vBCloaker 0.1

[Cerb]

This hack is a search engine cloaker, it will help you get ranked on search engines.



However, certain search engines have nice protection against cloakers and don't like em, like AlexanderT mentioned so well, so use this hack at your own risk.




I really hope you will appreciate it, this is my first real vBulletin hack ever. Also, I have a friend that won a VIP pass to E3, but he needs to buy a plane ticket which costs $600 and he doesn't have the money, so if you feel generous, a donation would be very nice.

Encouraging him is encouraging me.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_xclick&business=hubertactif@hotmail.com&no_note=1&currency_code=USD


Also, there is one thing that is VERY important. When you add words

(fillers,targets,links,titles), use enter to seperate each entry. If you want a bunch of words altogether, seperate the words you want grouped together with spaces.




Features you can expect to see in next release (if this project is appreciated):

- User settable "max words" from admin panel
- Random font color
- Spiderbot logs
- Add random HTML tags



Click install if you install please :)


UPDATE

There seems to be a bug with editing spider strings from the user CP (vbulletin bug), you will have to edit the database manually

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost.php?p=631045&postcount=12


UPDATE #2

This post

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost.php?p=631546&postcount=30

[Creed]

Thanks, just what I was looking for actually!!

[nexialys]

if this is working properly, i will be happy to make some advertising about this hack!

[Cerb]

Here's how you could test it:

Add "summit" to your Spider identification strings (for this test)
Activate the Cloaker and everything
Use a spider simulator such as: http://tools.summitmedia.co.uk/spider/ and have it access your forums, it should display a cloaked page's source

[AN-net]

nice hack but very unethical when it comes to SERPS... just a warning to webmasters installing this, if a search engine discovers your using cloaking they may remove your site from their index or ban you site from their index forever. please take these warnings into consideration before installing this hack.

[jugo]

LMAO....I Love this thing.

Great Hack.

....and AN-net is right. I was a victim of the evil search engine police a couple of years back.

[FD929]

LMAO....I Love this thing.

Great Hack.

....and AN-net is right. I was a victim of the evil search engine police a couple of years back.
How likely is it that would happen? I've installed and and am now a bit skeptical.

[nexialys]

never install softwares you can't control the content.. that's the goal of the alert...

any cloaker is not correct if the content is not dynamic... my own version would be to load different content based on thread keywords (with a keywords generator...)

the best thing to do is to redirect the search engine to the /archive/ directory, so the crawler visit the text version of the site, and nothing else.

[stroke25]

nice...I have a forum i can test this on and not worry about being banned..

I keep getting this error:

substr_count(): Empty substring. in /includes/functions.php on line 3928

Unable to add cookies, header already sent.
File: /home/dssrookie/htdocs/forums/includes/init.php
Line: 27

Any idea whats wrong?

VBulletin Ver 3.6

[Cerb]

Yeah @ AN-net, trying to think of anti-detection methods :D

[Viks]

I got this for my forum via the spider simulator
i think the grade is pretty much ok... for a forum

Overall grade 20/29 (69%)
High number of images (79)
Some images don't have descriptions
Page is large (56k)
Total page (with images) is large (96k)
Page contains broken links

[Cerb]

nice...I have a forum i can test this on and not worry about being banned..

I keep getting this error:

substr_count(): Empty substring. in /includes/functions.php on line 3928

Unable to add cookies, header already sent.
File: /home/dssrookie/htdocs/forums/includes/init.php
Line: 27

Any idea whats wrong?

VBulletin Ver 3.6
Do you have access to phpMyAdmin?

If so, could you please check the "setting" table for your vB database? Look for varname 'spiderstrings' and tell me what is 'value'



EDIT: There should not be anything. It looks like a vBulletin bug, whenever you edit the spider strings, the 'value' field is reset. If you want cloaker to work, you should add the info yourself manually through phpMyAdmin, I'm going to tell jelsoft about that bug.

[stroke25]

ok i checked and it shows nothing for the value.

EDIT: Great that fixed it..I just put value 10. What would be a good value to put there ??

[Cerb]

ok i checked and it shows nothing for the value.

EDIT: Great that fixed it..I just put value 10. What would be a good value to put there ??
I edited my post, read above.

[stroke25]

Edit..figured it out.thanks

[Cerb]

Im using phpmyadmin.What would a recommended value amount be?

copy everything from default value to value

[AlexanderT]

Get caught (for instance by a competitor reporting to Google) and Google will ban you from its index.

[FD929]

Get caught (for instance by a competitor reporting to Google) and Google will ban you from its index.
That's pretty much my outlook on it. I like the idea since google is hardly accurate in indexing my board, but I'd rather not risk it. Thanks for the hard work though. :)

[ericgtr]

I agree that I wouldn't want to get reported and busted for this, at the same time something definitely isn't right with their ranking system. There are tons of little sites with nearly no related content that rank way higher than me and I feel pretty cheated by it. If I knew I could use this and get away with it I would have no problems doing it because it's pretty unfair as it stands.

