WhenU Yanked From Yahoo and Google Indexes

NEW YORK – Advertising spyware network WhenU found itself on the wrong side of the two most powerful search engines Monday morning after Yahoo and Google decided to yank all WhenU search results from their combined search indexes.

The two Internet giants have accused WhenU of using "cloaking" as a way to increase and manipulate search results. According to allegations made by Google and Yahoo and a Harvard anti-spyware activist who first tipped off the two search engines, WhenU was using a method known as "cloaking" to drive traffic to its site and other bogus websites that contained favorable impressions of the much-maligned spyware company.

According to Google, the term cloaking is used to describe a website that returns altered web pages to search engines crawling the site. The webserver is programmed to return different content to Google or other search engines than it returns to regular users, usually in an attempt to distort search engine rankings. Cloaking is also known as "stealth."

According to Google's internal policy, the search engine retains the right to permanently ban any sites or site authors that engage in cloaking to distort their search rankings. Many other search engines also outlaw cloaking because it prevents them from properly indexing what users actually see.

The scheme was first reported to Google and Yahoo by Ben Edelman, a Harvard PhD and spyware specialist, who first informed the two search engines that WhenU had generated a ring of 13 websites designed to re-direct traffic to news and information that was favorable to its image, in hopes of making the impression that they are performing an ethical and legal service to Internet users.

WhenU is a confirmed spyware company that sends out ads bundled with a free screensaver to an estimated 25 million users.

WhenU has been sued for its spyware tactics by 1-800 Contacts, Overstock.com, Quicken Loans, U-Haul, Weight Watchers, and Wells Fargo.

The public perception of adware and spyware is currently at an all-time low and even Congress and individual states have been working to draft legislation that would ban both types of programs, which in many cases perform illegal and unauthorized downloads of software with the intention of tracking user activity and launching blizzards of pop-up advertising.

According to Edelman, another company involved in the process of cloaking is Redwood City, Calif.-based Claria Corp., a behavioral marketing company also known as Gator. Gator has also been subject to numerous lawsuits, including one filed on behalf of the New York Times and the Washington Post.

All traces of WhenU were removed from both Google and Yahoo on Friday afternoon and search results rendered an apology that no such site could be found.

In the meantime, WhenU is blaming an outside search optimization firm for the problems, according to the company's CEO. WhenU is claiming that it hired a company to only do "legitimate optimization."

Neither Google or Yahoo could be reached for comment by press time.

Copyright © 2024 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

Justices Alito, Thomas Invoke Victorian-Era Morality Law, Raising Censorship Concerns

Several national publications reported this week on widespread concern among Free Speech advocates after U.S. Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas repeatedly invoked during a hearing the infamous segregation-era law the Comstock Act, which was the cornerstone of U.S. censorship of sexual material from the 1870s until the 1970s.

Skinfluential Management's FansFuel Acquires Fanwire

Creator stats and affiliate marketing platform FansFuel has acquired creator account management tool Fanwire.

Nebraska AV Bill Moves Forward Despite Privacy, Free Speech Concerns

Nebraska’s unicameral Legislature has given first-round approval to LB 1092, the state’s version of the age verification bills being sponsored around the country by anti-porn religious conservative activists.

AEBN Celebrates 25th Anniversary

The Adult Entertainment Broadcast Network (AEBN) is celebrating its 25th year in business this week.

Performers in Meta Blacklisting Lawsuit Seek to Preserve Antitrust Claims

Adult Performance Artists Guild board officers Alana Evans, Kelly Pierce and Ruby have informed a California court that, although they want to drop their lawsuit claiming that Meta conspired with OnlyFans to blacklist rival premium fan platforms’ talent, they may still pursue antitrust claims in the future.

FSC, Co-Plaintiffs to Ask US Supreme Court to Review Constitutionality of Texas Age Verification Law

Free Speech Coalition (FSC) and its co-plaintiffs in the challenge to Texas’ controversial age verification law have petitioned the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to stay its recent decision upholding the law, because they intend to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to review the law’s constitutionality.

FSC Vows to Fight Florida Age Verification Law

Free Speech Coalition (FSC) has issued a statement vowing to continue fighting Florida’s new age verification law, which was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday as part of a comprehensive bill targeting minors’ use of social media.

Kansas Republican Aims to Create New Bureaucracy to 'Investigate' Porn Websites

Republican state legislators succeeded Monday in moving forward Kansas’ version of the age verification bills being sponsored around the country by anti-porn religious conservative activists, despite serious concerns raised by House Democrats about the cost of establishing a new bureaucracy tasked with investigating websites for pornographic content.

SK Intertainment Launches 'Skinfluential Management' Agency, FansFuel Joint Venture

Mr. Skin/Mr. Man parent company SK Intertainment has launched new creator agency Skinfluential Management, as well as a new joint venture with Showbizz Media's creator stats and affiliate marketing platform, FansFuel.

Industry Attorney, Free Speech Champion Clyde DeWitt Passes Away at 75

Noted industry attorney Clyde DeWitt passed away on Friday in Las Vegas at 75, according to friends and colleagues.

Show More