MySpace News Is Stealing Your Search Results

This looks like a problem with Google & how they handle frames, not a problem with MySpace

It would take the Washington Post about 3 lines of JavaScript code to bust the frames and take over the browser window. I wonder why they don’t solve these so-called “copyright infringement” cases the easy way.

Sounds like TechCrunch is so desperate for news they are making stuff out of thin air, trying to create controversy when there is none. I’m a Digg user anyway.

So what is the issue here exactly? MySpace News is clearly an aggregation service. They are not trying to pass of content as their own. About.com also uses linkframes for outside content; no one complains about them. Ttargeting MySpace with irrelevant “news” like this has become a tired cliche.

Judith
how is MySpace News taking content from other people and using it to get better search results not news? And BTW: Digg doesn’t frame, it’s considered poor for by most people, and there is also a ton of content up today.

Mike
they are: check the screen shout out: they are pulling the title from the content provider and adding MySpace News to it at the top of the browser + the search results for the MySpace content show a MySpace URL: someone following the link will think they are visiting a MySpace page.

Duncan:
Do you really think this is a MySpace issue or could it be a Google issue? I doubt that the MySpace News team is trying to create some sort of search engine scheme. Also, what solutions do you think MySpace or Google could implement? Personally, I am not worried about this, as long as my blog is promoted, I don’t care if it’s through MySpace News or Digg or someone’s blogroll.

Neoseeker has been doing this for years too:

http://www.neoseeker.com/resou.....rid=144335

http://www.freemyspace.com

Mike S: MySpace issue because they could be blocking the spidering via robots.txt, without getting myself into too much trouble I think they want to be indexed. Flip side: Matt Cutts could fix it in about 5 mintues.

View source on the page….. look at the keyword stuffing at the bottom of the HTML.

It’s obvious they’re trying to steal SE traffic from the original site. Anyone with half a clue about SEO would recognise their intent when looking at the page source. They’ve copied the tag from the original article as well as using original content in the tag as SE bait. Tacky.

This attempt at doing Uncov image macro: FAILD

[title] and [noframes] tags were stripped out of above post.

rick
it was meant to be lolcats….uncov didnt create the idea believe it or not History of lolcats: FAILD

Kevin: I just looked and don’t see any keyword stuffing. Where?

Are they doing anything different than Netscape (until they shut Calcanis’s project down) or About.com?

It looks like TC is just trying to attack MySpace…

Sooooooooooooo what?
http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com

This is very, very frightening. You have exposed a huge concern here. There could be dozens upon dozens of lawsuits against MySpace News. I definitely see the ramifications of this. Thanks for exposing the truth about MySpace News: TechCrunch is absolutely correct in that this isn’t really a news aggregation source, it’s a con. No wonder the place is empty.

no Uncov didn’t, and they sort of drive it into the ground. I Can Has Cheezburger didn’t either. 4Chan did. But, you guys doing it shows not only that you look at Uncov but also that you’re trying to emulate them. And really, its a little late to be pulling out lolcat image macros or speaking in Chan. It gives all of us the impression that you just became privvy to it.

And in regards to iframing, all it does is help whatever site is being iframed. It’s almost the same as posting a link to another site and having the page Snap enabled. Not much difference really.

Web 2.0 must really be slowing down if this is a story. Anyone want to guess what will be D-Day for Web 2? I’m guessing around Christmas of this year web 2 companies will start dropping like flies.

this is why numerous times i have asked myspace news people to REMOVE my blog. if i had the money i would file a lawsuit against them.

Judith: techcrunch is reported the FACTS. pure and simple.

Davo: Good point.

Thomas: I agree.

I applaud the wonderful techcrunch staff or not being afraid to report the truth about organizations like myspace. myspace news is just an ad system nothing more. they want to SELL ADS, and they want to make money from the ads. that is why they are messing with the search engine. i’m glad myspace news isn’t getting any visitors!!!

MySpace has been sourcing our content in their news section. I haven’t seen much of an impact from it trafficwise, but it doesn’t seem to be affecting our search traffic from Google. Kind of difficult for me to assess at this point. In the mean time, we’ll continue to allow them to source our feeds.

