Sketchup ur Space & Sketchup 4 Architect stolen content
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As far as Facebook goes, can't you stop them from posting to your page? Unfriend them?
Seems like the same as what Google does. Google mines our info for targeting ads. I've been constantly bugged by Google and other internet "services" to list my business (so they can misrepresent it in some inept fashion) AND we all do have our personal and business info "stolen" to pad their sites.
What's on the web gets misappropriated regularly by Google and other web companies
But one expects more from a site posing as SketchUp source and it's too bad people will be mislead and others will not receive credit or payment for their contributions.
At least they did take something down after being bugged. I doubt you can get that far with most such spam operations.
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Probably the most effective thing you can do if your content has been stolen is to use the Google Disavow toolhttps://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/disavow-links-main.
This will tell Google that you do not condone or trust the domain that is linking to your website, and it will hurt their SEO rankings. The tool was created for situations like this and for people who link to your site with "negative SEO" tactics to try to bring your site down in rankings.
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Disavow Tool will not hurt their rank... It only attempts to save your rank from being affected by bad sites or your own spammy link campaign. Matt Cutts was very clear that the Disavow tool could not be used by others to hurt website ranking on a website. Although, he is a known liar...
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You can use the Google DCMA request to remove content from Google services that has breached your copyright or trademark. It won't remove their site or their content from their server, but Google may remove them from search.
Report Content for Legal Reasons - Legal Help
Requesting content removals from Google products for Legal reasons We take inappropriate content seriously If you see content on a Google produc
(support.google.com)
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Great suggestions. I was luckily able to get them to honor my request to remove the content, but only after barraging them on just about every channel I could.
I suggest that if anyone finds stolen content to call them at 866 493 4944. I got them to answer once and it clearly forwards to a cell phone. The guy on the other end, who wouldn't identify himself (I was very polite) I can only assume was Rajib. On the phone he promised to remove the content, but then didn't follow through for about a week.
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@krisidious said:
Disavow Tool will not hurt their rank... It only attempts to save your rank from being affected by bad sites or your own spammy link campaign. Matt Cutts was very clear that the Disavow tool could not be used by others to hurt website ranking on a website. Although, he is a known liar...
I don't think it hurts their rank directly. It's more of a byproduct. I'm pretty sure Google takes outbound links into account when figuring out how relative your content is. So, when they link to all of our great content, they're telling Google, "Hey, my site is similar to all these other sites". By disavowing, you're taking that advantage away from them, therefore, hurting their rankings.
Also, I'd find it hard to believe that if a website is being disavowed from MULTIPLE sites, Google doesn't pick up on this pattern and hit them in the rankings. It seems like a great way for Google to crowd-source spam control. Of course, I could be wrong, but it seems logical to me.
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That's why we've made that specific point to Matt Cutts, he's the head of Search. It was posited to him that this would in turn be used as a weapon against a site's competitors.
He's assured us that being disavowed has no affect on rank...
Q&A With Google's Matt Cutts On How To Use The Link Disavow Tool
It's been almost two weeks since Google launched its link disavowal tool. Some have been busy diving in and using it, but others have had more detailed
Search Engine Land (searchengineland.com)
However... Like I said. he's a known liar. He told us we could trade links with relevant sites. Then we get hammered for it. And yes, I agree, it's a treasure trove of data to ignore.
Links are votes... even bad links carry some weight, but good links inside text with relevant linking text are best. If a website like these links to you, disavowing the links will subtract the link weight they carry from your profile, not theirs. They will have to be penalized by the algorithm for being spammy.
The disavow tool's main purpose is to dig people out of their spammy graves. If you had a bad linking system, or you paid someone and they did some bad things. It helps you get your reputation back... They warn only to use it if you are absolutely sure as it can hurt your own rank.
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Ranked or not, let's make sure that everyone that reads this understands how these guys operate, and checks their websites for stolen content.
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Just so everyone knows, these guys just ripped off images from Matt Donley right from the main page of SketchUp.com.
If anyone needs help getting their stuff off of any of the sites they operate, I am willing to help.
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You should screen shot things like that...
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Eric, thanks for highlighting this. Really appalling way to do business. I'm going to check this out.
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Ok, they removed Matt's image, but now have one right off of the SketchUp home page. Hope they got permission.
Feel free to weigh in Sketchup Ur Space.
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I doubt they are here... Over at our BlackBook group we determined they are indeed only a SEO website traffic scheme. People are here to learn, they just use google alerts to post new links I'm sure.
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The unfortunate downside to posting about them here is that you have probably generated more hits for them than complaints. One of the cases where even bad publicity is good.
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I don't care how many hits they get. If we don't speak about this publicly it will never get dealt with.
They are allowed to get all the hits they want, they shouldn't steal other people's content though. This is one of the best forums for getting the word out.
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I tend to disagree
This tactic they employ of recycling good copy from knowledgeable users into their own content is not something to ignore.
There are multiple occasions where I have spent hrs writing a detailed tut to only see it repeated elsewhere.
That alone hinders me in creating more detailed content which means users lose out.
Brushing this away is not the answer. Publicly educating these 'SketchUp Promoters' that mimicry isn't allowed or flattering.
By educating I don't mean to witch hunt them but to actually let them know that my shared content is still my content. Credit me, ask me or tell me you are using it. Don't just cut, copy and paste it and make revenue from it.
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You've got me wrong, I think they should be wiped from the face of the earth..I was merely saying 'the unfortunate downside' is that more people will go and look at the site, generating more revenue for them, while those they steal from have to struggle against them.
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agreed...
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So continue to let the dog shit in your garden with the hope that it will stop at some point?
Weird logic.
My attitude is educate not ignore.
They have used the PM system, twitter, facebook to harrass me in the past to promote their channel.
This isn't an overnight problem but a longterm campaign by their content creators to hijack others content.
I don't care if a million people visit the site based of me saying that they shouldn't. My point is to let Professional SketchUp users know that what they digest there is other people's content that is not credited.
I'm not interested in good or bad press. I'm interested in seeing people given credit where credit is due.
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Arrrrgh, I agree with everything you are saying!!!! I don't think it should be ignored!!! I agree that something needs to be done and it should be yelled from the top of the highest peak, But, and it's a very tiny but, I was simply saying that while posting here is a good thing to help educate people to this practice, the very nature of people going to look at it so they know what to guard against increases their hits and therefore their revenue, at least in the short term. If only there was a way for people not to have to visit the site to understand.
Surfing is great fun, but one unfortunate downside to it can be getting sunburnt. Doesn't mean you shouldn't go surfing.
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