From: Robin Nobles [mailto:RobinN]
Sent: Monday, April 10, 2000 6:53 PM
To: Jim.Shissler
Subject: AltaVista's anti-spam policy
Jim,
Thank you so much for calling me today, and I'm sorry that I wasn't available.
I write newspaper columns for a number of newspapers in the South, and I also write columns for several off and online publications. My articles deal with different areas of the Internet, but I specialize in online marketing, and even more specifically, the search engines. I also teach courses in how to create engine friendly websites by following the "rules," and I just finished my second book on the subject (which will be published this fall by Adams Publishing Company.)
I'll compile a list of questions and send them to you tomorrow. Thank you again for getting back with me.
Robin Nobles, Director of Training
The Academy of Web Specialists
/
From: Jim Shissler
To: "'Robin Nobles'"
Subject: RE: AltaVista's anti-spam policy
Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2000 19:01:39 -0700
Sure thing Robin. Look forward to working with you. J.
Jim Shissler
Corporate PR Manager
jim.shissler
From: Robin Nobles
Sent: Monday, April 17, 2000 10:12 AM
To: Jim.Shissler
Subject: AV's Anti-Spam Policy
Jim,
Again, thank you for answering these questions for me. If I've asked too many questions (which is typical of a writer!), please forgive me and stop whenever you choose. I'm just delighted to have this opportunity to learn the real facts.
As you mentioned on the phone, I'll ask the questions here, and if you'd like to send me the answers by email, or if you'd rather that I call you, I'll be glad to do either.
I'm referring to AltaVista's spam policy at this URL:
http://www.altavista.com/cgi-bin/query?pg=addurl
- Could you define what AltaVista means by "machine-generated pages"?
Some of my students use WebPosition Gold to build doorway pages. Will they get banned if they use the program to create pages and submit those pages to AV?
- One of the guidelines that is causing the most confusion is:
"pages that contain only links to other pages"
Could you please define what this means?
As you know, most large websites have site maps, because they're wonderful navigation tools for users. In fact, as a writer, I use them frequently, because I can always find what I'm looking for on a site map. But, a site map is strictly a list of links in a particular website. So according to AV's policy, would sites that utilize site maps be kicked out of the index?
Also, many websites, including my own personal site, are simply directories of links. I have a site for writers, and I have a TON of links there for writers. Is this no longer acceptable?
Should site maps not be submitted?
- When a site's pages have been removed from the index, and if the "too many URLs" message appears every time the webmaster tries to add pages, is that a good indication that AV believes the site has been spamming the index?
Or, could the "too many URLs" message occur under other circumstances? I know of some sites that have been removed from the index, but there appears to be no reason for it. They get "too many URLs" messages when they try to submit. They're not utilizing any of the techniques that you outline at the above website--no spamming whatsoever. Is there a reason why those sites would have been removed and are unable to be resubmitted?
In fact, some brand new domains that have never been used before have received the "too many URLs" message. Is this a bug?
What exactly does it mean when we receive a "too many URLs" message?
- If a site has been removed from the index and can't get their pages reindexed, what should they do? Obviously, they need to comb through their site and take care of any potential problem areas, if they exist. But, what should their steps be in getting back in the index?
How long does it take to get your site back into AltaVista if it has been accidently banned? Who should we contact to find out why the site has been banned? Will they explain why it has been banned?
- Some sites have a large catalog of product pages that are somewhat similar, with just prices and titles of the products changing from page to page. Will AltaVista's spider find the pages and ban the site for having similar pages? Should the website owner use a robots.txt tag to keep AV's spider out of that directory, or is that necessary?
- Is it okay with AltaVista if we use content-rich information pages about different topics associated with our website?
- Is it okay to use doorway pages if they're content-rich, if no spamming is involved, and if we haven't tried to optimize numerous pages for the same keyword phrase?
What is AV's definition of a "doorway page"?
- Some companies build "jump" pages for their banner advertising campaigns so that when searchers clicks on a banner, they're taken to a page that has further details about the specific promotion instead of taking them to the home page. Is it okay to submit these pages?
- Some companies have servers on both the east and west coasts that are mirrors of each other for traffic distribution. Should they block AV from one of them in case its spider decides to index the mirror site?
- A student of mine made some changes to the title and meta description of his pages, but he's afraid to resubmit them because he's heard that he might get banned for resubmitting. AV's spider visited his pages weeks ago but didn't update his listing with the new titles. Should he resubmit the pages? Will he get banned from the index?
- If resubmitting pages is wrong, what's to keep our competition from resubmitting our pages until our pages are banned from the index?
- What is the maximum number of pages from a site that we can submit a day? Will we get banned if we submit more than 5?
A third party submission company recommends submitting pages once a month to make sure they stay in the index. Will this cause problems with AV if the company is hired to do this?
If we submit a page and it doesn't get indexed, how long should we wait before resubmitting it?
- Does AltaVista honor the robots.txt standard?
- On a different topic, "company factsheets" are now available for certain companies in AV's search results, which is a wonderful feature. How can a company get a company factsheet created? Is there a place where they can submit their company for consideration?
Thank you so much for your taking the time to answer these questions for me. Your answers will shed much light on a confusing issue for many webmasters.
Again, if I've asked too many, I apologize. As I started writing, I kept thinking of different scenarios, and I want to make sure that I have the facts. Thanks again.
Robin Nobles
Director of Training
The Academy of Web Specialists
/
A reminder...
From: Robin Nobles [mailto:RobinN]
Sent: Friday, April 21, 2000 10:39 AM
To: Jim.Shissler
Subject: AltaVista's anti-spam policy
Jim,
I haven't heard from you since sending you the interview questions, so I thought I'd drop you a note. Thank you so much for getting these questions answered for me. Again, if I've gone overboard by asking too many, please stop whenever you choose.
Thanks again.
Robin
From: Jim Shissler
To: "'Robin Nobles'"
Subject: RE: AltaVista's anti-spam policy
Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2000 10:43:50 -0700
Robin, I have someone looking at them, but please understand that we're in the midst of an IPO, so time is pretty tight. I'll get you those responses as soon as I can.
Thanks, Jim.
After another reminder AltaVista gave this response...
From: Jim Shissler <jim.shissler>
To: "'Robin Nobles'" <RobinN>
Subject: RE: AV's Anti-Spam Policy
Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 11:37:35 -0700
Robin, I've contactd our people and I've been told that much of the information you've requested is confidential. We think you'll find that if you ask the same questions of other search engines that they'll tell you the same thing. Sorry that we're unable to contribute to your article after all your persistance.
Good luck on your piece. J. |