[bold]

what value should i put in for spiderstrings, if i'm trying to test with the summit simulator?

btw thanks for the hack

[Cerb]

what value should i put in for spiderstrings, if i'm trying to test with the summit simulator?

btw thanks for the hack
Copy those from defaultvalue, and add "summit"

[Boofo]

the best thing to do is to redirect the search engine to the /archive/ directory, so the crawler visit the text version of the site, and nothing else.

How would you do this?

[Ryan McBain]

Would I be banned from google adsense if I used this?

[Deaths]

How would you do this?
Add a redirect in the META tags would work, I guess.

@Cerb: Very nice hack!

[stroke25]

How come i cant view the cloaked page using googlebot?

Im using firefox with user agent installed.When i enter "summit" user agent it brings up the cloaked page but every other user agent just shows the normal page.

Heres my values:

googlebot
mediapartners-google
lycos
ask jeeves
scooter
fast-webcrawler
slurp@inktomi
turnitinbot
yahoo! slurp
msnbot
summit

[Cerb]

How come i cant view the cloaked page using googlebot?


What do you mean?

[stroke25]

When i use firefox with "user agent switcher" the only user agent that will bring up the cloaked page is summit..Every other user agent brings up the regular page.

[Cerb]

When i use firefox with "user agent switcher" the only user agent that will bring up the cloaked page is summit..Every other user agent brings up the regular page.
Hm, can you tell me how to do this, I'll try for myself.

Because it doesn't make much sense, the script will cloak the page if he finds the string (for instance) googlebot in the HTTP_USER_AGENT variable, and if it cloaks when it finds summit but doesnt when it finds googlebot, theres something wrong.

[stroke25]

I dont know the rules for posting links here so just do a google search for firefox user agent switcher .Use firefox or mozilla to open it and it should install it as a add on.Then you just go to tools/user agent switcher/options and ennter the info there.

[Cerb]

I dont know the rules for posting links here so just do a google search for firefox user agent switcher .Use firefox or mozilla to open it and it should install it as a add on.Then you just go to tools/user agent switcher/options and ennter the info there.
I just tested and found the problem. Something very easy, just didn't pay attention. There was a space that ruined everything :D

Here's the fix:

in the vBCloaker_CheckUserAgent() function (file is functions.php)

take this line

if (substr_count(strtolower($_SERVER["HTTP_USER_AGENT"]),strtolower($spideragents[$i])) > 0) // Spiderbot

and replace it by

if (substr_count(trim($spideragents[$i]),$_SERVER["HTTP_USER_AGENT"]) > 0) // Spiderbot

Added trim() to get rid of the spaces :D

Edit: Sec, going to reupload, thanks for pointing that out, stroke25
Edit2: There seems to be something else wrong, give me 5 minutes
Edit3: Got it, now it's perfect, I'll reupload. (re-edited this post with changes)

[rex_b]

Ok guys don't you realize that you can get banned from google for cloaking. This is an SEO NO-NO

[stroke25]

Ok guys don't you realize that you can get banned from google for cloaking. This is an SEO NO-NO

I agree most people should not use this..Im just playing with it on a site that im not worried about..

[bold]

how about if we just take out google in the spider list?

[Cerb]

I know google and yahoo got their policies on this, however MSN Web Search doesn't. You can get top ranked easily with a cloaker on MSN.

[Osterling]

substr_count(): Empty substring. in /includes/functions.php on line 3928

Unable to add cookies, header already sent.
File: /home/dssrookie/htdocs/forums/includes/init.php
Line: 27

I am getting that error, I saw it mentioned before in this thread but the advice to fix it didnt make sense to me.

[bold]

cerb can you make it so that it ignores certain spiders? i want the spiders to still show up in the who's online list.

[Osterling]

how do you know if it is working?

[stroke25]

substr_count(): Empty substring. in /includes/functions.php on line 3928

Unable to add cookies, header already sent.
File: /home/dssrookie/htdocs/forums/includes/init.php
Line: 27

I am getting that error, I saw it mentioned before in this thread but the advice to fix it didnt make sense to me.

Post 12 and 16 explain what needs to be done to fix it.

[morrow]

Is there a way to use this honestly? For an example... I run a fly fishing website. by placing keywords such as 'fly rod' or 'how to fly fish'... stuff like that, wouldn't really hurt anyone...

My other questions are the following

What's the difference between 'Title words', 'Fillers', and Targets?

They all appear to do the same exact thing.

[Cerb]

cerb can you make it so that it ignores certain spiders? i want the spiders to still show up in the who's online list.
well, not included in cloaker (i will probably consider this for v0.2)

I just wrote something for you though:

in file functions.php, your vBCloaker_CheckUserAgent function..

find

$spideragents = explode("\n",$spideragents['defaultvalue']);


add after

$dontcloak = array("googlebot","slurp");

for ($x=0;$x < sizeof($dontcloak);$x++)
{
if ( substr_count(trim($dontcloak[$x]),$_SERVER["HTTP_USER_AGENT"]) > 0)
{
return false;
}
}

now notice the line $dontcloak = array("googlebot","slurp");

googlebot is google's web crawler and slurp is yahoo's

you can add more, for instance: $dontcloak = array("googlebot","slurp","lycos");



You can include parts of the user agent also, for instance you could just put google instead of googlebot.





