Ep. 63 - Google's New Spam Reporting Tool Explained

What happens when spammy websites start outranking legitimate law firms?

In this episode, I break down Google's latest spam reporting update and explain why it could become an important tool in your SEO strategy. Google has clarified that website owners can report spammy or black-hat SEO practices, giving businesses another way to protect their rankings from competitors who are cutting corners.

I share what qualifies as reportable spam, how Google's reporting process works, why your SEO agency should already be paying attention to these changes, and the precautions you should take before reporting anyone else. We also discuss the importance of keeping your own website clean, compliant, and user-focused so you don't become vulnerable to complaints yourself.

SEO is a marathon, not a sprint, and firms that focus on delivering value rather than gaming the system will always have the strongest foundation for long-term growth.

If you're investing in SEO, this is an update you need to understand. 

Want to learn more about how our agency can help your law firm grow? Speak with John Rizvi ☎️

Transcript

Speaker 0:00

Hi, and welcome. I'm John Rizvi, the Law Firm Growth Professor. For my new listeners, I'm pleased you came to join me today. For my returning listeners, it's always great to have you. In my podcast, I share the strategies for growth that have worked for me in growing my law firm from a startup with just me, a laptop, and a cell phone operating out of a spare bedroom to where we are today, a team of 60 professionals generating over 10 million a year in revenues from our 10,000 square foot headquarters right here in Coral Springs. Now, in my last episode, we talked about button hijacking and what Google is doing about it. Remember, you have until June 15th to deal with this, or your SEO agency does, whichever, but after that, Google will start demoting and penalizing sites. But Google's latest spam update also does something very interesting that they didn't do before. It used to be that when a manual report of a spammy website or spammy behavior on a website was brought to Google's attention, they would use that strictly internally to figure out, okay, how do we fight this in the future? How do we stop this from happening? What Google has done now is they've changed the language so it's clear that when somebody submits a report of a spammy website, Google will send a plain text email to the offending site, including the information that you provide. Now, you may be asking, okay, why does this matter to me? I'm not an SEO agent. Yes, I'm a site owner, but I don't do this stuff. Why does that matter to me? Why do I care? The reason you should care is because spam websites are becoming a more consistent problem across the board. They're showing up in every industry and in every field. It's not just adult websites. It's not just websites for kids anymore. It's everywhere. And if you're tired of spammy or black hat SEO using websites, trumping your hard work and your reputation and knocking you down in the rankings as a result, you have a way to fight back now. So it's important to understand how this works and why this works. Google clarified on April 23rd that they'll be sending these emails out, and the email will contain exactly what you put in the report. It's anonymous unless you put identifying information such as your name, your business, your URL, whatever in the text box. However, the next day they updated the language of their updated spam policy to clarify that if you if your report contains identifying information that can be traced back to you, they will not act on your report. It's just going to sit there and do absolutely nothing. So if you write to Google and you say this website is doing this, this, and that, black hat, whatever, Google then may, it doesn't say it will, it says they may forward that information onto the website owner so they understand the context of whatever action Google chooses to take, whether that's demoting, de-indexing, whatever. This is good news for you because it gives you another way to fight back against spam websites that shouldn't be stealing your thunder. And it's important for you to know this because it means you have access to that tool. Now, if you want to see how it works, just type in Google Spam Report Tool, and there's a link that will take you directly to Google's reporting page, which is pretty cool, right? The key here is to understand that the sword cuts both ways. So if you could report other websites for black hat or spammy or improper behavior, uh back button hijacking, or any other black hat SEO tactic, remember that other people can report against you as well. Now, of course, if you haven't done anything wrong, you shouldn't have anything to fear. But we all know that phrase has been known to strike fear in the hearts of the innocent for as long as it's been around. If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. Well, the innocent have everything to fear from those who say if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. So if you need to be, uh, so you do need to be on your game and you need to make sure that your website is pristine before you start reporting other people. Clean up your own backyard before you start knocking on your neighbor's door. However, if your site is good to go, if you're doing your regular audits and you're making sure everything's working as it should, and you don't have anything on your site that shouldn't be there or that you don't want there, and it doesn't impact your visitor's user experience, you should not have a problem. Now, of course, a lot of people are going to use this to try to get back at somebody, uh, perhaps a competitor, and they're going to try to demote sites that really are uh where they should be and deserve to be. So please don't be that person either. Bear in mind that karma is real. We've all seen examples of instant karma, and chances are that we've gotten a good laugh out of them, but it's not nearly as much fun when you're the one at the sharp end. So keep that