Thank you for the info. And thank you even more for not being a sellout!
Top-Ranked Google Search Retailer Tries To Buy Off IPVM
Published Nov 11, 2016 12:55 PM
PUBLIC - This article does not require an IPVM subscription. Feel free to share.
Ever wonder how to get to the top of Google?
Do you sell junk products but still want to get to the top of Google?
One online retailer has accomplished this. And they do it by trying to buy off sites like IPVM. Of course, we would never allow that.
In this note, we reveal the retailer, their offer to try and buy off IPVM, and how they operate.
The Offer - $25
Gearbest.com emailed us, seeking our cooperation:
Your website(ipvm.com) is very professional in security products review. I am seeking a long term cooperation with you. Every week I can offer at least 2 product links for you to write. When you finish each article, I will pay money to you. Meanwhile I can also send free security products for you to do hands on review.How do you think about that? I am looking forward to your reply.
We asked which products they would send and what they would pay. Their response: $25 per review, starting with a basic indoor home camera listed for $70 [link no longer available].
Who Is Gearbest?
Gearbest is a Chinese etailer, bearing a striking resemblance to Ali Express, offering many of the same products, categories, and sales, but with a more tech-sounding name and theme. Search Google for "ip camera" and Gearbest outranks sites with much better brand recognition like Amazon and Newegg. Here is an incognito Google search that shows that:
Retailers spend significant efforts to get high search rankings for popular terms, and Gearbest's approach is clearly effective.
Paid Reviews Standard Policy At Gearbest
Though paid reviews are generally considered fraudulent and deceptive, Gearbest makes this a standard offer to all customers, with a page to submit a link to your review to earn gift cards [link no longer available]. Conversely, Amazon has gone after reviewers they suspected of offering paid reviews, in order to protect their reputation with customers.
Winning at SEO / Losing For Users
Black hat Search Engine Optimization (SEO) like Gearbest is doing is unethical and Google has tried over the years to crack down against such practices and gaming of the system.
But, the reality is, sites like Gearbest are still beating Google and making life difficult for consumer searches and they are doing it at the comically low rate of just $25 per post.
Related
This is not the first SEO spam we have seen in video surveillance, see: The Best Video Surveillance SEO Spam Ever - Videosurveillance.com and Spamming Google Surveillance Search Results.
Comments (17)
U
Undisclosed #1
Nov 11, 2016
Ari Erenthal
Nov 11, 2016This is an outrage. $25? You're worth at least double that!
JH
John Honovich
Nov 11, 2016Lol, I am actually curious who they are paying off. Obviously someone has taken the money given their rankings.
If anyone is good at checking backlinks and can figure that out, I would really like to know!
Rich Moore
Nov 11, 2016UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #3
Nov 11, 2016U
Undisclosed #2
Nov 11, 2016The best way to combat this would be to do the reviews you were going to do anyway, the way you would normally, take as much money as possible from them, and donate it to the EFF, transparently.
Could they really stomach more than one of IPVM's reviews anyway?
JH
John Honovich
Nov 11, 2016Could they really stomach more than one of IPVM's reviews anyway?
I seriously doubt they care what we say as long as it contains a link back.
UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #4
Nov 12, 2016Imagine how much Hik would pay you to shut up....
Rich Moore
Nov 14, 2016
Michael Archer
Nov 14, 2016Using same IP Camera as article has, you can see how they get their high ranking.
Not Amazon is outranked because their trust flow is 0. Google search is an Art to get right.
Backlinks to their domain with this search also can see spread over many domains globally. Does indeed looks like the normal you get paid to review.
securitygem.com, goodgadget.com, com-sale.ru,l ivd.com, promocodepro.xyz, rouming.cz, kirovnet.ru, advodka.com, w3lessonc.com, bczuneedit.tk, elcoru.com, mamiankids.com
Let's hope google start to clean this quicker as their algorithm improves.