Well I definitely won’t be visiting MySpace News now, after reading all these reports about it!!

I noticed a few days ago that the Myspace profiles popped up for highly competitive keywords:
http://www.webanalyticsbook.com/archives/988

This deserves a front page article on the business section of New York Times, to be quite honest. After reading all this negative coverage of MySpace News, I have become suspicious, frankly it doesn’t sound very useful if they are going to take over Google search results!

Duncan, this brings up several interesting concerns on many levels. I encourage you to delve deeper into the issue. Something fishy is going on. I believe you may have nailed it when you said that they could be blocking the spidering via robots.txt. I expect a follow-up on this matter soon, especially since they are sourcing several of my feeds.

Chris Crocker is out there somewhere, crying “Leave MySpace alone!!” LOL

I don’t know why Fox acquired MySpace News in the first place. it is just a digg copycat, no? waste. of. money.

Lawsuits are just waiting to happen here.

I am surprised that TechCrunch hasn’t brought up this issue before, as it is relevant for all news media outlets.

i feel bad for myspace. they keep getting a bad rap. poor tom.

mark zuckerberg is celebrating about this article somewhere out there…haha

TechCrunch rules, woo hoo! You guys are like the Michael Moore of silicon valley, reporting the truth about big corporations like myspace. myspace news is a money machine, period. nuff said. done deal.

This is alarming. I wonder if MySpace is mad mad mad at TechCrunch…lol. no but seriously folks, who cars? MySpace News never lived up to its promises. Murdoch should demand a refund…lol

Wow. No one has anything nice to say about this at all. I do see one benefit: If you are the blog owner, you will get LOTS of traffic to your site. I am indifferent to it all.

Funny, just a few months ago you guys touted this as the digg killer. Ironic. The only thing MySpace News is killing is…Myspace News.

I can’t believe MySpace News is stealing from me……I’m going to ask them to remove my website immediately…..this is an absolute shock. No wonder I haven’t been coming up in search results in Google……I was wondering about that!……I am in absolute shock…..stealing is a crime, doesn’t MySpace know that……….?

MYSPACE R TEH SUX!!1! KTHXBAI

Solution: A frame breaker javascript:

http://seoblackhat.com/2005/11.....ript-ever/

As the guy MySpace is stealing from in the screenshots above, a link would have been nice

Paul Colligan
http://www.PaulColligan.com

Get some lawyers. I think we have a case.

But wait, isn’t this Web 2.0 where “private property is theft!”…or is it “theft is private property!”

In this case I’d agree it’s clear that Paul’s stuff is unfairly used by Myspace, though calling framed content “theft” is questionable even in this case.

it’s always intriguing to me how everybody seems to think that *they* have discovered the virtuous blend of content aquisition and general behavior. If content in frames is “theft” then let’s also re-define the following clearly because they all are technically considered “illegal”:

* CD Copies to give to friends
* MP3 copies for friends
* Showing a DVD to a large group of friends who all chip in for the movie big party
* Driving 56 mph in a 55 zone on your way to pick up a CD mix tape from a friend.

The fact is that the medium has outgrown many IP rules. It’s time to rewrite the IP rules and have congress pass new ones rather than just rant about how everybody is stealing from everybody else. IMO the key is to make sure profit flows to content creators while info otherwise flows very freely, and erring on the side of information freedom rather than information profiting.

Paul Colligan: What, exactly, is the case? MySpace News is trying to provide a useful service to users, and we’re complaining. They are helping you get some traffic, dude. Where is the crime in that?

MySpace is a joke and now their also thieves. What happened to honesty? Other people spend their time and energy making something–the rest of us should respect that.

Karim Baz

Did TechCrunch contact MySpace for a comment on this?

Let’s hear their view on this. I think we’re being a little unfair to MySpace.

I agree that this is a very sleazy practice. However, MySpace does provide a form to remove your site:

http://news.myspace.com/forms/removesite

Seems like they should allow site owners to opt in, rather than forcing them to opt out, but at least there’s an option.

Sleazy. Sleazy indeed… what else can you expect from MySpace?