#37, read my post on the first two pages about SummitMedia spider simulator

#39: Targets are words that will link to other pages.
Titles are words that will be embraced with <h3> HTML tags
Fillers are remaining words that will fill the page

[bold]

well, not included in cloaker (i will probably consider this for v0.2)

I just wrote something for you though:

in file functions.php, your vBCloaker_CheckUserAgent function..

find

$spideragents = explode("\n",$spideragents['defaultvalue']);


add after

$dontcloak = array("googlebot","slurp");

for ($x=0;$x < sizeof($dontcloak);$x++)
{
if ( substr_count(trim($dontcloak[$x]),$_SERVER["HTTP_USER_AGENT"]) > 0)
{
return false;
}
}

now notice the line $dontcloak = array("googlebot","slurp");

googlebot is google's web crawler and slurp is yahoo's

you can add more, for instance: $dontcloak = array("googlebot","slurp","lycos");



You can include parts of the user agent also, for instance you could just put google instead of googlebot.





#37, read my post on the first two pages about SummitMedia spider simulator

#39: Targets are words that will link to other pages.
Titles are words that will be embraced with <h3> HTML tags
Fillers are remaining words that will fill the page
thanks cerb!

[Club3G]

Great mod. :)

[rex_b]

I know google and yahoo got their policies on this, however MSN Web Search doesn't. You can get top ranked easily with a cloaker on MSN.


It doesn't matter, this is unethical. And looked down upon by all webmasters.

:ermm:

[AlexanderT]

I know google and yahoo got their policies on this, however MSN Web Search doesn't. You can get top ranked easily with a cloaker on MSN.
Where did you come up with that??

Cloaking, i.e. spammy doorways, is as forbidden at MSN as it is for the other two. From MSN (http://search.msn.com/docs/siteowner.aspx?t=SEARCH_WEBMASTER_REF_Guidelinesfo rOptimizingSite.htm&FORM=WGDD):

Items and techniques discouraged by MSN Search
The following items and techniques are not appropriate uses of the index. Use of these items and techniques may affect how your site is ranked within MSN Search and may result in the removal of your site from the MSN Search index.
...
- Using hidden text or links. You should use only text and links that are visible to users.
...
Read this (http://www.benedelman.org/spyware/whenu-spam/) for a real-life example of getting banned from search engine, MSN included.

[Cerb]

I'm sorry Alexander.

However my friend has been top 3 in 'online dating' on MSN Search for 6 months and he's still, thanks for his cloaker.

[The Realist]

Cant see the cloaked page's source when I visit http://tools.summitmedia.co.uk/spider/

Any ideas?

Here's how you could test it:

Add "summit" to your Spider identification strings (for this test)
Activate the Cloaker and everything
Use a spider simulator such as: http://tools.summitmedia.co.uk/spider/ and have it access your forums, it should display a cloaked page's source

[Cerb]

Cant see the cloaked page's source when I visit http://tools.summitmedia.co.uk/spider/

Any ideas?
Read posts #4 and #8 on the first page :)

[The Realist]

"the best thing to do is to redirect the search engine to the /archive/ directory, so the crawler visit the text version of the site, and nothing else"

How is this done in this hack?



Read posts #4 and #8 on the first page :)

[Deaths]

Add a redirect in the META tag.

[The Realist]

Now you have lost me :)

[Deaths]

You can specify the META tag with this hack.

Search google for redirect+META, and you'll find the redirect code for META. Add that to this hack's META, and it'll redirect everything to the URL you specify ;)

[The Realist]

Like this?

<META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="INDEX">
<META NAME="Revisit-After" CONTENT="1 Days">
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Refresh" CONTENT="0;URL=http://xxx.xxxxxxx.com/xxxxxxxxx/archive">

[Cerb]

Edit: Yes @ above

[bold]

Like this?

<META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="INDEX">
<META NAME="Revisit-After" CONTENT="1 Days">
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Refresh" CONTENT="0;URL=http://xxx.xxxxxxx.com/xxxxxxxxx/archive">
so is this an option instead of cloaking or with?

[morrow]

#39: Targets are words that will link to other pages.
Titles are words that will be embraced with <h3> HTML tags
Fillers are remaining words that will fill the page

Cerb or anyone,

Can someone provide a bit of a better description. Also, there was another part to my question regarding... well, here is the question...

Is there a way to use this honestly? For an example... I run a fly fishing website. by placing keywords such as 'fly rod' or 'how to fly fish'... stuff like that, wouldn't really hurt anyone...

[Cerb]

Is there a way to use this honestly? For an example... I run a fly fishing website. by placing keywords such as 'fly rod' or 'how to fly fish'... stuff like that, wouldn't really hurt anyone...

put as many words as you can think of that somehow relate your website, trust me ;)

[morrow]

put as many words as you can think of that somehow relate your website, trust me ;)

Ok, but I'm still unsure where to place those words / phrases...