| URL | Index Count | Referring Domains - Domain (Historical) | Referring Domains - Domain (Fresh) | Referring Domains - Page (Historical) | Referring Domains - Page (Fresh) | Page Backlinks (Historical) | Page Backlinks (Fresh) | Domain Backlinks (Historical) | Domain Backlinks (Fresh) | Citation Flow (Historical) | Citation Flow (Fresh) | Trust Flow (Historical) | Trust Flow (Fresh) |
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_camera | 86200000 | 8833097 | 2581496 | 178 | 127 | 626 | 487 | 6462812430 | 933681934 | 45 | 40 | 28 | 27 |
| http://www.gearbest.com/ip-cameras-c_11243/ | 1430000 | 18634 | 13959 | 14 | 11 | 40 | 136 | 4863341 | 6613052 | 27 | 33 | 12 | 18 |
| http://www.newegg.com/IP-Network-Cameras/SubCategory/ID-3299 | 750000 | 179381 | 46623 | 200 | 20 | 3218 | 51 | 51554635 | 6125314 | 25 | 23 | 8 | 13 |
| https://www.lorextechnology.com/ip-camera/N-ewg3lh | 15500 | 5487 | 2094 | 16 | 17 | 81 | 76 | 301219 | 387848 | 41 | 37 | 24 | 25 |
| https://www.amazon.com/Foscam-FI8910W-Network-Camera-Two-Way/dp/B006ZP8UOW | 111000000 | 5997841 | 1699917 | 71 | 40 | 121 | 64 | 22048084295 | 2078437271 | 28 | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| http://www.insecam.org/en/bycountry/US/ | 141000 | 871 | 661 | 21 | 23 | 117 | 60 | 95433 | 49610 | 45 | 41 | 25 | 19 |
| https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Network-Cameras/ci/16665/N/3880127377 | 1040000 | 129602 | 42529 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 61717982 | 7076221 | 25 | 8 | 30 | 0 |
| http://www.flir.com/security/display/?id=69284 | 19600 | 25790 | 9529 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 5 | 7327538 | 3123224 | 49 | 46 | 38 | 49 |
| http://www.geovision.com.tw/english/3_1_IPcam.asp | 5700 | 5743 | 1725 | 69 | 30 | 839 | 146 | 2057557 | 595923 | 38 | 34 | 18 | 24 |
UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #5
Nov 15, 2016FYI
Typically Chinese websites I find are poorly constructed, they would opt to use jpg images where plain text and fonts and styling should be used. The will most certainally contain out of date plugins like jquery (H&D use v1.7 dated 2011)
So what does this matter? Well actually it means one thing, most websites in China will give a zero SEO ranking and search results. So only way for them to get some ranking is via other methods. Lacking crediable reading text means google has nothing to base a ranking on, for one thing, lacking H1 & H2 and simple things like sitemaps means google won't even crawl their sites for text!
Both Hikvision and Dahua don't even cater for phones/tablets to nagviate websites, with non responsive designs. So if you try use it's impossible to read 1point fonts.
Compare them to say Axis and of course IPVM which are mobile friendly designs. And look great on any device. And give better SEO by a long long way.
U
Undisclosed #2
Nov 15, 2016
Dale Bullough
Nov 15, 2016John Et. Al., stuff like this is the reason for your credibility and continued growth of this amazing resource. I am not even in integration any more and I still stop by to drop in on my old favorite world.
Y'all rock, fighting the good fight. Keep it up.
Warmest,
Dale
U
Undisclosed #6
Nov 17, 2016I would hope that you guys did what you should have done with their $25 offer, and immediately report it to google.
For the record, they are currently #1 in my search ranking for "ip camera."
I'm sure if I capitalized "IP" it would probably drop though...
JH
John Honovich
Nov 17, 2016#6, I would but I am not sure where in Google to do so. I 'googled' around but did not find a clear match for where this report would go. If anyone has any ideas, let us know. Thanks.
Michael Archer
Nov 17, 2016Hi John,
https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/93713?hl=en
There is a link here when can report. Google said to react to 65% of all reporting.
JH
John Honovich
Nov 17, 2016Thanks. I tried using it but they will not let me submit it without entering in a URL for the website buying links, which makes it difficult to do for an organization that declines an offer. I filled that in with 'example.com' and submitted it.