The Danger of Negative SEO Attacks

A hidden well-organized negative SEO (search engine optimization) campaign against you can wipe out your Internet footprint, obliterate online rankings, or cause you to be de-indexed by Google. It can do irreparable harm to your reputation and earning potential.

And if these malicious actors circumvent the current laws by targeting someone’s actual name instead of their website, victims have little recourse. Why? Because these concealed attacks don’t leave the necessary IP addresses to track down the perpetrators. Note that it takes money and motivation to go to these lengths to ruin a company or private person.

The worst part?

You don’t even know it’s happening.

So how did I learn about the negative SEO campaign against me and how they were burying my articles?

Through a little-known trick on www.Isearchfrom.com

I follow my articles’ ranking on Google — incognito as a writer. However, I noticed last October that my high-ranking pieces were disappearing from the internet as they were being bundled in 3rd party links such as Facebook.ru or Facebook.it. There was a huge traffic drop to the sites I wrote for. First, I found my name in Google images in conjunction with a Toronto escort service and, later, an erotic Turkish TikTok site. Then, my name would appear in spammy and fake web links from other countries in Google searches. Pieces of my writing were stuffed in non-existent websites all over the world. But worse, most photos and articles concerning my previous philanthropic work disappeared.

I was watching someone erase my very existence from Google.

Within 48 hours, I interviewed online reputation management (ORM) companies. As I explained the attacks, we would refresh our browsers every few minutes to watch links disappear before our eyes or weirdly shuffle themselves.

One manager said, “Damn, somebody’s out to get you.” He explained negative SEO attacks were not common because spammers don’t put in the time and effort. But they happen, and it could be from a disgruntled employee, an aggressive competitor, a crazy girlfriend, or a jealous ex-spouse who hired an unethical company or person. But a good SEO guy and ORM company will immediately spot an attack’s trademarks and help you through them.

I soon received a crash course in various Black Hat SEO techniques and how Google will de-index you without your knowledge. I began documenting the timing and target of each negative attack and seeing the patterns with dozens of screenshots.

So how did I find the spammy links?

I began by Googling my name in quotation marks which showed the most apparent spam links concerning “porn” sites.

But when I put my name in quotation marks on www.Isearchfrom.com, I suddenly saw what the google bots were seeing.

Usually, if you Google your name, you’ll see your social media, your LinkedIn page, your website, any press articles, other people who share your name, maybe your address, or perhaps whitepages.com, the company you work for, but in general, innocuous listings. But if you put your name through the free Isearchfrom.com, you can simulate a Google search from any location worldwide and on any device. But the key to this tool is adding the quotation marks around your name to look for what the google bots see and use to rank you or your website on Google.

And God forbid if dozens of these spammy links appear in this search.

Below are some examples of toxic backlinks attached to my name and articles.

  1. One or two spammy links won’t hurt your website’s ranking or your name, but if you see the exact anchor text stuffed in similar links, you’re probably up against someone using a link farm. So, for example, if your website or company is linked to a “porn” site or “porn movie,” or in my case, my name, it will lose its ranking on Google, and your articles will quietly disappear.
  2. As I worked with the online reputation management (ORM) company, BrandYourself, the attacks began scraping the newly formed websites that were not even visible on Google. We knew then this was a targeted attack against me. The hackers were “scraping my content and copying it across other sites, which is another way a competitor can ruin your rankings. When Google finds content duplicated across multiple sites, it usually picks only one version to rank. In most cases, Google is clever enough to identify the original piece… unless they first find the “stolen” version. That’s why scrapers often automatically copy new content and repost it straightaway.” By doing this, they can bury new articles and photos online.
  3. Keyword stuffing — My name and bits of my articles were stuffed into French and Indian websites. My name also was loaded on Thai, Cambodian, Russian, Dutch, and Italian Facebook pages.
  4. Cloaking — refers to the practice of presenting different content or URLs to human users and search engines. Cloaking is considered a violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines because it provides users with different results than expected. For example, through Isearchfrom.com, I found my name and articles buried in links, but when I clicked on the actual link, there was nothing about me.

Why Are Spammy Backlinks Dangerous?

