Google Granted Patent for Detecting Hidden Texts and Hidden Links

Recently Google has been granted a patent for detection of hidden texts and hidden links. A web document comprises of several elements like text, images, CSS and hyperlinks. Some webmasters tend to employ black hat seo tactics to increase their search engine rankings by manipulating the algorithm used by the search engines to rank web pages. This patent talks about the detection of spammy elements that are present on a web page, deliberately included by the webmasters to influence their search engine rankings.

This patent mainly detects forms of cloaking which is a practice for presenting the users with a different view of the web page than what is presented to the search engines. Some examples of cloaking are given below:-

Hidden Text– Hiding keyword laden text from the users by using text color the same as the background color.

Hidden Link– Using extremely small images to create hyperlinks so that it remains hidden from the user.

CSS of Javascript– Using CSS or Javascript to hide text and links in a document.

The granted patent helps Google to identify these spammy elements within a webpage and helps to present the users with quality and relevant search results.

Here is an abstract of the patent:-

Full Patent information can be viewed here:- 


Systems and methods for detecting hidden text and hidden links 

Inventors:	Schneider; Fritz (San Francisco, CA), Cutts; Matt (Mountain View, CA)
Applicant:	Name City State Country Schneider; Fritz Cutts; Matt San Francisco Mountain View CA CA US US
Assignee:	Google Inc. (Mountain View, CA)
Appl. No.:	12/547,157
Filed:	August 25, 2009

Recommended Reading:- Google Granted Patent on Hidden Texts and Hidden Links


Also See:-

Google Patent to Identify Erroneous Business Listings
New Google Patent to Identify Spam in Information Collected From a Source
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