You didn't give a good description for 'Title Words' vs. 'fillers' vs. 'targets' vs 'links'...

Can you just maybe explain a little better what each one does (differences).

Thanks again.

[Cerb]

Ok, but I'm still unsure where to place those words / phrases...

You didn't give a good description for 'Title Words' vs. 'fillers' vs. 'targets' vs 'links'...

Can you just maybe explain a little better what each one does (differences).

Thanks again.
I said above T_T

Titles = Words embraced with <h3> tags (hope u know html)
Targets = Anchors (Words that link to other pages)
Fillers = short words that fill the pages
Links = links to where targets will point to

[morrow]

I guess the fillers can contain the same stuff as the targets and the titles? Also, you say that the 'links = links to where targets will point to" does this mean that Targets should correspond with the links... For example..

Targets - NY Flyfishing New York Fly Fishing
LInks - http://www.njflyfishing.com/vBulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=20


That link points to my New York State Fly Fishing forum...

Should they match up like that?

[morrow]

WElp... I installed it and tested with summit... No Errors, but no results either. None of the keywords were detected. I've modified the Metatag line to redirct to archive, double checked all files to be edited, and nadda... It's taking the meta tag stuff from vBulletin and not from the cloaker.

The test function seams to work with no problems.

[Cerb]

morrow, I suggest that you browse this thread, this has already been covered.

[morrow]

morrow, I suggest that you browse this thread, this has already been covered.

I did... Here are a few screen shots so you can see...

By the way, since I've added the metatag, whenever I click on 'test vbcloaker', it goes directly to my archive page.

[Cerb]

It should work, works *perfectly* for me and for everyone else, try reading post #30

[morrow]

This is my 'functions.php':function vBCloaker_CheckUserAgent($testing=false)
{
if ($testing)
{ return true; }

global $DB_site;
$cloakPage = false;
$spideragents = $DB_site->query_first("SELECT value FROM ".TABLE_PREFIX."setting WHERE varname='spiderstrings'");
$spideragents = explode("\n",$spideragents['value']);
for ($i=0;$i<sizeof($spideragents);$i++)
{
if (substr_count(trim($spideragents[$i]),$_SERVER["HTTP_USER_AGENT"]) > 0) // Spiderbot
{
$cloakPage = true;
break;
}
}

return $cloakPage;
}

looks to match everything in post 30.

Is anyone else having the same problem still?

*If I can get this working, I'll definetely donate at least a few bux.

[morrow]

Here's a pic of a generated page (Very nice)... I put a 30second delay in the meta tag to eliminate the test from jumping directly to the 'archive' page. Now if I could just get the search engine to notice the generated text and spider it!

[Cerb]

does that mean it works? FISH FOR TROUT!!!!

edit: if not, just give me the link to a cloaked page on your website

[morrow]

It appears to work from my end, but when I run it through Summit, it doesn't return anything that looks like that photo... Not even the keywords. The only keywords that are returned are the ones from my forums.

But now you mention to give you a link to a cloaked page on my website. Do you mean to one of the links I have in the links section of the vbcloaker settings?

If so, here are a few:

http://www.njflyfishing.com/vBulletin/cmps_index.php
http://www.njflyfishing.com/vBulletin/index.php?
http://www.njflyfishing.com/vBulletin/archive/index.php
http://www.njflyfishing.com/vBulletin/archive/f-20.html
http://www.njflyfishing.com/vBulletin/archive/f-121.html
http://www.njflyfishing.com/vBulletin/archive/f-5.html
http://www.njflyfishing.com/vBulletin/archive/f-21.html
http://www.njflyfishing.com/vBulletin/archive/f-7.html
http://www.njflyfishing.com/vBulletin/archive/f-108.html
http://www.njflyfishing.com/vBulletin/archive/f-28.html
http://www.njflyfishing.com/vBulletin/archive/f-8.html
http://www.njflyfishing.com/vBulletin/archive/f-15.html
http://www.njflyfishing.com/vBulletin/archive/f-120.html
http://www.njflyfishing.com/photopost/index.php?
http://www.njflyfishing.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=506
http://www.njflyfishing.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=507
http://www.njflyfishing.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=505
http://www.njflyfishing.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=536
http://www.njflyfishing.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=540
http://www.njflyfishing.com/hatchchart.html

[The Realist]

Same problem here.

[GamerzWorld]

Do the search engines use automated tools to catch cloakers? I run a site/forum on an online game in which not many play. Wouldnt be noticed by anyone offical /reported. However if its automated then id ont want to really ge ttaken oiff the search engines

[Cerb]

T_T maybe they got different user agent, because it cloaks the page when I use Firefox User Agent switcher.

Try adding 'spider' and 'media' to your user agent values :D

if it doesnt work, we'll try something else.


@GamerzWorld : no they don't, they have to be reported..

[GamerzWorld]

T_T maybe they got different user agent, because it cloaks the page when I use Firefox User Agent switcher.

Try adding 'spider' and 'media' to your user agent values :D

if it doesnt work, we'll try something else.


@GamerzWorld : no they don't, they have to be reported..

