How to report spam to Google, Yahoo and others

A real nuisance for search engines are webmasters that try to deceive them to obtain high rankings (called "spamming").

The following techniques are usually considered spam by the search engines:

• cloaking (the server returns different web pages for search engine crawler programs and for web browsers)
• cybersquatting (using domains that resemble common domain names to get traffic from users that make a typo, for example, www.gogle.com)
• doorway pages or multiple domains with identical or nearly identical content
• invisible text (text in the same color as the background color)
• offensive content (e.g. hate views or offering illegal services)
• overuse of keywords
• overuse of tiny text
• submitting to inappropriate categories (on directories)
• using deceptive or misleading links
• using irrelevant keywords in the title and in the meta tags

What can you do if you discover other web sites getting better search engine rankings than you because they use one of the spam techniques above?

Search engines encourage you to report spam to them. 18 months ago, we compiled a handy list of addresses where you could report spam to the search engines.

Meanwhile, with all the acquisitions and mergers, the list has become out of date. For this reason, we've now updated and extended the list:

AllTheWeb:	"...send an email entitled 'Spam Report' to spam_websearch@overture.com. In the mail please set out the search query you performed, and the URLs of the pages you believe exhibit spam techniques." (source: AllTheWeb's spam policy page)
AltaVista:	Go to AltaVista's contact page, fill out the form and select "Spam Reporting" as the subject.
AOL Search:	AOL displays Google listings.
Ask Jeeves:	There's no special spam feedback address but you can use their contact form.
DMOZ.org	If you think that an editor is spamming or promoting its own domains, send an email message to staff@dmoz.org. (source: Posting Guidelines of the inofficial Open Directory Public Forum)
Google:	Just complete this form. At the bottom of each search results page, you can also click the link called "Help us improve".
HotBot/Lycos:	Go to this form, select "Searching the Web" as the topic and enter the URL of the search results page.
Inktomi:	"Reports of sites that do not follow our guidelines, but still appear in search results, are welcome at reportspam@inktomi.com" (source: Inktomi's search FAQ page)
LookSmart:	At the bottom of each search results page, you can click the link called "Tell us how we're doing".
MSN Search:	Displays Inktomi and LookSmart listings.
Overture:	Log in to your account and contact Overture. If you don't have an account, write to feedback@Overture.com.
Teoma:	They only have this one-fits-all email address for feedback.
Web.de:	Use this form to report spam to this popular German Internet directory.
Wisenut:	Refers to LookSmart.
Yahoo:	"If you have found a site that seems inappropriate for the category it is in, please forward the URL and category to the Directory Support Department." (source: Yahoo help page)

Always be fair to search engines and don't try to cheat them. You'll get the best long-term results for your web site by building good content and a thoughtful reciprocal linking strategy. Use web site promotion tools that use ethical web site promotion methods.