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Narc'ing out a competitor?

by blueboy9
8 replies
One of my main competitors runs a website with an unmoderated discussion forum. This board has tons of racist/discriminatory comments and discussions going on. It shouldn't be representative of the niche I'm trying to promote yet they rank ahead of me because of their age. (I have more relevant content already and an overall better looking site but my site is only 2 months old while theirs is several years old)

Is it black hat/wrong/bad etiquette to let Google know about what's going on even if my reasons for doing so are half selfish? Or should I try to wait it out to see if I can pull ahead in the rankings?

Thanks Warriors.
#competitor #narcing
  • Profile picture of the author Steven Carl Kelly
    Do whatever you feel is right. Personally, I don't waste my time trying to take negative action against competitors. I'd rather spend that time boosting my own properties in a positive way.
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  • Profile picture of the author Elmer Hurlstone
    That you find the particular site distasteful is commendable. Unless the content is demonstrably illegal, leave it alone.

    It could not operate as is without the implicit support of the owner.

    Controversy attracts attention.

    Were you to take an "outside the norm" position on some subject or other would you appreciate being "tattled" on?

    Build your site on its own merits. Whichever site better serves the niche will, in the long run, prevail.

    Elmer
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  • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
    Originally Posted by blueboy9 View Post

    One of my main competitors runs a website with an unmoderated discussion forum. This board has tons of racist/discriminatory comments and discussions going on.
    So what...?
    Seeing that you are from Canada - have you ever visited the website of CBC or the online edition of any major national newspaper (Globe and Mail, National Post)? Have you seen what kind of comments are posted? To put it mildly: idiotic, moron submissions; and in many cases "racist/discriminatory/whatever" comments.

    Actually, people have the right to have that kind of opinions - it's called freedom of speech.

    FYI: all those sites have something similar in their TOS:
    CBC/Radio Canada is not responsible for the content of any Submission. Submissions represent the views and opinions of the person(s) posting the Submission and do not represent the views or opinions of CBC/Radio Canada.
    (taken from CBS's terms page)


    Originally Posted by blueboy9 View Post

    Is it black hat/wrong/bad etiquette to let Google know about what's going on even if my reasons for doing so are half selfish? Or should I try to wait it out to see if I can pull ahead in the rankings?
    OK, your motives are not "half" selfish - they are 100% selfish. Don't tell me if it wasn't a competition of yours you would consider 'reporting' them just for the good old common good... Gimme a break

    I don't know what kind of hat it would be but for sure it reminds me of my previous life in the fascinating Eastern European Communist Block where every envious neighbour was ready to report you for anything and everything to the secret police - just to get some advantage over you. They also ideaologized their behaviour with the "greater good of the community", however we called them snitch

    (For the record: this is just my personal opinion)
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    • Profile picture of the author Silas Hart
      Business is business. I'd do it for a financial advantage. I don't care.
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  • Profile picture of the author KenThompson
    Blueboy,

    Let it go, man. Don't advise to narc unless it's something extreme
    and innocents are involved. Other than that, I recommend turning
    your attention to your own business.

    It's also just a bad personal precedent to set.

    For what it's worth...


    Ken
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  • Profile picture of the author simmonsmike7
    I don't think Google will penalize them for having racial content. Your best bet is to outrank them through blood, sweat, and tears in doing SEO. That's what I would - go get a kabillion backlinks and build a kabillion pages!!
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    • Profile picture of the author blueboy9
      Originally Posted by Steven Carl Kelly View Post

      Do whatever you feel is right. Personally, I don't waste my time trying to take negative action against competitors. I'd rather spend that time boosting my own properties in a positive way.
      Thanks for the comment. My thinking is very similar to this!

      Originally Posted by Elmer Hurlstone View Post

      That you find the particular site distasteful is commendable. Unless the content is demonstrably illegal, leave it alone.

      It could not operate as is without the implicit support of the owner.

      Controversy attracts attention.

      Were you to take an "outside the norm" position on some subject or other would you appreciate being "tattled" on?

      Build your site on its own merits. Whichever site better serves the niche will, in the long run, prevail.

      Elmer
      The few mods they have have admitted that moderation is bad for business. The controversy they harbor keeps their user base coming back. It's not their regulars I want on my site, its their organic traffic they receive from being #1. In the long run, I think you'll be correct.

      Originally Posted by Istvan Horvath View Post

      So what...?
      Seeing that you are from Canada - have you ever visited the website of CBC or the online edition of any major national newspaper (Globe and Mail, National Post)? Have you seen what kind of comments are posted? To put it mildly: idiotic, moron submissions; and in many cases "racist/discriminatory/whatever" comments.

      Actually, people have the right to have that kind of opinions - it's called freedom of speech.

      FYI: all those sites have something similar in their TOS:

      (taken from CBS's terms page)

      OK, your motives are not "half" selfish - they are 100% selfish. Don't tell me if it wasn't a competition of yours you would consider 'reporting' them just for the good old common good... Gimme a break

      I don't know what kind of hat it would be but for sure it reminds me of my previous life in the fascinating Eastern European Communist Block where every envious neighbour was ready to report you for anything and everything to the secret police - just to get some advantage over you. They also ideaologized their behaviour with the "greater good of the community", however we called them snitch

      (For the record: this is just my personal opinion)
      Don't tell me what my motives are or aren't, you don't know me. Racism touches everyone and it doesn't go away by ignoring it or hiding behind freedom of speech laws. But in the spirit of not starting a freedom of speech or political debate that would derail the thread, I'll simply say "thank you for your opinion" and leave it at that!

      Originally Posted by FaJeeb View Post

      Business is business. I'd do it for a financial advantage. I don't care.
      This is what the little devil on my shoulder is telling me. I just can't decide if its worth it in the long run as karma can be a b----.

      Originally Posted by KenThompson View Post

      Blueboy,

      Let it go, man. Don't advise to narc unless it's something extreme
      and innocents are involved. Other than that, I recommend turning
      your attention to your own business.

      It's also just a bad personal precedent to set.

      For what it's worth...


      Ken
      Thanks for the comment. This is what my gut is telling me as well, while I may see gains in the short term, karma just might bring it back around to me someday.

      Originally Posted by simmonsmike7 View Post

      I don't think Google will penalize them for having racial content. Your best bet is to outrank them through blood, sweat, and tears in doing SEO. That's what I would - go get a kabillion backlinks and build a kabillion pages!!
      This was my fear, that Google wouldn't give a crap enough about a relatively small niche site to bother with it. The most likely scenario I would predict would be suspension of their Adsense account. I was just wondering if there was precedent for this kind of thing.
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