Is Yahoo Under the Influence of TrustRank?
By
Kim Roach,
a
staff writer and editor
kim@seo-news.com
www.unleashthetraffic.com/traffic
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As
you travel the vast world of search engine results
among Google, Yahoo, and MSN, you are likely to run
into junk pages at some point in your journey. Although
the search engines are working daily to improve search
engine results, the search engine spammers are working
just as hard to slip through the cracks.
As
you know, Google's algorithm is light years ahead
of Yahoo and MSN. However, Yahoo has been implementing
a number of changes to keep up. One of these includes
the recent filing of a patent application called "Link-based
spam detection." (http://snipurl.com/s4ul)
This patent details Yahoo's ideas on how to reduce
the massive amount of web spam that litters the search
engines.
The
search engines are very well aware that there are
spammers who would like nothing more than to trick
the search engines in any way possible. This is shown
within their patent, which states:
"Since
top positions (high ranking) in a query result list
may confer business advantages, authors of certain
Web pages attempt to maliciously boost the ranking
of their pages. Such pages with artificially boosted
ranking are called "web spam" pages and
are collectively known as "web spam." "
In
fact, the Yahoo patent even describes many of the
spam techniques that are currently being used today.
Little
has been said about the release of this new patent
application. I am sure if it had been Google releasing
a new patent, there would have been massive coverage
on the topic. However, as web masters, we should not
ignore the search engines, even if they are minor
players. This new patent reveals important trends
that should not be overlooked.
Before
I begin, keep in mind that Yahoo does not necessarily
use these techniques. They have simply filed a patent
application, which gives us some good indications
on what they have planned for the future.
Within
this document, Yahoo has outlined a system to cut
down on web spam. The authors propose a technique
to semi-automatically separate good, quality sites
from spam sites. This is achieved through an algorithm
that detects spam farms with the help of PageRank
and TrustRank.
Interestingly
enough, both of these terms are trademarks of Google.
Although the same terms are used, the application
of these algorithms are probably somewhat different.
Here is how Yahoo's patent application defines each
term:
"PageRank
is a family of well known algorithms for assigning
numerical weights to hyperlinked documents (or web
pages or web sites) indexed by a search engine. PageRank
uses link information to assign global importance
scores to documents on the web.[…]. The PageRank of
a document is a measure of the link-based popularity
of a document on the Web.
TrustRank
is a link analysis technique related to PageRank.
TrustRank is a method for separating reputable, good
pages on the Web from web spam. TrustRank is based
on the presumption that good documents on the Web
seldom link to spam. TrustRank involves two steps,
one of seed selection and another of score propagation.
The TrustRank of a document is a measure of the likelihood
that the document is a reputable (i.e., a nonspam)
document."
This
is not the first time that Yahoo has thought about
TrustRank. In 2004 , Yahoo co-authored a research
paper with Standford University entitled, "Combating
Web Spam with Trustrank." (http://dbpubs.stanford.edu:8090/pub/2004-52)
This
paper has many of the same theories as the new Yahoo
patent application. Both use a semi-automated system
for determining whether a page is reputable or spam.
Some human intervention is required in order to pick
out a set of reputable seed pages. The algorithm then
uses this set of seed pages and rates other pages
based on their interlinking pattern with the trusted
seed pages.
However,
in this particular document, details were not given
on how this would take place. With the release of
Yahoo's new patent, we are given a glimpse at one
possible approach. Unfortunately, the explanation
is way beyond my technical and mathematical abilities.
The
basics, on the other hand, are pretty easy to understand.
For example, let's say that a particular web site
has been determined to be a reputable web site. If
you acquire a link from this site, your web site would
then be given a higher TrustRank because you are closely
associated with the reputable site.
The
further out a web site is within the linking structure,
the lower the TrustRank they would receive. Basically,
according to Yahoo's proposed mechanism, the link
structure of reputable web sites can be used to discover
other pages that are likely to be reputable sites.
What
does this mean for your web site?
This
is just one more attempt to improve the relevancy
of search results. This time the idea is centered
around detecting links from link farms and other shady
resources. The value of staying in the search engine's
"good" book is becoming increasingly more
important.
It
is crucial that you obtain inbound links from quality,
authority sites and avoid un-reputable junk sites
at all costs. Focus on organic link building and link
to high-quality sites that are beneficial to you and
your web site visitors. Services that offer instant
link exchanges may look good on the surface, but they
could very well cause damage in the long run.
The
search engines are getting smarter every day. Fortunately,
we don't have to. The search engines have always been
looking for the same thing: good quality content.
As long as you fill your site with good content and
follow some basic search engine optimization principles,
you should do well.
Kim
Roach is a staff writer and editor for the
SiteProNews
and SEO-News
newsletters. You can contact Kim at: kim@seo-news.com
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