last edited by

                Good luck - you can close a ticket by clicking on Good Answer

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                • wrttnwrd
                  wrttnwrd @NileCruises last edited by

                  I hear ya, Colin. Drives me nuts every time I see spammers up there.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • 1 / 1
                  • First post
                    Last post
                  • How do i beat my spammy competitors? they are ranking on page 1 of google!
                    Melissacarter
                    Melissacarter
                    0
                    4
                    116

                  • Hi. Has anyone seen a drop in their PA recently? We have over 40 clients and 80% dropped and it has been like this for the past 2 months. I wanted to check if other websites are also experiencing this drop or is it just us?
                    GastonRiera
                    GastonRiera
                    0
                    2
                    57

                  • Google cache from my website give another website
                    TineDL
                    TineDL
                    1
                    9
                    964

                  • Google Change of Address for previously penalised website?
                    Eric_Rohrback
                    Eric_Rohrback
                    0
                    4
                    112

                  • Why do Local "5 pack" results vary between showing Google+, Google+ and website address
                    RyanPurkey
                    RyanPurkey
                    0
                    2
                    87

                  • Does having all client websites on same server/same Google Analytics red flag Google?
                    klemtek
                    klemtek
                    1
                    13
                    132

                  • Can anyone tell me if this website was built with Frontpage or another cookie cutter drag and drop website creator by looking at the source code?
                    MattAntonino
                    MattAntonino
                    0
                    4
                    387

                  • Has anyone else seen a Google Plus Local listing displace a regular search listing?
                    MiriamEllis
                    MiriamEllis
                    1
                    3
                    419

                  Get started with Moz Pro!

                  Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

                  Start my free trial
                  Products
                  • Moz Pro
                  • Moz Local
                  • Moz API
                  • Moz Data
                  • STAT
                  • Product Updates
                  Moz Solutions
                  • SMB Solutions
                  • Agency Solutions
                  • Enterprise Solutions
                  • Digital Marketers
                  Free SEO Tools
                  • Domain Authority Checker
                  • Link Explorer
                  • Keyword Explorer
                  • Competitive Research
                  • Brand Authority Checker
                  • Local Citation Checker
                  • MozBar Extension
                  • MozCast
                  Resources
                  • Blog
                  • SEO Learning Center
                  • Help Hub
                  • Beginner's Guide to SEO
                  • How-to Guides
                  • Moz Academy
                  • API Docs
                  About Moz
                  • About
                  • Team
                  • Careers
                  • Contact
                  Why Moz
                  • Case Studies
                  • Testimonials
                  Get Involved
                  • Become an Affiliate
                  • MozCon
                  • Webinars
                  • Practical Marketer Series
                  • MozPod
                  Connect with us

                  Contact the Help team

                  Join our newsletter
                  Moz logo
                  © 2021 - 2026 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
                  • Accessibility
                  • Terms of Use
                  • Privacy