Cheers :)

[morrow]

T_T maybe they got different user agent, because it cloaks the page when I use Firefox User Agent switcher.

Try adding 'spider' and 'media' to your user agent values :D

if it doesnt work, we'll try something else.


@GamerzWorld : no they don't, they have to be reported..

This is assuming that I'm using Firefox, right? I'm using IE. Should I run Firefox just for testing this out?

[morrow]

Ok, I've installed Firefox and the user agent switcher module.

How do I set this up for adding Spider and media?

I goto Tools/User Agent Switcher/Options/Options... Select 'User Agents', then I assume 'Add'... What are the values I am supposed to add?

Also, I'll have to assume that because I'm not seeing what I'm supposed to be seeing, doesn't necessarily mean that it's not there?

[Cerb]

This is assuming that I'm using Firefox, right? I'm using IE. Should I run Firefox just for testing this out?

It sounds like you misunderstood me.

Here's how my program works:


There's a variable called HTTP_USER_AGENT which contains important information concerning the visitor (often browser info), and search engines have their own HTTP_USER_AGENT variable, for instance google has googlebot/2.1

The program compares every value (those you set in phpMyAdmin) to the HTTP_USER_AGENT variable. If any of those values is found within that very variable, vBCloaker will return a cloaked page.

Now, what I've done, since I use Firefox, was to change my HTTP_USER_AGENT variable to "summit", and since "summit" was in the values, it returned a cloaked page. That's how I tested it. And it works fine.

"summit" was part of SummitMedia's spider simulator HTTP_USER_AGENT a while ago, however maybe it was changed, since it does not seem to work. What I suggested was to add values "spider" and "media" to your list and to try again with the SummitMedia spider simulator (and report back to me with the results), not to download Firefox.

I also visited one of those links in your above post, with my HTTP_USER_AGENT changer, and the page was cloaked. Now like I said, the Cloaker works, it just doesn't find the string 'summit' in their user agent variable, that's why I suggest adding 'spider' and 'media' to your values, as they could be possibly be part of the user agent variable.

[Cerb]

Ok, I've installed Firefox and the user agent switcher module.

How do I set this up for adding Spider and media?

I goto Tools/User Agent Switcher/Options/Options... Select 'User Agents', then I assume 'Add'... What are the values I am supposed to add?

Also, I'll have to assume that because I'm not seeing what I'm supposed to be seeing, doesn't necessarily mean that it's not there?
lol I just typed for like 10 mins to explain something... damn :(

anyways, tools -> extensions

select the program, click options, user agent switcher

then, Add

Description: test
User agent: googlebot/2.1

Click ok, then Tools -> User Agent Switcher -> test

[morrow]

ok, now I have just one question... I've added the googlebot user agent. What is the link that I can test for the Google spider? (like the one for summit)

I added spider and media to the list, but it didn't work.

I trust what you're saying, "it works"... I'd just like to humour myself and see it in action.

[AlexanderT]

Do the search engines use automated tools to catch cloakers? I run a site/forum on an online game in which not many play. Wouldnt be noticed by anyone offical /reported. However if its automated then id ont want to really ge ttaken oiff the search engines
There are many ways to catch cloakers (and they are caught quite often). Three examples:

1. Supposedly Google and other search companies sometimes send bots without the known Google user agent string. Your cloaked content would be hidden, your real site would appear, and obviously they will know something is going on.

2. A competitor uses the Google user agent string in his browser to see if competiting sites are cloaking content. If he finds one, he will report to Google and effectively get you removed from the search index. Nice for the competitor, bad for you.

3. A normal visitor uses the cache feature of Google or MSN. You know what he will see? Your cloaked content! Quite obvious then, isn't it?

I hope people start to realize that this is not the way to push up page rankings or increase search hits. It is content, and only content, that matters to the search engines and to the people who do the searches.

[morrow]

I know your'e directing this to all users of this as a whole, but let me defend my position... I'm not in competition with anybody. Anything that I have 'cloaked' can be found within my website. I don't have any company names in my search, so I'm not stealing any of their business.

There are many ways to catch cloakers (and they are caught quite often). Three examples:

1. Supposedly Google and other search companies sometimes send bots without the known Google user agent string. Your cloaked content would be hidden, your real site would appear, and obviously they will know something is going on.

2. A competitor uses the Google user agent string in his browser to see if competiting sites are cloaking content. If he finds one, he will report to Google and effectively get you removed from the search index. Nice for the competitor, bad for you.

3. A normal visitor uses the cache feature of Google or MSN. You know what he will see? Your cloaked content! Quite obvious then, isn't it?

I hope people start to realize that this is not the way to push up page rankings or increase search hits. It is content, and only content, that matters to the search engines and to the people who do the searches.

[morrow]

Cerb,

I'd like to see a snapshot of what you're seeing, if you don't mind. I'm sorry, but I'm not totally convinced that this is working. I see a small list of keywords, but those keywords are the ones I have listed under the forums. I'd like to compare what you're seeing to what I actually have listed.

Are you still supporting this?