So it seems like the consensus is that MySpace sucks? Maybe everyone who has posted here works for Facebook!! I’ve never even heard of MySpace News until now. What is it exactly? I visited the page and didn’t understand what I was looking at? What is “voting.” Why vote for news? Makes no sense. P.S. I don’t work for Facebook…I promise.

I think you do work for facebook, Norman.

questions:

1. what does google have to say about this?

2. what does myspace have to say about this?

3. what do site owners have to say about this?

It is still in the beta; are we being too harsh? Problems are expected at this stage. Perhaps the linkframe issue is something they have overlooked. This seems to be blown out of proportion. I agree that this is a serious and legitimate legal issue but it is too early to tell how this will affect the web at large.

does anyone know if there is a thread for this discussion in the techcrunch forums? seems like there should be……….

it’s unanimously agreed upon that this warrants further discussion. however, myspace in no way has claimed that these feeds are their own. i am not defending myspace, but greg dirkin (above comment) is correct that this could be overblown.

as a blog owner myself, i would be flattered to be featured on myspace. visibility is what any blogger desires. this is why i believe that it sounds like many of you are overreacting. myspace has committed no sin at this point. they seem to be misunderstood.

it is a product quite similar to Digg, that is for certain. Digg does not use linkframes, that is the only difference. perhaps myspace will remove these linkframes in the future once they realize that they could be sued to death.

one question we must ponder: are these feeds that myspace is sourcing really considered “private property”? i would say no. it is like walking down a public park. if your picture is taken, you can’t sue. you are in a public area. if the photographs are used improperly, say, if you publish them in a manner similar to the ones presented in the oscar de la hoya controversy, then you may have a problem. myspace however isn’t taking content and destroying it; it is using it as a way to allow users to receive news in a unique way.

so no, ultimately i don’t believe that myspace has committed any crimes against website owners.

Does Facebook News use linkframes, or is it only MySpace?

JACK —
I have created a thread for this discussion in the forum. It is titled — “The MySpace News Scam Revealed.” It might be buried — I created it a few hours ago. Feel free to add your thinking and wisdom about myspace.

I love it! As one of the oiriginal TotalNEWS founders who were sued, not for framing but for simply linking to certain news sites, I find this turn of events very ironic…

I don’t really care. I think you all are making something out of nothing. The media just loves to create drama, don’t they?

to david: i couldn’t find the thread. can you post me a link? are you sure you created it in this forum or a different website?

That sample page you gave with the Washington Post news article. I mean, come on - if someone thought that was my space providing the news - they are really dumb.

yes its seems the problem is with Google only not myspace

I know the people over at MySpace–they were trying to push more traffic to blogs, not to steal anyone’s stuff.

TC is attacking people who are trying to do good for bloggers.

Looks like MySpace’s PR isn’t doing a good job.

The idea that MySpace would want to “steal” your search results is simply preposterous. This is a multi-million dollar company we’re talking about. Why on earth would they want to use your silly little blog and brand it as their own? I think of them as simply news collectors who want to spread the news to people. These aren’t thieves. Besides, there are more important things in the world that we should be worrying about, like Darfur, not search results.

marky: The article doesn’t say whether they tried to call MySpace for a comment.

Mike or Duncan, could you follow up and say?

Thanks

I don’t see any comments from MySpace in the article, either.

I think this is a legitimate issue but a professional journalist would at least offer a comment from a reliable and specific source.

Misinformation on the web spreads like wildfire.

The people saying that this is good because it can send your site some traffic are missing one of the most important points. Google ranks sites largely based on authority and link authority. No ordinary site can compete with Myspace on that field. Even techcrunch has about the 1/30th of the link authority cof Myspace. Now let’s see what happens. Google indexes the original source and then finds an exact copy on Myspace news so little googlebot gets a bit confused since it needs to decide which one is the original version. Then it looks at the sites and thinks, hey Myspace has 30million backlinks (votes) so it’s a site I can trust more than johndoe’s blog and ranks the duplicate higher. However the problems for johndoes’s blog are only beginning. Google is trying for quite sometime to weed out duplicate content and keep only the original sources. As a result if johndoe’s blog doesn’t have enough link authority googlebot may characterize it as a scrapper and condemn the entire site to supplemental hell where the google sun never shines. So a move like that by Myspace can hurt seriously hurt small publishers and Myspace will be making money in the expense of small publishers.

