The DARK SIDE of Wikipedia - GoFuckYourself.com

$5 submissions · 11-20-2007, 03:07 PM

Even though wikipedia employs rel=no follow tags, it still has some benefits. Here's an interesting article on why people still edit wikipedia despite the "lack" of link juice/link love.

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/the-dark-side-of-wikipedia

Why Edit Wikipedia Pages if There's No Link Juice?

* Reputation Management - if Wikipedia has bad things to say about a topic, there will almost certainly be someone who wishes to see that information removed.
* Link Traffic - Wikipedia articles, due to their phenomenal overrepresentation in search engines, can drive a remarkable amount of traffic, so many wiki-hacks are simply attempts to boost click-throughs
* Promotion - If you were a cellphone company, you might seriously consider editing the Wiki article on cellphone retailers, possibly adding a link to a list of "highest rated" stores by consumers according to a bogus study you host on your site (or another site) and then copying that list in short-format on the Wikipedia entry. Other promotional tactics are less obvious, but often more difficult to identify. And, yes, that story is a modified version of a true instance of Wiki-promotion.
* To Spite - If your competitor is ranking ahead of you on Google, or kicking you around in sales, you might find that Wikipedia is an excellent place to create a page on their company and detail the long list of terrible misdeeds they've committed. What's great (or horrible) about this practice is that generally, they'll be the ones who later come in and look like spammers for erasing the content or trying to have it removed, which actually helps to bolster the veracity of information in the eyes of other editors or administrators. It's a dirty but highly effective tactic to leverage against an opponent. I've even heard a story about using this technique for blackmailing the company referenced in the negative article, and pretending to "switch sides" in the editorial debate on the talk page once the money had been paid (it's DMOZ all over again!).
* For Link Juice - Wait, I thought there was no link juice on Wikipedia... Well, not directly. But, Wikipedia is such a reference resource that if your site earns links on popular pages, you'll find that those links find their way into forums, blog posts, articles, and journalistic publications more often than not. This is probably one of the most clever ways to use Wikipedia, because you'll need to link to something worthy of being spread, anyway, which probably means that even a heavy-handed Wiki-editor won't remove it, as it's typically relevant enough and interesting enough to belong there. One might even argue that this isn't Wiki-Hacking at all (perhaps it's the linkbait of Wikipedia?).
* To Earn Credit - The Wikipedia hierarchy rewards frequent, positive edits, and for many Wiki-hackers this is a great way to build up a solid, respectable-looking profile and potentially even be rewarded with administrator status.
* Wiki-Jacking - Since I've written about this topic previously, I won't cover it again in-depth.

gandalfuy · 11-20-2007, 05:02 PM

thanks for the info!

madfuck · 11-20-2007, 05:03 PM

wow i necer new that thanks

$5 submissions · 11-20-2007, 05:35 PM

Some KEY info in there if you read it closely

CunningStunt · 11-20-2007, 05:44 PM

Oh no, now every half assed adult webmaster will be spamming wiki.

munki · 11-20-2007, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by $5 submissions

Some KEY info in there if you read it closely

minusonebit · 11-20-2007, 06:22 PM

Wikipedia is a joke anymore... any idiot can spam it now and many do.

StarkReality · 11-20-2007, 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CunningStunt

Oh no, now every half assed adult webmaster will be spamming wiki.

As if they aren't doing it already, it's a mass phenomenon, but be assured, if you want a link to last longer than a few hours (or sometimes only minutes) there is much more required than just some half assed spamming. It's about permanent links...which makes it a pretty tough task that requires alot of work and long time involvement.

$5 submissions · 11-20-2007, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CunningStunt

Oh no, now every half assed adult webmaster will be spamming wiki.

Not quite. I'm sure the obvious ones will be scrubbed clean.

Shagbunny · 11-20-2007, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by madfuck

wow i necer new that thanks

i necer new that too!

warlock5 · 11-20-2007, 07:42 PM

It used to be easy to spam Wikipedia (I don't know what the hell minusonebit is talking about.) I would get more traffic from the actual Wikipedia link clickthroughs than Google. Now Wikipedia ranks on page one for virtually every "main" key phrase. The value of their outgoing traffic has to be over $1n billion a year, if not double that.

