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May 24, 2005
Google Bombing and Quixtar
By QBlog in Web Initiative
The world is slowly, but surely, realizing that the Quixtar leadership has been using blogs to Google Bomb. Juicee News Daily asks What is Google Bombing? The answer is lengthy but thorough.
Here's an excerpt:
As of 2 February 2005, many have noticed changes in the Google algorithm that largely affects, among other things, Googlebombs. As evidence of this, ponder that only roughly 10% of the googlebombs listed above work as of 15 February 2005. This is largely due to Google refactoring its valuation of PageRank, mostly in an effort to keep up with the encroaching result relevancy of the Yahoo and MSN search engines, which many people claim are not nearly as easy to "hack" as Google.
In 2005, multi-level marketing giant Amway Quixtar began a "Quixtar Web Initiative" to manipulate Google results. The project was deemed a clear and flagrant violation of Google's Quality Guidelines.
Amway Quixtar leaders told members that the company had "hired geekoids who were spending their time Google bombing positive info about Quixtar so that the negative sites would be buried way down at the bottom of the Google list when a prospect types in Quixtar [in a search engine]. Nobody will even be able to find the negative sites anymore."
Actually, the Quixtar Web Initiative (aka Web Reputation Task Force) began in 2004 after the spring IBOAI meeting. And the "positive info about Quixtar" is more like complete nonsense filled with Quixtar keywords.
Comments
Some more paragraphs from there ;)
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The goal in this case was to smother anti-Amway and anti-Quixtar sites, a consumer protection group, an eBook about Amway and Quixtar, Amway/Quixtar story blogs, and grassroots movements from ex-Amway or ex-Quixtar members that claim Amway or Quixtar is a Pyramid scheme or cult, or uses deceptive business practices.
Quixtar's attempt to lower the ranking of such critical web sites backfired, and Google officially reprimanded Quixtar for its attempted Googlebombing.
As of January 2005, a search on Google for "Quixtar" reveals that the Quixtar.com site dropped from the number one search position to the middle of the third page of search results.
The organized effort to manipulate search engine results was first brought to light by bloggers which detailed the offenses in an article "So Busted".
Ironically the site that reported Quixtar's attempt to Google bomb now occupies the first search position under "Quixtar". In fact the first five hits for the term "Quixtar" are all informational sites critical of the Quixtar business opportunity and the lines of sponsorship.
Quixtar's initiative to spam the internet included at least 54 Quixtar Blogs and numerous other company-related sites, character assassination blogs, adoration blogs, and various other pages. Immediately after the exposure many of the blogs shut down or reduced their content.
Amway Quixtar also has independent lines of sponsorship. Some of these businesses have been among the largest abusers of Google bombing. These independent lines of sponsorship are lead by Independent Business Owners often called IBOs, Quixtar Diamonds, Amway Crowns or kingpins such as Bill Britt of Britt Worldwide, Dexter Yager, Fred Harteis, Orrin Woodward of Team (Team of Destiny and other Diamond IBOs.
Say What? Quixtar is trying the google bomb route again, this time letting other sites do its dirty work for it?
To quote the infamous Bill Britt:
"Once a conman, always a conman".
how can i convence my daughter that quixtar is a bunch of crap. they have her so brainwashed that she is spending all her time contacting people.
ya pidoras, pizu chujie doors, zaabuzte moi url - http://greatpharmacies.com/ a suda pishite pisma i spamte - admass@pisem.net
Congratulations on the recognition of your Quixtar Google-bombing investigation! I think that topic was one of the best you have ever covered on this blog and I am happy that it is being written up on other websites.
Posted by: Waymee | May 24, 2005 3:56 PM