[Cerb]

Cerb,

I'd like to see a snapshot of what you're seeing, if you don't mind. I'm sorry, but I'm not totally convinced that this is working. I see a small list of keywords, but those keywords are the ones I have listed under the forums. I'd like to compare what you're seeing to what I actually have listed.

Are you still supporting this?
I'll be at school today but I'll take screenies of a cloaked page on your website, show you how to do it yourself with screenshots, etc.

Got only 5 mins for now, so I don't have time. See you tonight

[morrow]

Hey Cerb,

Thanks a bunch. I appreciate your assistance.

[Cerb]

Okay I'm back I'm gonna wait for my friend to log on, he will create FTP account for me, I don't have a site right now so I'll test on his once he gets back

[AlexanderT]

I know your'e directing this to all users of this as a whole, but let me defend my position... I'm not in competition with anybody. Anything that I have 'cloaked' can be found within my website. I don't have any company names in my search, so I'm not stealing any of their business.
But that is not the point. Google defines (http://www.google.com/webmasters/faq.html) cloaking as a website that returns altered webpages to search engines crawling the site:

In other words, the webserver is programmed to return different content to Google than it returns to regular users, usually in an attempt to distort search engine rankings.

And that is what you are effectly doing. It is totally irrelevant that your cloaked content can also be found on your real website.

Trust me, people get caught, and it is very easy, thanks to the cache feature of search engines.

[ryancooper]

Strange when i try to run this from my CP I get

An error occurred while attempting to execute your query. The following information was returned.
error number: 1064
error desc: You have an error in your SQL syntax. Check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near ';

INSERT INTO `vbcloaker` (active,randbgcolor,metatags) VALU

[morrow]

But that is not the point. Google defines (http://www.google.com/webmasters/faq.html) cloaking as a website that returns altered webpages to search engines crawling the site:

In other words, the webserver is programmed to return different content to Google than it returns to regular users, usually in an attempt to distort search engine rankings.

And that is what you are effectly doing. It is totally irrelevant that your cloaked content can also be found on your real website.

Trust me, people get caught, and it is very easy, thanks to the cache feature of search engines.

Ok, let me ask you this. I have my /archive set up and working correctly. For some reason, Google doesn't seem to spider me at all. I have a google rating of 4 right now. I'd like to come up in the top 10 once in a while. I've submitted my site to google on numerous occasions, but NEVER see a google spiderbot on my site. :( Google says they don't penalize you for submitting your site more than once. Any ideas?

[The Realist]

How do you find your google rating?

Ok, let me ask you this. I have my /archive set up and working correctly. For some reason, Google doesn't seem to spider me at all. I have a google rating of 4 right now. I'd like to come up in the top 10 once in a while. I've submitted my site to google on numerous occasions, but NEVER see a google spiderbot on my site. :( Google says they don't penalize you for submitting your site more than once. Any ideas?

[morrow]

Strange when i try to run this from my CP I get

An error occurred while attempting to execute your query. The following information was returned.
error number: 1064
error desc: You have an error in your SQL syntax. Check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near ';

INSERT INTO `vbcloaker` (active,randbgcolor,metatags) VALU

This is the SQL Query.


CREATE TABLE `vbcloaker` (
`active` tinyint(1) NOT NULL default '0',
`randbgcolor` tinyint(1) NOT NULL default '0',
`titles` longtext NOT NULL,
`fillers` longtext NOT NULL,
`targets` longtext NOT NULL,
`links` longtext NOT NULL,
`metatags` text NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (`active`),
KEY `active` (`active`)
) TYPE=MyISAM;

INSERT INTO `vbcloaker` (active,randbgcolor,metatags) VALUES (1, 1, '<META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="NOARCHIVE">\n<META NAME="Revisit-After" CONTENT="1 Days">')


Try that.

[morrow]

How do you find your google rating?

Install the Google toolbar.

[Cerb]

Alexander, if I get more installs, I will release v0.2 which will be more secure.

For instance, you can tell the search engines not to cache your content, and also, I'll have vBCloaker to cloak from Spider IPs as an alternative feature (not user agents), this way, users that use simulated user agents wont be able to view cloaked content

[Lizard King]

There is 2 things I dont understand ;
1. Cerb you say if there will be a lot of installs i will release v0.2 which will be more secure. Why won't you release the new version ? People depand on your hack and installed in their boards. What I think if you already coded that you shall release in any condition.
2. Cerb , this hacks purpose to cheat spiders so your page gates high rank and you will get better search strings. But I find this totally unethical. Why would you want to do that ? It is cheating yourself , your members and people who will make the search.

[morrow]

Alexander, if I get more installs, I will release v0.2 which will be more secure.

For instance, you can tell the search engines not to cache your content, and also, I'll have vBCloaker to cloak from Spider IPs as an alternative feature (not user agents), this way, users that use simulated user agents wont be able to view cloaked content

Cerb,

You think you'll get back to me?

[morrow]

Well Cerb,

I'm not sure what the problem is, but it's been a while. I would recommend anybody concidering this hack to not bother until it's proven that it works. I'm not saying it doesn't work, there's just no proof that it does.

