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PBN - Obscure Footprint Suggestions

by inxie
13 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I thought I'd start a thread for people to share possible footprints that Google has been using in the latest update.

I think it's important to remember that Google is a billion dollar company, with a highly intellectual team of people who's job it is to perfect their algorithms. I wouldn't be ruling too much out in regards to their 'detection capabilities'.

I'll kick this off with my suggestions of possible footprint signals:

  • Any dropped domain with a decent link profile could be monitored for future activity and be subject to a special audit when it's bought and re-built.
  • If the site is not connected to any Google services what so ever (webmasters, analytics, gmail etc), this could send a signal.
  • Having a bunch of scheduled posts soon after purchasing the domain, and never updating the site or even logging into the backend after.
  • Using free themes on highly authoritative domains, surely this is uncommon?
  • Having a WHOIS address that doesn't actually exist anywhere (Google have a database of every address in the world right?).


Thoughts? Additions?
#footprint #obscure #pbn #suggestions
  • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
    First of all, there was no Google update with footprints that Google is tracking down. There is zero evidence of that right now. They hit big public networks and a few smaller ones got caught with them, likely because of shared hosting and poor setup.

    If the site is not connected to any Google services what so ever (webmasters, analytics, gmail etc), this could send a signal.
    Most website are not connected to Google's services.

    Having a bunch of scheduled posts soon after purchasing the domain, and never updating the site or even logging into the backend after.
    How would Google have any clue if you ever log into the backend of a site? Also, there are plenty of "real" sites out there that setup a complete website on day one and never or rarely update it again.
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    • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
      With all the known footprints why start a thread about what amounts to nothing but your guesses?
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      • Profile picture of the author inxie
        Originally Posted by Mike Anthony View Post

        With all the known footprints why start a thread about what amounts to nothing but your guesses?
        Good question...

        There are those who have taken every known measure to prevent detection that have still been affected (albeit not so much). It's clear that there is another (or several) other footprints that we are overlooking.
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        • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
          Originally Posted by inxie View Post

          Good question...

          There are those who have taken every known measure to prevent detection that have still been affected (albeit not so much). It's clear that there is another (or several) other footprints that we are overlooking.

          Sorry but its obvious you know nothing about this subject but are just pulling things out of the air. I have yet to see or hear of any PBN hit which no one knew why. I have seen PBN owners in denial about what others saw but in no case so far was there any mystery.

          Further even if there was a mystery just coming up with ideas and guessing is of next to no value. Some of your footprints are just ridiculous - like not using Google services will cause you to be affected - and for none of them have you offered a sliver of proof..
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          • Profile picture of the author inxie
            Sorry but its obvious you know nothing about this subject but are just pulling things out of the air. I have yet to see or hear of any PBN hit which no one knew why. I have seen PBN owners in denial about what others saw but in no case so far was there any mystery.
            Well how about Glen Allsop over at Viperchill?

            That guy is not stupid and he clearly pulls out all the stops to avoid detection. He admits that about 5% of his network was still affected.

            Further even if there was a mystery just coming up with ideas and guessing is of next to no value. Some of your footprints are just ridiculous - like not using Google services will cause you to be affected - and for none of them have you offered a sliver of proof..
            Brainstorming different angles on something that is not quite clear is of no value? Perhaps I'm in with the wrong crowd here

            P.S. I didn't say it would cause you to be affected, I said it could be a small signal. Think about it, one thing that all PBN sites have in common is that they do not hook up to Google services. So surely that factor would be in a long checklist...
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            • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
              Originally Posted by inxie View Post

              Well how about Glen Allsop over at Viperchill?

              That guy is not stupid and he clearly pulls out all the stops to avoid detection. He admits that about 5% of his network was still affected.
              like I said before PBN owners are in denial lots of time. Furthermore there is nothing you can ever do to protect your network one hundred percent because when you have done all you can its possible your competitor can report you which defies all footprints. Most deindexed PBNs you hear about are rental PBNs. You don't need any fanciful imagination to figure out that Google can join and then unravel the network.

              Brainstorming different angles on something that is not quite clear is of no value? Perhaps I'm in with the wrong crowd here
              Yeah you probably are. Most people here are looking to rank and find what works - not brainstorm pulling things out of the air that they won't be able to verify and have no proof to them.