This article is extremely misleading. Duncan, as a blogger myself I recognise the need to create sensationalist articles for traffic purposes from time to time, but working for Techcrunch I think you need to employ a little more responsibility and ethical vetting.

I don’t see this as search engine manipulation any more than digg.com.

As an example, google any rough digg.com front page article title that you can remember - chances are that the digg page for the article will come up as the first link, rather than that of the original page. And actually in digg’s case it is worse because digg puts a page of content (the digg page) in between you and the article you were actually looking for. However, we all (myself included) love digg.

I think the point is, as long as content is getting spread, attributed, and traffic is being driven to the original source we shouldn’t get our knickers in a twist. It would be a different story if, for example, Myspace was scraping the content.

This is actually mostly a google issue as the real problem is the duplicate serps. Google is increasingly struggling to deal with this and seems to be penalizing the higher quality original content in some cases whilst leaving the copies intact.

Why they don’t penalize myspace for this is a riddle to all. They could have this issue fixed in no time if they really cared about users finding the most original content (as they claimed for their NEWS updates of late)…

The guys running Myspace are heavily influenced by the heavy handed manipulative tactics of Fox. When your daddy robs banks, then your son becomes a criminal syndrome. If this was the first incident of ‘bad’ behavior then we could give them benefit of doubt. But they have been censoring and blocking competitive sites on the other end of the spectrum. Myspace’s actions since Fox purchased it make Microsoft look like a gentle loving kitten!

TotalNews was a great site in it’s time. Like Google new before google ever existed A shame they never finalised this issue. But i see lots of other sites framing (like hotmail) without said gnashing of legal teeth.

As some have pointed out, there are 2 unrelated issues:
- should MySpace display content in a frame … debatable
- should Google index the MySpace copy … NO

The screenshot actually shows another Google problem: the 4th & 5th results are “Search Results” themselves, and clearly labelled as such. I thought Google was going to remove those? Calling Matt Cutts!

Dimitris: That would be true if there were a copy of the next on MySpace. But look, there isn’t. If you read Duncan’s article without actually looking at the frame, you might think so.

But if you do look, it sure doesn’t seem like they were trying to steal google ranking.

Doesn’t this problem apply to all syndicated content?

So does google

http://vidsonly.blogspot.com

Thank goodness Duncan’s crack investigation skills is on this case. Duncan you are too big for this site. Perhaps you can get a new job working for Dateline NBC. You are Arrington’s biggest mistake.

Interesting - this isn’t even the worse case for the original content owner. Imagine how you’d feel if the person copying your content appears higher in search engine rankings than the original.

We’ve only studied a few categories (recipe sites, lyrics) using Attributor, but we’ve found the above scenario happens often.

Other than making sure the original content owners are aware of it, what can be done? How about an independent 3rd party where content owners register their content for free and the engines use this to ensure the original content owner ranks higher?

Rich Pearson: If Time magazine featured your blog and it was ranked higher in Google search than your ACTUAL blog, would you be pissed? I doubt you would. People have a bias against MySpace for no good reason. MySpace has done a lot for social networking. They paved the way for the little people, whether or not you’d like to admit it. Now people who aren’t rich and famous as they’d like to be are bitching about them when MySpace News is really just trying to help them out.

by: If Time included a link back to my blog, I probably wouldn’t mind - but then again, if they gave me a link, it would be hard for Time to rank higher than me.

I’m not calling out MySpace at all - copying content is an industry-wide problem. Given that search engines are the gate-keepers, we need a way to ensure that the people creating the content get listed first.

Hi Everyone, I find this all very fascinating. I personally don’t mind the linkframes. MySpace makes it clear on their faq page (http://newscdn.myspace.com/web/msnews/content/global/faq/faq.html) what type of service they’re providing. I don’t feel that they’re “copying” anything. They’re rather like a giant blogroll…kind of like StumbleUpon. The difference is that StumbleUpon doesn’t use linkframes, but so what? I agree with some of the people here who said that this might be overblown.

