Scientology.org, "Dangerous Cult" and Search Bombs
The Church of Scientology is the Latest Target of Linkbombing Tactics
This is not the first time that a connection has been formed between the Church of Scientology and search bombing tactics. The Church of Scientology has been accused of using Google bombs in the past by making large numbers of websites link the terms "Scientology" and "L. Ron Hubbard" to each other.
A Google bomb, or search bomb, is a term used to describe an attempt to influence search engine rankings for a particular website. A search bomb is created by having a high number of sites link to a specific page using identical anchor text. When enough identical links have been formed, the page or website that is being linked to will rise to the top of search engine results.
The first search bomb of significance was one that resulted in the Microsoft homepage showing as the top result for the search term "more evil than Satan himself." The person that initiated this search bomb has never been confirmed, although over the years many people have claimed responsibility.
In September 2000, a website selling George W. Bush-related merchandise was the subject of a search bomb when Hugedisk Men's Magazine linked to the site using the search term "dumb motherfucker." George Bush was the target of another search bomb in 2005 for the keyword phrase "miserable failure." Search bombs are often used to express displeasure with political figures, and Tony Blair became indexed for the term "liar" in 2006.
Not all search bombs are political in nature, and not all of them are done to express disapproval or to discredit a specific person or group. One search bomb was created to displace a hate-site that held the number one spot in Google for the term "Jew." By creating identical anchor text and linking to Wikipedia's entry for that term, the hate-site quickly dropped in the search results. Search bombs are also attempted as part of contests, mainly between various SEOs.
While Google is the primary search engine targeted by these link bombs, other engines that use similar techniques to rank pages are also affected, including Yahoo! and AltaVista.
In September 2005, Google originally explained that it would not alter the search results in order to preserve the integrity of its search engine. However, in 2007, Google updated their indexing algorithm in an attempt to prevent search bombs from showing in the top position. According to the Washington Post, this was done primarily due to the concern that users may assume Google was in agreement with the query results.
Sara Kehaulani Goo, "Google Moves to Disarm Search Bombs" Washington Post
Danny Sullivan, "Google Kills Bush's Miserable Failure Search & Other Google Bombs" Search Engine Land
Published by Sandra Ketcham
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10 Comments
Post a CommentGreat information, adds to the reader's understanding of SEO. Also quite entertaining.
Interesting article. I agree with your comment ("The CoS IS a cult") but the idea of "search bombs" was completely new to me. Well-researched and well-written. Good job!
This is a helpful article to help my understanding of how search engines work. It is a shame, while I find them pretty shady myself, that the Scientologists could have been the victim of this sort of deceptive web use. As an aside, the Church of Scientology official website no longer comes up on the first page of a "dangerous cult" Google search, at least on my machine. Your article does, however! Nice piece, thank you. Best~Jesse
Now, this is really intriguing! Thanks...
I hadn't known about this. Although, recently, my published books, which are about sex and suspense, have been linked to exercise equipment and products to do with a sex. I've gone to these sites--there's nothing about my books, nor the synopses that were in the Google search. Do Iassume that these are search bombs? If so, there's probably nothing I can do about it. I don't have the clout of know-how, fame, and money behind me. Excellent article! Well done!
Very good article S! Thanks.
Great article, I've always felt there was something a little "off" about Scientology, but I suppose to each their own.
The CoS IS a cult, and I think I will write an article about that ;)
"The Church of Scientology has been accused of using Google bombs in the past by making large numbers of websites link the terms "Scientology" and "L. Ron Hubbard" to each other. " I remember hearing about that.
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