in mind. Now, an interesting thing is that as Google is doing this, they've changed the language in a way that basically says de-indexing is not really a penalty. It's just de-indexing, it's just a fact of life. Well, if your site is de-indexed or demoted, that is by definition a punishment for bad behavior on your website's part. So that part I have questions about, but that's just arguing semantics. At that point, the end result is the same. You don't want your website unjustly demoted or de-indexed, and you don't want to try to unjustly demote or de-index somebody else's website either. But if it's a legitimate complaint, if it's a legitimate concern, and you know you have this tool, uh, your SEO agency should already be aware of this. And if they're not, it's a good time to ask them why. Because logic would dictate somebody who does this professionally on the regular ought to know about these things. So it's a fair question. Uh this stuff isn't addressed, and you should know why. It's only fair, it's only logical and only reasonable. So, what kind of spam can you report? Well, if you have a website that's full of black hat SEO junk, obviously you want to report that. If you come across a website that is spamming people with email claiming to be on your behalf, you definitely want to report that. And your SEO agency should have the documentation to be able to demonstrate, no, this did not come from my website. This is a copycat, it's a lookalike. And we've all seen that. We've all seen the scam emails, and hey, I've heard you're having trouble with whatever. Click here to whatever. Oh, you've just won a thousand dollars in some jackpot or lottery that you never entered. That stuff you definitely want to report. Now, unfortunately, a lot of people will try to spoof your site or pretend to be acting on your behalf because you're an easy target. That's really the long and short of it. Any site that doesn't fight back against this uh is an easy target. Attorneys, we don't think about this stuff. We don't work that way. But people who engage in black hat SEO, they do think this way. So Google has now given you a weapon to combat that. It's both a sword and a shield. And it's important that you understand that you have it. Again, if you've got an SEO agency, they should already be all over this. This shouldn't be a question. And in fact, you should ask them, hey, what are you doing about these spammy websites that are ahead of me in the rankings? There's nothing stopping you from reporting it on your own, but your SEO agency should already be on top of this. And if they're not, it's time to ask why. And it may be time to start looking for another SEO agency. Uh, if you have a kill clause in your contract, it might be time to start thinking about triggering it. Now, I'm not saying that people overlook this stuff maliciously or they just don't uh think about it or whatever, but if you're on a month-to-month contract with an SEO firm, they should already know this and they should be proactively pursuing it. They should be reporting these sites, and again, they shouldn't be reporting them maliciously uh because that can blow back on you, especially if they include identifying information that leaves uh breadcrumbs for Google uh or the other uh offending website to follow back to you. It can and does happen. Uh is it necessarily malicious? No. But again, as I said in the last episode, benign incompetence and willful maliciousness ultimately have the same result. So if you want to be aware of that, you need to know that you have this tool. When should you use it? Well, if you have sites ahead of you in the rankings, you need to check them out. You need to investigate this for yourself. Why are they ahead? Are they doing better content? Are they just delivering a better overall user experience? Is there something they're doing that you're not, or something they're not doing that you are doing, uh, and that something is putting them ahead. If that's the case, then uh fair play to report them. Uh you could benefit from following their example, not copying it, but following it, using it as a template for your own website to try to give yourself an edge, because these people clearly have that something uh on their side and they're on the ball. But if every single page you look at is uh full of like funky backlinks and back button hijacking and hidden keywords in the text and all of that other nonsense that black hat SEOs do to try to get a quick jump in rankings, you need to know that and you need to be prepared to deal with that. But if you have to know for yourself uh what you're up against before you can do anything to fix it. Now, depending on your field of law, you may not have to worry about this as much. But as it is, black hat SEO is becoming more invasive, more subtle, and it may manifest in ways that most people don't think of as being Black Hat SEO. It's just weird. Uh and uh you know you wonder why did this site do that? Or why is this in that particular location? It could just be an honest mistake, but there could be something more sinister. And if you're getting an unfair advantage or they're getting an unfair advantage from it, pushing your side down in the rankings uh because of that, then yes, you owe it to yourself, to your firm, to your clients, and your potential clients to get in front of it. So make sure you keep that in mind. There's a number of ways that it benefits the entire cyber community because if your website is crisp and on point and your SEO is good and everything is solid, then you have nothing to worry about. Uh, and you should be reporting sites that are getting in front of you illegitimately. Again, if they're doing it right, don't report them. Follow their example, find inspiration in what they're doing or what they're not doing, and then emulate it, but don't copy it. Incorporate the same general concept, perhaps the same idea, but make it your own before you put it into your website. You're going to be a lot happier with the results. And again, remember that SEO is not a sprint, it's a marathon. Anyone who treats it like a sprint