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Another Site Using My Domain To Promote Theirs

by Bede2
5 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hi Warriors,
I have a Blogger Blog which has the first 4 positions on Google. Another site( which is no 5 on Google because they are using the same keywords as in my domain) is blatantly promoting their site at my expense by giving stats about my domain which I find is not ethical in my book. They use my domain in theirs ww..c..hid..r..sf..sa...blogspot.com web stats from St.tbr....com. The stats they give for my site which is only new I feel is slagging my site in the eyes of any visitors. I am in the process of trying to drive traffic to my site. They give the value of my site as $5.00 which I feel could likely deter any potential visitors to my site from proceeding further to my store. My point is , is this legal? If not how can I get this site removed? I have looked all over google and could not find a help section for this. If any one can advise me I would be extremely greatful.
Have a great weekend
Bede2
#domain #promote #site
  • Profile picture of the author deeross
    Congratulations on holding the first 4 positions in Google! That is a great accomplishment. I don't know about Australia, but in the US it is legal to say whatever you want, as long as it is true. Even if you wanted to sue them for defamation, it might be difficult and expensive. If you can develop a thick skin about it, you can think that in a way, they are giving you free advertising. After all, who is realistically going to believe that a site with the top 4 positions is worth only $5? At that rate, their site is worth $1!

    If you want to fight back, a good strategy might be to run an Adwords campaign on their site name. Then put in the headline something like "Who is better, x or y? or "Is Y a scam?" Then in your landing page, present yourself in the best light. Don't spend a lot of money on it, just pay the minimum for the clicks.

    Or write some articles and blog topics on the same theme.

    Or, you could just send them an email asking them to stop. Who knows, they might possibly listen.

    Good luck with the battle!

    Dee Ross
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    • Profile picture of the author dburk
      Hi Bede2,

      As Dee pointed out, you cannot restrict another's freedom of speech, however you can trademark a name and enforce that trademark. If your competitor is using your name to promote their own business you can go after them for trademark violations. You have decide if your business is valuable enough to merit the expense.

      Since we are talking about a Blogger blog I will assume that Trademarks are out of your league. The best way to counter this is to simply out promote your competitor. Since you are already outperforming them I will assume that your promotional skills are superior. Just go ahead and create a few more blogs, perhaps on other blogging platforms and push your competitor completely off the first page of Google.
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      • Profile picture of the author Bede2
        Hi deeross and dburk,
        Thanks for your advice, I am in Australia and am a rank beginner in blogging but I don't have any trademarks as such. I certainly don't have the resources to get involved in a legal spat. I will try emailing them and see what happens. I must confess I don't have any great promotional skills, all I did was out source 3 articles and posted them on my blog about my niche and submitted them to Ezinearticles and a few other places. I will take your advice about creating another blog on another platform. The mystifying thing to me is even though my blog is in the first 4 places on google I'm not getting any traffic when the search for my keywords is around 20,000 .
        Many thanks for your time.
        Bede2
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        • Profile picture of the author dburk
          Originally Posted by Bede2 View Post

          Hi deeross and dburk,
          Thanks for your advice, I am in Australia and am a rank beginner in blogging but I don't have any trademarks as such. I certainly don't have the resources to get involved in a legal spat. I will try emailing them and see what happens. I must confess I don't have any great promotional skills, all I did was out source 3 articles and posted them on my blog about my niche and submitted them to Ezinearticles and a few other places. I will take your advice about creating another blog on another platform. The mystifying thing to me is even though my blog is in the first 4 places on google I'm not getting any traffic when the search for my keywords is around 20,000 .
          Many thanks for your time.
          Bede2
          Hi Bede2,

          Are you sure about the search volume? A common mistake made by folks new to SEO is using the broad match setting in the Google AdWords Keyword Tool when trying to determine search volume. You must use the exact match setting to get search volume for a specific keyword.

          Once you have the correct search volume data you can then estimate you traffic based upon known statistics. The average for a #1 position is less than 23% click through rate. This can vary a lot based on the keyword, your page title and meta description.
          Signature

          * Get Results - Outsource Your PPC Management |
          *           Don Burk Advertising & Marketing - www.donburk.com

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          • Profile picture of the author Bede2
            Hi DBurk,
            You are right, the google key word tool is showing not enough data for the exact phrase in Quotes for my keyword but "Google search" is showing 23000 for " my keywords" I will get onto creating another blog using more exact keywords. I have my original keywords in the title of my blog and also spread the allowed percentage through my articles. Incidently I tried to email the offending site put in my email to their submit a ticket section, filled in the details clicked "submit' and the page disappeared.
            Bede2
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