undefined
Skip to content
Moz logo Menu open Menu close
  • Products
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Pro Home
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Home
    • STAT
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Home
    • Compare SEO Products
    • Moz Data
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis
    • Keyword Explorer
    • Link Explorer
    • Competitive Research
    • MozBar
    • More Free SEO Tools
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO
    • SEO Learning Center
    • Moz Academy
    • SEO Q&A
    • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Agency Solutions
    • Enterprise Solutions
    • Small Business Solutions
    • Case Studies
    • The Moz Story
    • New Releases
  • Log in
  • Log out
  • Products
    • Moz Pro

      Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

    • Moz Local

      Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

    • STAT

      SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

    • Moz API

      Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

    • Compare SEO Products

      See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

    • Moz Data

      Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis

      Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

    • Keyword Explorer

      Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

    • Link Explorer

      Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

    • Competitive Research

      Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

    • MozBar

      See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

    • More Free SEO Tools

      Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

    What is your Brand Authority?
    Moz

    What is your Brand Authority?

    Check yours now
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO

      The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

    • SEO Learning Center

      Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

    • On-Demand Webinars

      Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

    • How-To Guides

      Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

    • Moz Academy

      Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

    • SEO Q&A

      Insights & discussions from an SEO community of 500,000+.

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
    Moz API

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

    Find your plan
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Small Business Solutions

      Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

    • Agency Solutions

      Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

    • Enterprise Solutions

      Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

    • The Moz Story

      Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

    • Case Studies

      Explore how Moz drives ROI with a proven track record of success.

    • New Releases

      Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

    Surface actionable competitive intel
    New Feature

    Surface actionable competitive intel

    Learn More
  • Log in
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Dashboard
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Dashboard
    • Moz Academy
  • Avatar
    • Moz Home
    • Notifications
    • Account & Billing
    • Manage Users
    • Community Profile
    • My Q&A
    • My Videos
    • Log Out

The Moz Q&A Forum

  • Forum
  • Questions
  • Users
  • Ask the Community

Welcome to the Q&A Forum

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

  1. Home
  2. SEO Tactics
  3. Intermediate & Advanced SEO
  4. Do CTR manipulation services actually work to improve rankings?

Moz Q&A is closed.

After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

Do CTR manipulation services actually work to improve rankings?

Intermediate & Advanced SEO
5
13
4.0k
Loading More Posts
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as question
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
  • AdamThompson
    AdamThompson last edited by Sep 22, 2016, 2:15 PM

    I've seen a variety of services on the fringe of the SEO world that send a flow of (fake) traffic to your website via Google, to drive up your SERP CTR and site engagement. Seems gray hat, but I'm curious as to whether it actually works.

    The latest data I've seen from trustworthy sources (example and example 2) seems mixed on whether CTR has a direct impact on search rankings. Google claims it doesn't. I think it's possible it directly impacts rankings, or its possible Google is using some other metric to reward high engagement pages and CTR correlates with that.

    Any insight on whether CTR manipulation services actually work?

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
    • seanginnaw
      seanginnaw @AdamThompson last edited by Sep 26, 2016, 10:55 AM Sep 26, 2016, 10:55 AM

      No problem, hope it helps!

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • EGOL
        EGOL @AdamThompson last edited by Sep 26, 2016, 10:48 AM Sep 26, 2016, 10:48 AM

        I can't figure out if they are really that ignorant of the rules or if they are just lying.

        Probably both!  And, they say anything that makes the best story to gain a client, hold a client or make themselves look innocent when things go wrong.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • AdamThompson
          AdamThompson @EGOL last edited by Sep 26, 2016, 10:44 AM Sep 26, 2016, 10:44 AM

          Also Googlers a) have to fight pretty much only with algorithms and b) have to minimize collateral damage. That gives black hatters an advantage, and makes it impossible for Google to completely win. What annoys me is the fact that almost every single SEO company claims to be 100% white hat and Google-approved, while many are buying links, doing link networks, etc. I can't figure out if they are really that ignorant of the rules or if they are just lying.