or says that we can guarantee you results in X amount of time, they're pulling your leg and they're pulling money out of your pocket, and you're going to wind up throwing good money after bad. I'm sorry, but that's just the reality. So don't do that. What you want uh to see are actionable, repeatable results over time, and that's what black hat SEOs always forget about because they don't care about that. They want the biggest results in the shortest amount of time so they can justify getting a piece of your ad spend and your marketing budget. That's not fair to you or your potential clients. So check on stuff like this. Make sure that you're reporting it, make sure your SEO agency is reporting it. And if your SEO agency isn't reporting it, or they don't do that, or maybe they claim it's against their policy, you need to find out why. Because something's definitely wrong. Why would they not, if they're comfortable with their product, they're comfortable with the results they're delivering, why would they refuse to report a website that's not playing by the rules and that's taking shortcuts? Why would they refuse to report a site that's going about doing things the wrong way? So now that you have this option, you need to be aware that you could get an email like this. And Google can and may send these emails. So if you get an email from Google that says there's a problem with your website, we've detected a problem, or we've had the following information reported to us, don't ignore it. Check your website immediately if you get an email like that. And of course, uh immediately doesn't mean drop everything right now and deal with it, because I know as attorneys, we're busy, we're meeting with clients, we're negotiating with other attorneys, uh, many of us are in court, whatever. Uh immediately means as soon as reasonably uh achievable, uh, or uh make sure you have an agency that's on top of this stuff. But either way, uh they either you or they need to start with the things that Google asks you about or says, hey, we've had a couple of reports of X, Y, and Z and we've confirmed it. We need to find out why again. It could be a third-party plugin that's out of date or that's been hijacked. It could be that your back button's been hijacked, uh, it could be any number of things, but Google's report will tell you this is what we're doing, this is the information, and this is the report that we have, this is what we found, and this is what we're doing or going to do as a result. Now, the good news, insofar that there's any here, is that if you do receive an email like that and you correct the problem, you can then request that Google manually re-evaluate your site and either undo the corrective action or whatever is necessary at that point. Like I said, this is largely going to be your SEO agency's province, and it should be. You get that email, they need it, they need to forward it to uh uh whoever at their agency should be on top of this. That's literally what you're paying them for. But if you're your own webmaster and your own SEO and your own chief uh uh executive for your marketing, well, then you need to move on this yourself. But again, like I said, it doesn't mean right this second, it doesn't mean the second it shows up in your inbox, but as soon as you possibly can. So with this, there's good news and bad news. Uh like I said before, it's a double-edged sword, but it can give you a critical edge if you find your site being constantly bumped down uh the rankings by spammy signs or uh websites that don't have anything to do with your field of law. If they're just manufacturing keywords randomly and seeing what sticks, and all of a sudden you're bumped down because of it, that's not fair. And Google agrees. And the cyber community in general agrees uh that black hat SEO uh provisioners are going to disagree. Uh, but we're not talking to them, we don't care what they think. Uh if they want to get upset about it, they can get upset and they can stay upset. Uh so uh you should be aware that you have this tool. It's a really cool new thing that gives you an extra edge in your SEO uh in making sure that your own site is getting the results that you're after. Again, don't misuse it, don't abuse it. If your SEO agency misuses or abuses it, tell them to knock it off because that by itself could be considered a form of black hat SEO. And again, you don't want those games uh splashing back to you because it's not their name on the website, it's not their reputation. They're playing Russian roulette uh and they're doing it at your expense and your risk. So keep that in mind and be aware of it. Now make sure your SEO agency is following up with this and make sure that they're doing their own research and their own due diligence. Google your own law firm. Uh do it every week or two and see what where it's showing up on the rankings. If it's showing up at number three or below, you need to find out why and check to see what your competitors are doing. Find the good stuff and use it. Use it as much as you can and ignore the bad stuff. Get rid of that if they're doing it. Um uh and follow them. Be inspired by competitors that are doing things the right way. Follow their lead, follow their example, but see if you can figure out how to do it better. But make sure that if you find spammy websites that are outranking you uh and Google and they're not doing it the right way, that you report them because that's an important tool you have in your box to make sure that your website is getting the results and the views and the traffic that hard work deserves. Again, I'm John Rizvey, the law firm growth professor. Before you leave today, I'd appreciate it if you could click the like button. Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss any updates from this channel, and don't forget to share with your uh attorney friends and colleagues that will find this podcast helpful. Thank you so much for stopping by today, and be sure to tune in next week for more tips and ideas on making your law firm's digital presence stronger and more durable. I look forward to seeing you next time.