11-20-2007, 03:07 PM	#1
$5 submissions I help you SUCCEED Industry Role: Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: The Pearl of the Orient Seas Posts: 32,195	The DARK SIDE of Wikipedia Even though wikipedia employs rel=no follow tags, it still has some benefits. Here's an interesting article on why people still edit wikipedia despite the "lack" of link juice/link love. http://www.seomoz.org/blog/the-dark-side-of-wikipedia Why Edit Wikipedia Pages if There's No Link Juice? * Reputation Management - if Wikipedia has bad things to say about a topic, there will almost certainly be someone who wishes to see that information removed. * Link Traffic - Wikipedia articles, due to their phenomenal overrepresentation in search engines, can drive a remarkable amount of traffic, so many wiki-hacks are simply attempts to boost click-throughs * Promotion - If you were a cellphone company, you might seriously consider editing the Wiki article on cellphone retailers, possibly adding a link to a list of "highest rated" stores by consumers according to a bogus study you host on your site (or another site) and then copying that list in short-format on the Wikipedia entry. Other promotional tactics are less obvious, but often more difficult to identify. And, yes, that story is a modified version of a true instance of Wiki-promotion. * To Spite - If your competitor is ranking ahead of you on Google, or kicking you around in sales, you might find that Wikipedia is an excellent place to create a page on their company and detail the long list of terrible misdeeds they've committed. What's great (or horrible) about this practice is that generally, they'll be the ones who later come in and look like spammers for erasing the content or trying to have it removed, which actually helps to bolster the veracity of information in the eyes of other editors or administrators. It's a dirty but highly effective tactic to leverage against an opponent. I've even heard a story about using this technique for blackmailing the company referenced in the negative article, and pretending to "switch sides" in the editorial debate on the talk page once the money had been paid (it's DMOZ all over again!). * For Link Juice - Wait, I thought there was no link juice on Wikipedia... Well, not directly. But, Wikipedia is such a reference resource that if your site earns links on popular pages, you'll find that those links find their way into forums, blog posts, articles, and journalistic publications more often than not. This is probably one of the most clever ways to use Wikipedia, because you'll need to link to something worthy of being spread, anyway, which probably means that even a heavy-handed Wiki-editor won't remove it, as it's typically relevant enough and interesting enough to belong there. One might even argue that this isn't Wiki-Hacking at all (perhaps it's the linkbait of Wikipedia?). * To Earn Credit - The Wikipedia hierarchy rewards frequent, positive edits, and for many Wiki-hackers this is a great way to build up a solid, respectable-looking profile and potentially even be rewarded with administrator status. * Wiki-Jacking - Since I've written about this topic previously, I won't cover it again in-depth. __________________ Need a NON-ADULT income stream? We build your YOUTUBE CHANNEL for only $20 per video! For Hire: $3/hour or $400 per month Marketing Specialist Virtual Assistants

11-20-2007, 05:02 PM	#2
gandalfuy Confirmed User Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Montevideo, Uruguay. Posts: 4,686	thanks for the info! __________________ I'm not back.

11-20-2007, 05:35 PM	#4
$5 submissions I help you SUCCEED Industry Role: Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: The Pearl of the Orient Seas Posts: 32,195	Some KEY info in there if you read it closely __________________ Need a NON-ADULT income stream? We build your YOUTUBE CHANNEL for only $20 per video! For Hire: $3/hour or $400 per month Marketing Specialist Virtual Assistants

11-20-2007, 05:03 PM	#3
madfuck Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 2,032	wow i necer new that thanks

11-20-2007, 05:44 PM	#5
CunningStunt Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 5,594	Oh no, now every half assed adult webmaster will be spamming wiki.

11-20-2007, 06:22 PM	#7
minusonebit So Fucking Banned Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: [email protected] Posts: 7,391	Wikipedia is a joke anymore... any idiot can spam it now and many do.

11-20-2007, 07:42 PM	#11
warlock5 Confirmed User Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Uranus Posts: 2,808	It used to be easy to spam Wikipedia (I don't know what the hell minusonebit is talking about.) I would get more traffic from the actual Wikipedia link clickthroughs than Google. Now Wikipedia ranks on page one for virtually every "main" key phrase. The value of their outgoing traffic has to be over $1n billion a year, if not double that.