Search + seizure: The effectiveness of interventions on SEO campaigns

David Y. Wang, Matthew Der, Mohammad Karami, Lawrence Saul, Damon McCoy, Stefan Savage, Geoffrey M. Voelker

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

    Abstract

    Black hat search engine optimization (SEO), the practice of abusively manipulating search results, is an enticing method to acquire targeted user traffic. In turn, a range of interventions-from modifying search results to seizing domains-are used to combat this activity. In this paper, we examine the effectiveness of these interventions in the context of an understudied market niche, counterfeit luxury goods. Using eight months of empirical crawled data, we identify 52 distinct SEO campaigns, document how well they are able to place search results for sixteen luxury brands, how this capability impacts the dynamics of their order volumes and how well existing interventions undermine this business when employed.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Title of host publicationIMC 2014 - Proceedings of the 2014 ACM
    PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
    Pages359-372
    Number of pages14
    ISBN (Electronic)9781450332132
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Nov 5 2014
    Event2014 ACM Internet Measurement Conference, IMC 2014 - Vancouver, Canada
    Duration: Nov 5 2014Nov 7 2014

    Publication series

    NameProceedings of the ACM SIGCOMM Internet Measurement Conference, IMC

    Other

    Other2014 ACM Internet Measurement Conference, IMC 2014
    Country/TerritoryCanada
    CityVancouver
    Period11/5/1411/7/14

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Software
    • Computer Networks and Communications

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