          EGOL 1 Reply Last reply Sep 26, 2016, 10:48 AM Reply Quote 0
          • EGOL
            EGOL @AdamThompson last edited by Sep 26, 2016, 10:36 AM Sep 26, 2016, 10:36 AM

            **We have competitors who are using very shady SEO tactics and winning with them. **

            I think that it is more Google being slow to identify problems and conservative about what they penalize.  When SEOs go into the manuipulative zone they are taking their chances that Google will not find them or penalize them.   SEOs who do this often do not fully inform the client that risks are being taken and that they could be slapped with a penalty that will permanently ban them from google, or in the case of Penguin, have their site demoted in the SERPs for nearly two years.

            AdamThompson 1 Reply Last reply Sep 26, 2016, 10:44 AM Reply Quote 0
            • AdamThompson
              AdamThompson @seanginnaw last edited by Sep 26, 2016, 10:26 AM Sep 26, 2016, 10:26 AM

              Good info, thanks!

              seanginnaw 1 Reply Last reply Sep 26, 2016, 10:55 AM Reply Quote 0
              • seanginnaw
                seanginnaw last edited by Sep 23, 2016, 12:47 PM Sep 23, 2016, 12:47 PM

                I've definitely heard of this working with people using crowd-sourcing websites (such as Crowdflower) to pay next to nothing for thousands of people to Google a keyword and click on a specified listing.

                Whilst the effects of CTR manipulation are pretty instant and it definitely works, it's often short lived and Google is quick to pick this up as an anomaly, rather than data of statistical significance.

                In short, it works and it works pretty quickly but if you can't sustain the CTR metrics, you're going to fall back down the rankings.

                AdamThompson 1 Reply Last reply Sep 26, 2016, 10:26 AM Reply Quote 1
                • AdamThompson
                  AdamThompson @EGOL last edited by Sep 22, 2016, 10:12 PM Sep 22, 2016, 10:12 PM

                  I think you over-estimate how smart Googlers are and how dumb shady SEOs are. 🙂 I've seen blatant tricks that have been working for years. I don't use such tricks because they are very risky, but I don't think we should dismiss them as useless - I think it's worth understanding which work and which don't, especially if our competitors are using them. We have competitors who are using very shady SEO tactics and winning with them. Understanding what they are doing and what is working helps us determine which white hat tactics to deploy against them. That's why I'm asking for data on CTR manipulation.

                  EGOL 1 Reply Last reply Sep 26, 2016, 10:36 AM Reply Quote 0
                  • EGOL
                    EGOL last edited by Sep 22, 2016, 9:28 PM Sep 22, 2016, 9:28 PM

                    Google is really smart about manipulation. They have teams of PhD engineers looking out for it and racks of servers watching for it.  These guys are so into it that they don't go home at night.  And, the guys who offer these clicking services are not very smart.  If they were smart they would be making big bucks in cushy jobs like Google Engineer and riding hoverboards around their offices.   The intersection between really smart people and really dumb people isn't a good place to get involved.

                    AdamThompson 1 Reply Last reply Sep 22, 2016, 10:12 PM Reply Quote 0
                    • AdamThompson
                      AdamThompson @PatrickDelehanty last edited by Sep 22, 2016, 4:31 PM Sep 22, 2016, 4:31 PM

                      Yeh, I think this is a good topic to be aware of, even if we wouldn't use it. That way we can respond correctly if our competitors use it, figure out white-hat ways to combat it, have a better understanding of Google's algorithms, etc. All else failing, it wouldn't be expensive to test them out.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • AdamThompson
                        AdamThompson @becole last edited by Sep 22, 2016, 4:28 PM Sep 22, 2016, 4:28 PM

                        I generally agree with you that Google is getting better at detecting tricks, but Google is far from perfect and there are a lot of tricks that still work. I'm looking for specific results/data specifically on the CTR manipulation services...