[Cerb]

Sorry guys I've been REALLY busy with school this week and can't read all posts now and morrow I still remember what you asked me and I promise to help you this week-end.

Thanks

[joeychgo]

Get caught (for instance by a competitor reporting to Google) and Google will ban you from its index.


This is cloaking and is a violation of the SE ethics. It'll get ya banned faster then it will get you ranking.

Cheers.


Exactly. This is not something you want to do.

From Google:

The term "cloaking" is used to describe a website that returns altered webpages to search engines crawling the site. In other words, the webserver is programmed to return different content to Google than it returns to regular users, usually in an attempt to distort search engine rankings. This can mislead users about what they'll find when they click on a search result. To preserve the accuracy and quality of our search results, Google may permanently ban from our index any sites or site authors that engage in cloaking to distort their search rankings.


So, as you can see, doing this will dramatically harm your site. CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED. If your interested in How to SEO VBulletin (http://www.vbwebmaster.com/forums/showthread.php?t=272), then you might consider visiting our forum, VBulletin Webmaster (http://www.vbwebmaster.com). We frequently discuss such issues among other VB forum admin issues.

-

[morrow]

Thanks, I will be checking your site out throughout the day. Thanks for the link.

Exactly. This is not something you want to do.

From Google:

The term "cloaking" is used to describe a website that returns altered webpages to search engines crawling the site. In other words, the webserver is programmed to return different content to Google than it returns to regular users, usually in an attempt to distort search engine rankings. This can mislead users about what they'll find when they click on a search result. To preserve the accuracy and quality of our search results, Google may permanently ban from our index any sites or site authors that engage in cloaking to distort their search rankings.


So, as you can see, doing this will dramatically harm your site. CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED. If your interested in How to SEO VBulletin (http://www.vbwebmaster.com/forums/showthread.php?t=272), then you might consider visiting our forum, VBulletin Webmaster (http://www.vbwebmaster.com). We frequently discuss such issues among other VB forum admin issues.

-

[noppid]

WOW! I can't believe I missed this!

There are at least 17 of you really screwing up! :/

[Deaths]

Haha, yes :D.

[morrow]

I've actually uninstalled it (albeit for the wrong reasons)...

Anyhow, I was just looking for something to get noticed a little better by google. Inktomi is on my site numerous times per day. I never see a google spider. :(

[Cerb]

Well, I just had some free time now so I fixed morrow's bug.

In functions.php, find

if (substr_count(trim(strtolower($spideragents[$i])),strtolower($_SERVER["HTTP_USER_AGENT"])) > 0) // Spiderbot

and replace by

if ( strstr(strtolower($_SERVER["HTTP_USER_AGENT"]),trim(strtolower($spideragents[$i]))) )


Now you will be able to see it works from SummitMedia's spider simulator.



Anyways, I will stop giving support since no one seems to like my hack. Sorry for this.

[AlexanderT]

I've actually uninstalled it (albeit for the wrong reasons)...

Anyhow, I was just looking for something to get noticed a little better by google. Inktomi is on my site numerous times per day. I never see a google spider. :(
Google loves content. And so do your potential visitors ;)

[Deaths]

Well, I just had some free time now so I fixed morrow's bug.

In functions.php, find

if (substr_count(trim(strtolower($spideragents[$i])),strtolower($_SERVER["HTTP_USER_AGENT"])) > 0) // Spiderbot

and replace by

if ( strstr(strtolower($_SERVER["HTTP_USER_AGENT"]),trim(strtolower($spideragents[$i]))) )


Now you will be able to see it works from SummitMedia's spider simulator.



Anyways, I will stop giving support since no one seems to like my hack. Sorry for this.
People do like your hack, most of them are afraid to say so though, because they fear getting banned from google :).

My offer still stands, even though the site is down :)

[joeychgo]

I've actually uninstalled it (albeit for the wrong reasons)...

Anyhow, I was just looking for something to get noticed a little better by google. Inktomi is on my site numerous times per day. I never see a google spider. :(


Here is a GREAT way. This will get you a bunch of back links to your site and ths will get you noticed by google.

Sign up for the Free Coop Ad Network (http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/ad-network/?s=492)

What this does is give you many many backlinks to your site. In exchange for putting a few onto your site.

A few tips. Choose Text Links only, Place the ad code into your footer on the very bottom, and go with 5 ads.

When you make your ads, use a few phrases people are most likely to search for. This is called the Anchor Text.

Trust me guys, This works and works well.

[noppid]

I never see a google spider. :(

Probably because your robots.txt is wrong. :/

[morrow]

Probably because your robots.txt is wrong. :/

Here is my robots.txt:


User-agent: googlebot
Disallow: *.cgi
Disallow: /logs/
Disallow: /etc/
Disallow: /cgi-bin/
Disallow: *.txt
Disallow: *.ini
Disallow: *.cfg
Disallow: /htdocs/webstats/
Disallow: /htdocs/vbportal/admin/
Disallow: /htdocs/vbportal/vbulletin/admin/
Disallow: config*.*


User-agent: *
Disallow: *.cgi
Disallow: /logs/
Disallow: /etc/
Disallow: /cgi-bin/
Disallow: *.txt
Disallow: *.ini
Disallow: *.cfg
Disallow: /htdocs/webstats/
Disallow: /htdocs/vbportal/admin/
Disallow: /htdocs/vbportal/vbulletin/admin/
Disallow: config*.*

[morrow]

Thanks,

I'll definetely give this a try.

