SEOMoz rocks, but is it breaking Google's webmaster guidelines when it comes to check rankings?
-
Hi all,
The Google's webmaster guideline in question reads...
"Don't use unauthorized computer programs to submit pages, check rankings, etc. Such programs consume computing resources and violate our Terms of Service. Google does not recommend the use of products such as WebPosition Gold
that send automatic or programmatic queries to Google."
So, when WebPosition Gold is not recommended then how come SEOMoz is acceptable to check ranks for websites belonging to SEOMoz PRO?
Do Google neglects breaking of few guidelines by good boys?
Thanks in advance.
-
Thanks a million Rand.
What bigger value a beginner member get from SEOMoz than getting personal replies from the CEO of SEO Moz.
Thank you so much. I'll take your all advices.
Best Regards, Vinod
-
Hi Vinod - looked through the other thread. I'd say the advice you got there was really solid. The content of that site is not very unique or valuable, the linking tactics you used were partially spammy, partially just low quality (directories, article links in syndicated directories, etc), and the effort put into the site overall feels subpar.
SEO in fields like pharmaceutical can be incredibly spammy and manipulative, thus looking at the top ranking folks (who usually only last a few days to a few weeks) is actually a terrible idea. Unlike in other spaces, overwhelming quantities of spam links and other manipulative tactics reign and Google appears uninterested in regulating this like they do in other markets. If it were me, I'd try to be one of the few legitimate, non-black-hat sites there, but I recognize that the spammers are likely to keep ranking with the churn-and-burn strategy, so it's up to you.
I do like your idea of starting over with a different type of site - perhaps a topic you're very passionate about that's less spammy?
Cheers,
Rand
-
Thanks everybody. Thanks a lot.
I am quite satisfied with Rand's reply. SEOMoz is awesome.
Best Regards, Vinod
-
Hi Rand,
I never expected to get answer directly from you. This is more than a surprise and kind of awesome feeling. Thanks a million.
Just to let you know.. I got answer to my this question when I was lying in bed. And something you said here. Sometimes we forget small things when we attempt to think something bigger and serious.
Actually I am damn frustrated with failure of my website. Please see my other question at http://www.seomoz.org/q/why-my-website-is-thrown-out-of-ranks-again-and-again
Hope you can figure out something for me. The main problems I have concluded so far about this website are:
(1) domain name... seems an attempt to take advantage in SERPs,
(2) Seems over-optimized
(3) Though i have attempted to write something valuable to users.. but seems failed in that. Just some extra wikipedia & 1-2 more site searches about topic and wrote on my website. I mean... my site is not providing some good amount of extra value to users.
(4) Might be small site, and more affiliate links.
Can you please have a look and show me that right direction. At this moment.. I am planning to get rid of this website and domain, and launch another website with some better mission.
Your little time on my issue will be much appreciated.
Thanks a million once again, Rand. You and your company are awesome. I am your big fan.
Best Regards, Vinod
-
Hi Vinod - we use APIs for some things (e.g. AdWords data, social shares, some rankings stuff, etc), and direct crawling for others (e.g. Linkscape itself obviously, fetching weekly site crawls, etc). I believe Google's violations primarily apply to software one installs on one's own machine that runs automated queries. We don't do that (as there's nothing to download and install with Moz). I believe this is what got WebPosition called-out on Google's site.
We're in relatively good touch with folks at lots of the major services we use - Google, Twitter, Facebook, Bing, etc. Googlers have asked us to make some changes and we've obliged (e.g. removing PageRank scores from our Mozbar/PRO app).
Hope that helps!
-
I know Google used to have an API for stuff like this, but that's not been available for a few years now. Perhaps they're still allowing people who had access previously to get into the data?
-
Hi Vinod,
I believe SEOmoz uses the Google API to power tools that utilize Google data.
If you would like more specific information about how the SEOmoz Ranking tool works, you can email the Help Team direct (help at seomoz.org) and I'm sure they will be able to help you out.
Hope that helps,
Sha
-
I am sure SEOMoz is using Google API to pull the data rather then essentially scraping Google that tools like WebPosition Gold do. I remember the days when people used to love WebPosition Gold...the industry has changed so much since then.....isn't it.
-
Its breaking guidelines but not in order to manipulate a sites rankings. I think this sort of thing might have less of a priority for Google. it's something they can't really control because there will always be ways around this.
Interested to hear an official SEOmoz response to this one though
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
-
Unsolved Ranking not collecting keywords
Hi, we recently migrated our blog to be on the same domain as our main website. It's been about a month. I have continued adding more keywords we'd like to track to our Ranking list on Moz. But it's been a week and the keywords are still not collecting. Is this something we need to fix on our end, or is there something going on with Moz? keyword ranking issues.png
Moz Pro | | CoveoSEO0 -
Does SEOMOZ use Google Search?