                        Have you done any tests with CTR manipulation services work?

                        This is not a tactic white hat SEOs would use, but it's still good for us to know whether it works, so we can respond correctly if our competitors use it, to figure out white hat ways to combat it, to answer client questions, to have a better understanding of Google's algorithms, etc.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                        • becole
                          becole last edited by Sep 22, 2016, 3:31 PM Sep 22, 2016, 3:31 PM

                          Generally speaking, these types of schemes don't work, as Google is quite aware of people trying to do this. With the latest Google algorithm updates in the past few years, we've seen it become tougher and tougher for black hat SEO or gray hat SEO to be successful by trying to manipulate clicks, etc. and faking traffic.

                          We are aware of other techniques that have been manipulating Google suggest, though, and while that doesn't specifically influence rankings, it can lead to people searching for keywords that they wouldn't normally search for.

                          AdamThompson 1 Reply Last reply Sep 22, 2016, 4:28 PM Reply Quote 1
                          • PatrickDelehanty
                            PatrickDelehanty last edited by Sep 22, 2016, 2:27 PM Sep 22, 2016, 2:27 PM

                            Hi there

                            No idea if it works or doesn't, but I'd be interested in hearing about it from a curiosity standpoint. My thought is if someone has thought to make a service / try it, Google is five steps ahead in preventing it from working in their algorithm. But yeah, would love to hear thoughts if someone has used it as well!

                            Thanks for starting what could be a really interesting discussion dude!
                            P

                            AdamThompson 1 Reply Last reply Sep 22, 2016, 4:31 PM Reply Quote 2
                            • 1 / 1
                            1 out of 13
                            • First post
                              1/13
                              Last post

                            Got a burning SEO question?

                            Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


                            Start my free trial


                            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.

                            • See all categories

                            Related Questions

                            • JFA

                              What to do with PDFs that rank well?

                              Looking at some reports, I found that a client's site has PDFs that are ranking well for niche terms and getting some traffic. What can I do to get more out of them from a marketing standpoint? The obvious issue is that a PDF doesn't have the interactivity of a site visit, where we have analytics and CTAs. Someone has to follow a link back from the PDF to the site for us to even register a visit, let alone try to get their email or have them otherwise convert. My first guess is to make landing page summaries of the PDF content that link to the PDF, and canonical the PDF to the respective landing page. Has anyone tried this, or done something else that they would recommend again in this situation?

                              Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Jun 24, 2020, 5:46 AM | JFA
                              0
                            • mozentution

                              How to get back links with higher rank ?

                              Hi All , These days I am finding new ways of creating back links.  Could any one tell me how to get backlinks with higher DA ?

                              Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Aug 7, 2024, 1:10 AM | mozentution
                              2
                            • AlessiaCamera

                              How recovering the ranking after an hacking

                              Hello, I'm Alexia and a few months ago (end of March) my site has been hacked: hackers have created more than 30.000 links in Japanese to sell tires. I've successfully removed the hack and after 14 days of struggle even decided to change the domain to Siteground as they've been really keen to help. I still have some problems and I desperately need your tips. In search console, Google is informing about the +30.000 404 errors due to the content created by hackers which is not available anymore. I've been advised to redirect those links to 410 as they might have penalty effects in the SERP I have 50 503 server errors recognised by Google back in April but still there. What should I do to solve them? I still have a lot of traffic from Japan, even if I've removed all the content and ask Googled to disavow spamming backlinks. Do you think I have on page keywords? I don't understand how they can still find me. Those KWs are indexed in analytics, but not effective clicks, as the content is not there anymore. I also asked Google to remove links in search console with the tool removing links but not all of my requests have been accepted. My site disappeared from the organic results even if it hasn't been recognised as hacked in Google (there wasn't any manual actions on the Search Console). What can I do to gain the organic positioning once again? I've just tried to use the “Fetch as Google” option on search console for the entire website. Thank you all and I look forward to your replies. Thanks! Alessia

                              Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Aug 3, 2017, 5:03 PM | AlessiaCamera
                              0
                            • Maayboli

                              How to rank if you are an aggregator or a directory of resource?