Here is a GREAT way. This will get you a bunch of back links to your site and ths will get you noticed by google.

Sign up for the Free Coop Ad Network (http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/ad-network/?s=492)

What this does is give you many many backlinks to your site. In exchange for putting a few onto your site.

A few tips. Choose Text Links only, Place the ad code into your footer on the very bottom, and go with 5 ads.

When you make your ads, use a few phrases people are most likely to search for. This is called the Anchor Text.

Trust me guys, This works and works well.

[noppid]

Morrow, I don't need you to post that file. I saw it already. I was not asking you, I was telling you. It's broke and you're probably being ignored as a result.

[morrow]

Morrow, I don't need you to post that file. I saw it already. I was not asking you, I was telling you. It's broke and you're probably being ignored as a result.

So what do I do to fix it?

[joeychgo]

WHy do you want to? Look, anyone that uses this hack is likely to be banned from Google's index -- Even www.searchenginecloaker.com is banned from google's index. I'm trying to tell you, the hack will HARM vBulletin forums that use it, not help them.

[morrow]

Joeychgo,

My response was in reply to Noppid. He said my robots.txt file was broken and I replied with, "How do I fix it". This has nothing to do with the cloak hack.

[joeychgo]

I know that - but my point is still valid.

[morrow]

If you look above, you'll notice that I uninstalled this hack the other day. What does this have to do with robots.txt?

[noppid]

If you look above, you'll notice that I uninstalled this hack the other day. What does this have to do with robots.txt?

You asked why google didn't visit you. It's because robots.txt is broke IMO.

[morrow]

then I asked, "What do I have to do to fix it?"

[noppid]

then I asked, "What do I have to do to fix it?"

Hire someone or google robots.txt I guess.

[morrow]

Gee... thanks for your wonderfull insight.

[noppid]

Gee... thanks for your wonderfull insight.

Well come on, did you try to learn? ok.

You have server relative paths in your file. You need paths relative to your web root.

It's not hard to fix, google robots.txt and there are lot's of examples.

Like /thisfile.php

/forums/admincp/

Hope that helps.

[morrow]

Noppid,

Yes, I actually got the idea for that robots.txt file from another user using vBulletin. This user seamed to know what he was talking about... However, I'll keep an open mind with your recommendations and look into this a little more now.

The reason I visit a forum like this is to 'learn'. So chastising me for asking questions in a forum where I can learn is not very encouraging.

Finally, thank you for posting something that is helpfull. I do appreciate yours and anyone's feedback.

[noppid]

Noppid,

Yes, I actually got the idea for that robots.txt file from another user using vBulletin. This user seamed to know what he was talking about... However, I'll keep an open mind with your recommendations and look into this a little more now.

The reason I visit a forum like this is to 'learn'. So chastising me for asking questions in a forum where I can learn is not very encouraging.

Finally, thank you for posting something that is helpfull. I do appreciate yours and anyone's feedback.

Well I'm not the huggy here ya go and do it for ya kinda guy.

As for your friend that "knows", you have your eggs in the wrong basket. Find a new place to get advice.

[Q-v-n-s-Q]

<a href="http://www.webtoolcentral.com/webmaster/tools/robots_txt_file_generator/" target="_blank">http://www.webtoolcentral.com/webmas...ile_generator/</a>

[Kru]

Strange when i try to run this from my CP I get

An error occurred while attempting to execute your query. The following information was returned.
error number: 1064
error desc: You have an error in your SQL syntax. Check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near ';

INSERT INTO `vbcloaker` (active,randbgcolor,metatags) VALU

I am getting the same error and I run this query:

CREATE TABLE `vbcloaker` (
`active` tinyint(1) NOT NULL default '0',
`randbgcolor` tinyint(1) NOT NULL default '0',
`titles` longtext NOT NULL,
`fillers` longtext NOT NULL,
`targets` longtext NOT NULL,
`links` longtext NOT NULL,
`metatags` text NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (`active`),
KEY `active` (`active`)
) TYPE=MyISAM;

INSERT INTO `vbcloaker` (active,randbgcolor,metatags) VALUES (1, 1, '<META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="NOARCHIVE">\n<META NAME="Revisit-After" CONTENT="1 Days">')

[dsboyce8624]

Well I'm not the huggy here ya go and do it for ya kinda guy.

As for your friend that "knows", you have your eggs in the wrong basket. Find a new place to get advice.

Okay, total and complete n00b to forums. 20+ years in computers/networking. I have no idea what robots.txt is (or rather I didn't until I read this thread.)

I'm assuming since my Windows server doesn't have this file I'm wide open.

Care to comment on the benefits of restricting access to things?

Dennis