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SpamBrain: How Google Combated Search Spam to Protect User Safety

SpamBrain

It’s no secret that spam is a problem in today’s digital world. In fact, it can be a threat to your business. It can take up valuable time, steal money from your pockets and even tarnish your reputation. Some of the search results you see might be spam, and they only serve to clutter your screen and interrupt you from what you really wanted to see. This is why Google introduced SpamBrain – a new program that aims to improve the quality of its search results by penalising sites that participate in spammy SEO practices and enhance your search experience. SEO Sydney experts describe more about it below.

What’s Google SpamBrain?

Google’s best tool for fighting spam, called SpamBrain, is actually a series of AI algorithms and data sets that can be used to filter out undesirable content from search results. First introduced in 2018 and continuously updated since then, it’s designed not only to identify spammy sites that violate Google’s Webmaster Guidelines, but also in hopes of improving search rankings and protect users from online harm.

Since its inception, Google has been consistently pushing updates to make spam detection stronger than ever. Google’s shared spam detection and removal statistics makes it even more effective in identifying spam and eliminating it from search results. Google explained that this AI powered platform is designed in a way that it continually enhances its own performance over time.

How SpamBrain Made the Web a Better Place?

Thanks to SpamBrain, Google succeeded in identifying 200 times more spam sites in 2021 compared to the time it started looking (which was about two decades ago). In 2021, SpamBrain detected six times more spam sites than in 2020. The AI platform was able to minimise hacked spam by 70% and gibberish spam on hosted platforms by 75%.

According to Google, “With an increasing volume of sophisticated spam being produced every day, SpamBrain’s ability to identify disruptive and malicious behaviors among billions of web pages has allowed us to keep more than 99% of searches spam-free.”

How Google Strives to Maintain User Safety and Search Quality:

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With the latest link spam update, Google has been able to fight against scams, link spam, and online harassment that have been adversely impacting search quality. Multiple algorithm updates were released by the search engine giant, which has resulted in a reduction of up to 40% of spammy search results. These updates and improvements help safeguard users from various kinds of online scams.

According to the Sydney SEO experts, SpamBrain and exploitative removal techniques from Google have tremendously helped in maintaining user safety.

Avoid These 5 Spam Web Practices to Rank Better:

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Whether you’re just starting out with your website or you’ve had it up and running for years, you probably want to know what spam web practices to avoid so that search engines like Google will send your website its fair share of traffic. SEO experts near me suggests avoiding these five bad practices so that your website won’t get impacted by SpamBrain.

  • Thin Content:

Search engines are getting better at finding thin content, which refer to pages that exist for SEO purposes rather than for providing value to visitors. Although it can be tempting to stuff your site with as many keywords as possible, you should avoid creating thin content. It won’t help with your rankings. Therefore, invest time in creating engaging content that naturally includes your keywords.

  • Hidden Links:

Spammers have a long history of using hidden links to promote their products. If you’re on a page with a product that doesn’t seem related to anything else on your site, or if there is no context for its placement, it might be best to assume there’s some type of paid relationship between you and that product. Avoid links that don’t serve an obvious purpose on your site, as well as text links which are not easily visible unless you actively search for them.

  • User-Generated Spam:

If you’re running a site that allows user-generated content, such as a message board, spam is almost guaranteed to rear its ugly head. Luckily, there are some great anti-spam plugins or tools that can prevent and combat spam. Just be sure to check the tools’ settings regularly. You don’t want users accidentally submitting spam!

  • Excessive Keywords:

Keywords are a must for search engine optimisation. However, there’s a fine line between appropriate keyword usage and stuffing your web page with those keywords. And if you’re simply repeating words for no reason, it looks as if you didn’t know what you were talking about. Also, stuffing keywords doesn’t fool anyone. It just makes it obvious that you’re trying to game Google’s algorithm.

  • Unnatural or Poor Links:

In addition to being unattractive, links that look unnatural or uninviting make it easy for Google to identify your content as spammy. Steer clear of using links that aren’t relevant to your posts and avoid using too many (or any) links on a page. A good rule of thumb is not to have more than one link per paragraph. Adding unnecessary links or posting articles with multiple, unrelated links can also hurt your SEO rankings.

Spam isn’t just the bane of your email inbox, it can also exist in other forms online. While you may think it’s harmless to use spammy web practices like keyword stuffing, in reality it can damage your reputation. Always comply with Google’s guidelines and get the assistance of a recognised SEO company near me to rank well.

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We will provide you with a no obligation SEO Quote with a 3 month scope SEO Plan carefully measured to your current website’s SEO score and industry.