                              Most of the SEO suggestions (great quality content, long form content, engagement rate/time on the page, authority inbound links ) apply to content oriented site. But what should you do if you are an aggregator or a resource directory?  You aim is to send the user faster to other site they are looking for or provide ranking about the resources. In fact at a very basic level you are competing for search engine traffic because they are doing same things. You may have done a hand crafted, human created resource that is better than what algorithms are showing.  And your site  likely to have lot more outgoing links than content. You know you are better (or getting better) since repeat visitors keep coming back. So in these days of Search engines, what a resource directory or aggregator site do to rank? Because even directories need first time visitors till they start coming back again.

                              Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Oct 7, 2016, 3:29 PM | Maayboli
                              0
                            • dkeipper

                              Page Rank Worse After Optimization

                              For a long time, we had terrible on page SEO. No keyword targeting, no meta titles or descriptions. Just a brief 2-4 sentence product description and shipping information. Strangely, we weren't ranking too bad. For one product, we were ranking on page 1 of Google for a certain keyword. My goal to reach the top of page 1 would be easy (or so I thought). I have now optimized this page to rank better for the same keyword. I have a 276 word description with detailed specifications and shipping information. I have a strong title and meta description with keywords and modifers. I have also included a video demonstration, additional photos and an PDF of the owners manual. In my eyes, the page is 100% better than it ever was. In the eyes of MOZ, it's better also. I've got an A with the On-Page Grader. Why is this page now ranking on page 8 of Google? What have I done wrong? What can I do to correct it?

                              Intermediate & Advanced SEO | May 1, 2015, 12:22 PM | dkeipper
                              0
                            • nopsts

                              Too many iframes hurts ranking?

                              I have 6 different iframe blocks (with same content in those iframes) in every page of my website. I know iframe don't be crawled by search engines but, maybe you experts give me some advice? Is that negative for SEO ?

                              Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Sep 27, 2014, 7:24 AM | nopsts
                              0
                            • CommercePundit

                              Can I Improve Organic Ranking by Restrict Website Access to Specific IP Address or Geo Location?

                              I am targeting my website in US so need to get high organic ranking in US web search. One of my competitor is restricting website access to specific IP address or Geo location. I have checked multiple categories to know more. What's going on with this restriction and why they make it happen? One of SEO forum is also restricting website access to specific location. I can understand that, it may help them to stop thread spamming with unnecessary Sign Up or Q & A. But, why Lamps Plus have set this? Is there any specific reason? Can I improve my organic ranking? Restriction may help me to save and maintain user statistic in terms of bounce rate, average page views per visit, etc...

                              Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Oct 9, 2011, 11:22 AM | CommercePundit
                              1
                            • Netboost

                              Sudden rank drop for 1 keyword

                              A page of mine  (http://loginhelper.com/networks/facebook-login/) was ranking in the top 10 for keyword (facebook login) and has been for at least 2 months, moving between 5th and 10th. Suddenly in the last 3 days the rank for the keyword dropped from 7th to 46th, yet none of the other keywords have been affected (they target other pages) and their ranks have continued to improve. I am trying to figure out what caused this sudden drop in the ranking of 1 page (the page has quality mainly text based content and isn't in the least bit shallow or spammy) I have been thinking perhaps a crawl or server error may be to cause leaving the page temporarily unavailable or with a big load time... Otherwise what could cause one page to drop so much so quickly whilst other pages improved their rank?

                              Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Aug 18, 2011, 6:18 AM | Netboost
                              0

                            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
                            Free SEO Tools
                            • Domain Authority Checker
                            • Link Explorer
                            • Keyword Explorer
                            • Competitive Research
                            • Brand Authority 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 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
                            • Accessibility
                            • Terms of Use
                            • Privacy

                            Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.