I run a Joomla site and have noticed users having a hard time finding what they are looking for. The default Joomla search is lacking and the latest Joomla search component I added is better but still not great. I've always been able to find what I'm looking for on SeoMoz, do you guys use Google Site Search?
Moz Pro | | mr_w0 -
Moz's customer service. Is this normal?
A few days ago I noticed an issue with the on-page optimizer, when I couldn't find a solution, or even any mention of the problem in the forum I posted a ticket at the help desk.
Moz Pro | | Abidos
After ten hours I got a generic reply that didn't answer my ticket so I posted saying so.
After two days of not getting any reaction I looked through the forums again, this time searching for reactions about Moz's help desk. I found the post saying that sometimes the mail with a reply isn't received correctly so I went to the page of the ticket.
Here I saw that not only didn't I get an answer but my issue had been marked as solved, even though my last message clearly stated that it wasn't. This was three days ago. So my question is, is this how Moz usually treats it's clients? I'm new and my free trial is about to expire. At this point Moz should be impressing me with their great tools and services, convincing me it's worth my money. If I can barely get their attention now I don't expect it to change once I have payed them.0 -
FF SEOMoz toolbar issue
I sent the email below to help@seomoz.org on the 12th April and haven't heard anything back so thought I'd fire it up here in case someone has a solution for me... "For the past month or so I've had an issue in Firefox where my SEOmoz toolbar appears to not sign me in, or allow me to sign in. All metrics are 0 for all websites/pages and if I click the login button, nothing happens at all. If I click the Quick Links button the drop down menu appears but whichever option from the drop down I choose, nothing happens. I'm funning Firefox 11.0 and have attached a screen grab of the bar as it appears no matter where I browse.
Moz Pro | | DWJames
Do you have any suggestions how I can get it working again? It works fine in Chrome but I primarily use Firefox..." UNRMw.jpg0 -
Links counted in Google Webmaster Tools vs. OpenSiteExplorer
Hi all SEOmozzers, site: http://f8phototravel.pl I have (in my GMT profile) 43 domains linking. Among them one of the biggest Polish like: onet.pl (5/187), gazeta.pl (8/393), grono.net.pl, canon-board.info, eturystyka.org and other. They are not present in OpenSiteExplorer. Any ideas why? Thanks, Marek */ Alexa rank (Poland/Global)
Moz Pro | | mad2k0 -
How do you use SEOmoz
I'm a newbie here. I've got a week left on my free trail. I really like SEOmoz, I might even love it a bit. 🙂 I'm trying to justify the cost. I usually don't spend money on my Internet Marketing. I've done it through finally buying some tools to help me get there. Massive change in the last year. I'm a long ways from getting rich YET though. 🙂 I've gone from $30 a month to $1000 a month in a year. So I think I'm on my way now. I'm trying to figure out why I should continue my subscription and actually start paying for it. If I were a developer I can certainly see why but the cost would so go way up. 🙂 I'm in the lowest level package with only five websites. I have 10 I'm working on. I know that's probably five to many at one time. I'm having a little trouble justifying the cost at this time. At my income level $100 a month is significant. I can see the value of seeing where my competition has backlinks. Sometimes my competition is Cnet. haha Well, I can beat them on a specific page at times. Hmm, can I search the URL list for links? Perhaps i can if I export it. That didn't occur to me. Now that could be of use if I can find my keywords. If their link is on Amazon though, I'm going to have trouble getting a link there. 🙂 Maybe I should work on less competitive links but I made good money last month with one page that was beating them. WAS beating them. How do you use SEOmoz? How do you justify the cost, that is offset the expense. If its not making me money i don't see the value. I can get a lot of this information for free but it sure is easier to get it here. Which saves me time. And the other tool i use isn't that good and not always reliable and slow. I've got a week left on my free trail. I had decided to let it go but now I'm reconsidering. $100 is a lot for me and I need to spend more on SEO outsourcing. I wonder if I wouldn't be better off dropping it for a while and then coming back. This certainly isn't mean to be a critical post at all. I'm looking for reasons to stay and make better use of it. Thanks for the thoughts, Rusty
Moz Pro | | RustyF0 -
How can the differences between Moz and Majestic's link totals be explained?
Hello, Newbie here so this might be a really daft question.... We've a few accounts and are trialling different software - across a few campaigns, we're seeing big differences in link numbers from different software (namely Moz and Majestic). I'm assuming there is a really good reason for it - just can't find what it is! Thanks in advance!
Moz Pro | | jghull0 -
Best Tool to Build List of Competitor's Top Keywords?
What is the best (hopefully seomoz) tool to create a list of the keywords bringing the most traffic into a competitor's website? Goal is to build a list of keywords that bring the competitor the most traffic, stack ranked by volume of traffic coming into the competitor.
Moz Pro | | sftravel1