The Biggest Internet Scam In Recent History.

The Biggest Internet Scam In Recent History 

This post was created to express a concern I have about the internet. Specifically, what some people are claiming is "The Biggest Internet Scam In Recent History." The concern is that an unidentified group of people are using bots to change the rankings of websites on search engine result pages (SERPs). It is my hope that people who see this will help spread awareness about these scams, so that they might eventually be shut down. If you want to read more about this please visit here.

If you make it through past all the ads and clickbait articles, you'll find yourself on a page that claims a website hasn’t been searched in months. You're then given the option to either buy the domain or check out some "new data." And of course, you’re asked to share the article with your friends.

Claims that your website has not been visited in months are outrageous, because Google shows a search result count for every website, and it is always accurate. The website that is being shared is a known fake news website that has existed in many forms for years now. Most people know of this site as “Topix” and there was even an article on NPR about it. The clickbait headlines are all over Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Instagram and other social media platforms.

The fake news website uses a simple scam. They create a fake article and use it to generate traffic and income from advertisements. In order to get people to visit their website, they spread the unsubstantiated rumor that your website has not been visited in months. They do this with Google search rankings. They know that if you click on an article, you will be taken to a website (e.g., their news site) that Google thinks is relevant to your search query. Not only does this increase their revenue, but it also makes Google think that their website is more relevant than yours, leading them into the top spot for all of your keywords (or near the top).

Please help me spread the word and make sure that other people know this is a scam. Google will not show a website ranked in the top spot for all of their keywords (or near the top) if they have not been searched in months. You can trust that Google is always correct, so don't fall for this scam trap. There are many other sites out there that provide accurate rankings suggestions (i.e., "organic" search results).

This page has been updated since originally posted due to changes in the ads. It is now shorter, but still very effective at exposing this garbage site.

About the Author

SEOmoz Blogger - Founder of Muntu.org - Theme Designer & Developer for Sitemobile and URL Profiler. 5 years experience in online marketing, SEO and web design. A budding entrepreneur with a passion for creating quality websites that make him money! You can find more information about me here: muntu.org/about/contact/ or by following me @Muntu_J Stone on Twitter or Instagram.

Conclusion

As per the results given here, topix.com is not an authoritative source of accurate news and information. It is also not sure that this site has anything to do with the conspiracy theory behind it. It seems like a waste of time to share topix.com on social media sites because you can’t be sure about its authenticity at all. The best thing to do in these situations is to ignore the website instead of sharing it with your circle of friends so that you can stay safe from such schemes. As for the ranking issues of a particular website, they may be due to some technical reasons or human errors on part of Google and not Google being biased towards this particular website as alleged here in the article.