I’m going to write up a Wikipedia entry about MySpace News. Anyone want to help me contribute? Should I include this linkframe issue in the entry, or is it too early to add that? Let me know, thanks.

P.S. - I’ve tipped CNN on this, so maybe they’ll do a piece about the legal issues regarding MySpace News. Thanks, Duncan and Michael for the report!

Should we ask MySpace directly about this before we jump to any conclusions?

Alvin–CNN will discover their parent company does the exact same thing…

Bob, why are you defending MySpace? TechCrunch’s reporting is thorough and objective. If none of their reporting on MySpace or MySpace News has been positive, it’s because there’s not much positive worth reporting about. MySpace is making a ton of money off of innocent bloggers. And what do the blog owners get out of it? I’d love to hear your defense, as I doubt that you’ll have much to defend yourself with.

I found an article on CNN, but TechCrunch isn’t listed as a source. http://money.cnn.com/news/news.....752738.htm

Myspace, facebook, gaggle, …. always copy other companies content, especially Microsoft!
http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com

What is myspace news url? can’t find. thanx

Funny thing nobody in 83 replies has even brought up… Iframes don’t get crawled by spiders.

The title, sure, but not the content. Unless google just changed this recently or unless myspace is adding extra code and links in the iframe.

this is the hottest news in town right now. everywhere i go people are asking me if i’ve read this post. what’s the biggie?? meow

As Dave say, it’s a Google problem first. Because, frame is a way to help user in its navigation, to keep the context of its search.

Yet another vital issue exposed by TC. The relevancy here is startling, as some commenters have said. No innocent startup or corporate mogul should trust TC, but that is a GOOD thing–that means NO favortism. Sites like Mashable are TOO EASY on MySpace and PPP. Favoritism in media is what destroys us. It is why gossip journalism such as Access Hollywood has become nothing more than a place for Hollywood to promote their crap. In TC’s defense, this is true and objective reporting and Duncan is doing his JOB–a good one at that. Keep up the good work and don’t listen to the naysayers.

Roger: I agree with your sentiments. TC is both informative and entertaining. I love the fact that, even if you are friends with TC, they will still tear you apart if they hate your product (that happened to someone I know). No other blog is as honest and fun. Fortunately, MySpace isn’t some “innocent startup” and we can chop it up to little bits as much as we like…lol

LEAVE MYSPACE NEWS ALONE!!! *tears*

So it seems like the consensus is that MySpace sucks? Maybe everyone who has posted here works for Facebook!! I’ve never even heard of MySpace News until now. What is it exactly? I visited the page and didn’t understand what I was looking at? What is “voting.” Why vote for news? Makes no sense. P.S. I don’t work for Facebook…I promise.
http://www.lotro-lotro.com

I have a feeling this problem lies with google itself. MySpace news is big but I still feel it is a problem primarily with google.

Bob, why so silent?

I think techcrunch has lot all credibility after the PayPerPost story and this one. Then again, this isn’t MSNBC

I am trying to grasp why there are no quotes from MySpace in your article.

From my experience as an editor of an ivy league college newspaper, any writer who does not attribute his “facts” valid, trustworthy sources would most likely get fired.

Why do the editors of TechCrunch find this type of “reporting” permissible? MySpace might be owned by a large corporation, but that still does not warrant a biased attack such as this one.

where is myspace news? i can’t find it on myspace…is it hidden or invitation only?

may the Lord act upon his will to fix the harm that myspace news has caused to society and the universe. it is in God’s hands now. bloggers, you must pray for salvation.

I have e-mailed Tom via his profile regarding this pressing matter but haven’t heard back from him. Does he reply to e-mails? He has a lot of friends, so it might take awhile before he gets back to me.

Bob, where are you?

Jesus is very unhappy about this. the Bible does not accept MySpace.

Do a Google search on “MySpace News Is Stealing Your Search Results” and look at how many sites are gaining search engine visibility with this very story.

I just took a look at it, and I see your point, it’s interesting though, I don’t know what to make of it, but from what I see your right on your part.

Terrance Charles
http://www.terrancecharles.com/blog

There are certain websites that index my site contents in which search results are given to their advantage: what shall I do? where can I complain? what are the penalties for this? who are the regulating bodies?