              Think about it, one thing that all PBN sites have in common is that they do not hook up to Google services. So surely that factor would be in a long checklist...
              Like I said you don't know much about this field. Though I don't recommend it there are and have been people who have put some of their PBN sites in webmaster tools and some of them have not been touched. Its not a footprint and the problem with almost all of your claims and suggestions is that you have presented zero evidence but think that others must disprove your assertions or they are valid.

              Thats not how proof and evidence works.
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              • Profile picture of the author inxie
                Yeah you probably are. Most people here are looking to rank and find what works - not brainstorm pulling things out of the air that they won't be able to verify and have no proof to them.
                Well I guess I'll move along then.

                I genuinely thought this would be of interest, can you direct me to a forum with a community that will "brainstorm pulling things out of the air that they won't be able to verify and have no proof to them."?
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    • Profile picture of the author inxie
      They hit big public networks and a few smaller ones got caught with them, likely because of shared hosting and poor setup.
      Sorry, but where was that information confirmed?

      Most website are not connected to Google's services.
      95% of people I know use some form of Google service in connection, particularly those with authority sites.

      How would Google have any clue if you ever log into the backend of a site? Also, there are plenty of "real" sites out there that setup a complete website on day one and never or rarely update it again.
      It's highly unlikely I know, but what if this was detectable?
      - Also we're talking about high DA expired domains that are picked up and built on again, average statistics for content updates could be vastly different to a brand new site.
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      • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
        Originally Posted by inxie View Post

        Sorry, but where was that information confirmed?
        Where was it confirmed that they had footprints to track down networks? It wasn't. If they were, a hell of a lot more networks would have gone down.

        Originally Posted by inxie View Post

        95% of people I know use some form of Google service in connection, particularly those with authority sites.
        And I would bet that 95% of people you know are internet marketers. Most "real" sites are not using Google Analytics or AdSense. A decent amount use Webmaster Tools, but even that is not on the majority of websites out there.

        Originally Posted by inxie View Post

        It's highly unlikely I know, but what if this was detectable?
        It is not detectable. If there are no Google properties on your site, they have no idea if you ever log into the backend of the site or not.

        And on top of that, most websites are not run on a CMS and have no backend.
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        • Profile picture of the author inxie
          Where was it confirmed that they had footprints to track down networks? It wasn't. If they were, a hell of a lot more networks would have gone down.
          From reading several posts from those with large networks, It's widely believed that footprints are being used to track down PBN's. I'm surprised that you would assume otherwise.

          And I would bet that 95% of people you know are internet marketers. Most "real" sites are not using Google Analytics or AdSense. A decent amount use Webmaster Tools, but even that is not on the majority of websites out there.
          No, not really.
          I'm not stating that this signal alone would have any weight, but complex algos could group together multiples of smaller signals to build a case against a site.

          It is not detectable. If there are no Google properties on your site, they have no idea if you ever log into the backend of the site or not.

          And on top of that, most websites are not run on a CMS and have no backend.
          It's farfetched agreed, but given the sheer power and funding of Google I wouldn't like to assume anything these days.
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          • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
            Originally Posted by inxie View Post

            From reading several posts from those with large networks, It's widely believed that footprints are being used to track down PBN's. I'm surprised that you would assume otherwise.
            Anyone worth listening to about private networks will tell you that it was not footprints. If they had footprints they were using to track them down, a hell of a lot more people would have been complaining about their networks getting hit. They hit RankHero and No Hat Digital. All they had to do was buy into the networks. Once you have a few network sites on those kind of public networks, it is a piece of cake to unravel the whole thing. From there they likely investigated the servers the network sites were hosted on and de-indexed anything that looked or smelled like a network site.

            It was nowhere near as complicated as them using footprints to track down network sites. I'm sure that is coming in the future, but there are far too many networks with extremely basic footprints still around that were not hit.

            Originally Posted by inxie View Post

            It's farfetched agreed, but given the sheer power and funding of Google I wouldn't like to assume anything these days.
            It's more than farfetched. Unless they illegally hack into hosting accounts and people's websites, there is no way for them to get that information. Does not matter how much funding they have.

            Well, unless you are stupid enough to use Chrome when working on network sites.
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  • Profile picture of the author inxie
    LOL ... conspiracy theory forums.

    Too funny.
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