SEO Dynamic Content Question
 

Someone mentioned that our site fails a "cloak check" because we have dynamic content on our main page. On refresh, our feature and 8 pictures are randomly shown.

Apparently since the byte size is different for each refresh, it's setting off this web tool.

Now my guess is that google wouldn't be so ridiculously simple to not see this for what it is, but we could easily just stop randomizing. That was something we added at some point along the way so we could stop picking a "feature" site every now and then and just let it go. I think it's a benefit to our users, but it's certainly not worth losing out in Google over.

Thoughts, opinions?

Hmm.. I'm assuming Your using PHP, I have something similar but use a Javascript randomizing rotator... and I just checked with a few tools and got confirmed that
I pass such a cloak test :pimp

Since PHP is server side, SE's will most likely *blindly believe* that the content appearing at the the occurring randomization *upon their spidering* of Your stuff... is static content.
That's why You'll fail a cloak test, and I don't - Javascript output usually never "happens" when SE's spider pages, since they don't execute them... and therefore the total byte length of my pages never changes in the "eyes" of the SE's.

Look into using JS instead if You don't want to switch from randomized rotation... :thumbsup
It also has a nice side-effect when You get swamped with traffic; less server side load... ;)


EDIT: another benefit; You can add something for the SE's to chew on in <noscript>SE-food...</noscript>