continued from Page 4

In this case, either A or B would be smart strategies. It’s a good idea to see all the pages Google can show you from the same site, because finding other anomalies might help solve the mystery. For the same reason, it’s also a good idea to cross-check Google’s results with the other search engines.  Sending an email to Matt Cutts, on the other hand, is a monumental waste of time, since Google has no obligation - and poor Matt has no time - to explain the ins and outs of their algorithmic results.

Moving along in your Google research, you check for additional URLs from the site that Google has in its index, using the query:

site:www.providencela.com

You discover that Google has indexed an .swf file from the same site and that it, too, looks strangely out of sync with the website’s content:

This listing gives you strong evidence that: (Click on your answer to move to the final step and solve the mystery!)

1. The spam text is coming from inside the Flash file. After all, this is Google’s listing for a .swf file within the providencela.com domain.
2. The spam text is coming from content that is no longer on the website.
3. The spam text is coming from content that the webmaster has cloaked so that it only shows up for search engines.

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posted 7/11/2006

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