Suppose Google thinks your website, or in my case, my name, is associated with promoting or engaging with backlinks to porn, gambling, erectile-dysfunction devices, or other toxic sites. In that case, they will downgrade your ranking, your articles and website ranking, or worse de-index one or all, wiping out years of hard work. In addition, these spammy backlinks can harm your online reputation and domain authority and decrease traffic to your legitimate articles and sites.

So how do you protect yourself?

The company I hired, BrandYourself, took a multifaceted White Hat SEO approach to stabilize my online reputation. First, they analyzed my website to verify its security and how the attacks against my name appeared online. They then outlined a specific plan for my case.

If you find yourself in a similar situation, here are some steps below to protect yourself.

  1. Take Action Immediately

Act immediately if you are an individual whose name or image is associated with porn. Gather evidence — screenshots, IP addresses, and websites where your name and image are posted. If your photo is published without your consent in revenge porn, it is considered a felony in some states.

In my case, we only needed to use Google’s Disavow List. But I saved the screenshots and IP addresses.

If someone has hijacked your company website, stolen customer information, or funneled customers to other sites, immediately call law enforcement. Sixty percent of small businesses close within six months of being hacked. Always be aware of unusual database activity or suspicious network behavior. Have ironclad site protection and always back up your company’s data.

Never assume that your site or private information is safe.

2. Legal Counsel

Depending on the attack and your state’s laws, you may need to hire a lawyer and use the DMCA takedown form to notify an Internet service provider (ISP) that your copyrighted work or image is used without your permission. DMCA stands for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a 1998 copyright law that extends copyright regulations to the internet.

3. Protect Your Website

Even though the spammers did not attack my website, we had to lock it down. In addition to two firewalls, I added another layer of security and permanently attached to my website the links, articles, and photos the spammers had tried to bury, saving them. We made the site user-friendly with mobile accessibility, qualities that Google prizes. BrandYourself uploaded the Google Search Console to see who was visiting the site. They updated the entire area with the help of a fantastic designer, Rich Radimer, linking it to the other websites I write for and various social media. Another incredible consultant, Chris Palmer, an SEO expert, also reviewed it.

Although we secured my site, we quickly learned the negative SEO attacks continued, targeting my name, which is not a common name.

4. To the Rescue — White Hat SEO

The online reputation company immediately commenced a multipronged approach of using social media — Twitter, Pinterest, Crunchbase, Youtube, etc. along with newly constructed websites to create a protective net, pushing up my Google ranking.

We created new content and posted it regularly on the websites and social media. We focused on quality links and accurate content that would help users. In addition, they purchased Google Ads to promote my site, which also helped against the spammy links.

Before the attacks, I naively assumed that online anonymity was much safer than a huge public following. In the land of SEO, this is a FALSE belief.

You need all the social media associated with your name — especially LinkedIn, Twitter, Wikipedia, and others with high Google ranking to help push down the toxic backlinks.

But the game changer for the porn links was Google’s disavow list.

5. Thank God for Google’s Disavow List

Google works very hard to make sure that actions on third-party sites do not negatively affect a website. However, I have not seen anything from Google about concealed attacks on someone’s name. Despite that, we submitted the spammy backlinks and porn links to Google for all the websites associated with my name. We then saw real improvement in my ranking, and my articles began appearing again.

We now update the Disavow list weekly instead of daily to stay on top of the toxic links.

Yes, I spent a lot of money on professional help to save my online reputation.

And yes, it was worth it.

You need an experienced team who will spend enormous time checking on all the moving pieces. Because of BrandYourself, I could retrieve newspaper articles, photographs, and other legitimate links associated with my name. We were able to suppress the toxic backlinks and secure my website. My name is no longer attached to any porn sites.

However, we still monitor the web for any fake images or articles. It is an ongoing process.

The Bad Guys Also Use White Hat SEO

Unfortunately, unethical companies and individuals use ORM companies and the same techniques to conceal negative press, lawsuits, or bad reviews concerning malpractice or illegal business practices. After working with cyber experts, I now know what to look for if a company’s Google ranking smells like online manipulation to hide something unsavory and how to confirm those hunches.

So my fellow writers and content creators, don’t be naive.

Use an online reputation management company if needed and their free online resources.

Lock down your website.

Check your name on isearchfrom.com and fiercely protect it.