Is there an official definition of what constitutes a MFA site?

[JamesM]

Hi guys,

Just wondering if any of you have ever seen anything approaching an official definition of what a MFA website is?

There are a lot of sites out there that were obviosly created to be monetized via Adsense, but I'm pretty sure that "MFA" refers more specifically to poor quality sites and those that are thin on content. Couldn't many Xfactor style sites be considered MFA?

Thanks,
James

[jasonmorgan]

What is an MFA site? I don't even know what MFA stands for.

I really need too catch up with the rest of you kids.

Somebody needs to make an SEO and IM for dummies website. Throw in a little wiki covering what all this stuff means.

[JamesM]

Sorry - MFA stands for "Made For Adsense"

I agree with you about the wiki website by the way - sometimes it's too easy to get lost in the jargon!

[GMD]

I think if there was an official definition or not, the only definition that would count would be Google's definition.

But Wiki says:

"Made for AdSense

Some scraper sites are created for monetizing the site using advertising programs.[1] In such case, they are called Made for AdSense sites or MFA[citation needed].



This is also a derogatory term used to refer to websites that have no redeeming value except to get web visitors to the website for the sole purpose of clicking on advertisements.


Made for AdSense sites are considered sites that are spamming search engines and diluting the search results by providing surfers with less-than-satisfactory search results. The scraped content is considered redundant to that which would be shown by the search engine under normal circumstances had no MFA website been found in the listings.


These types of websites are being eliminated in various search engines and sometimes show up as supplemental results instead of being displayed in the initial search results.


Some sites engage in "Adsense Arbitrage"--they will buy AdWords spots for lower cost search terms and bring the visitor to a page that is mostly Adsense. The arbitrager then makes the difference between the low value clicks he bought from AdWords and the higher value clicks generated by this traffic on his MFA sites. In 2007, Google cracked down on this business model by closing the accounts of many arbitragers[2].



Another way Google and Yahoo are combating the proliferation of arbitrage are through quality scoring systems. For example, in Google's case, Adwords penalizes "low quality" advertiser pages by placing a higher per click value to its campaigns[3]. This effectively evaporates the arbitrager's profit margin."


What is covered in that article may very well be what Google, in general, thinks MFA sites are. In order to save yourself from an Adsense banned account, be careful!

It is too easy to make a nice website with great and useful content -- and add adsense to it -- than to try to save some time by skimping out on website quality in favor or saving time just so you can plaster adsense code all over the site.

Do the right thing: be proud of your website(s) and honor them with the best quality content that you can while keeping in mind that you also want to get some clicks on your Adsense ads too!

[Titans]

I have a bunch of those MFA (Making F**k All) sites

[bgmacaw]

Originally Posted by usuallyclueless

Some scraper sites are created for monetizing the site using advertising programs.

But, if you can secure millions in Silicon Valley venture capital money and have a little industry insider cred and connections, you can do this, no problem. (eg. mahalo.com, thefind.com, nextag.com). Go Big, Go Branded or Go Home.