Traffic Power
Encyclopedia
Traffic Power was a Las Vegas
, Nevada
search engine optimization
company that engaged in black hat
techniques. These were spamdexing
practices that violated Google
's webmaster guidelines. As a result, some Traffic Power clients were banned from Google's organic search
results.
According to a Wall Street Journal profile of the company, Traffic Power used high-risk techniques and failed to disclose those risks to its clients. Wired reported that Traffic Power sued a blogger, Aaron Wall, and the website Traffic Power Sucks, for mentioning that they were banned. Google software engineer Matt Cutts
later confirmed that Google did in fact ban Traffic Power and some of its clients.
In January 2009 Traffic Power's CEO, Matt Marlon, was jailed on accusations of fraud related to a foreclosure
"scam".
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
search engine optimization
Search engine optimization
Search engine optimization is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the "natural" or un-paid search results...
company that engaged in black hat
Black hat
A black hat is the villain or bad guy, especially in a western movie in which such a character would stereotypically wear a black hat in contrast to the hero's white hat, especially in black and white movies....
techniques. These were spamdexing
Spamdexing
In computing, spamdexing is the deliberate manipulation of search engine indexes...
practices that violated Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
's webmaster guidelines. As a result, some Traffic Power clients were banned from Google's organic search
Organic search
Organic search results are listings on search engine results pages that appear because of their relevance to the search terms, as opposed to their being advertisements. In contrast, non-organic search results may include pay per click advertising....
results.
According to a Wall Street Journal profile of the company, Traffic Power used high-risk techniques and failed to disclose those risks to its clients. Wired reported that Traffic Power sued a blogger, Aaron Wall, and the website Traffic Power Sucks, for mentioning that they were banned. Google software engineer Matt Cutts
Matt Cutts
Matt Cutts works for the Search Quality group in Google, specializing in search engine optimization issues. In an interview with USA Today in June 2008, Cutts provided advice on how to optimize search results on Google.-Career:...
later confirmed that Google did in fact ban Traffic Power and some of its clients.
In January 2009 Traffic Power's CEO, Matt Marlon, was jailed on accusations of fraud related to a foreclosure
Foreclosure
Foreclosure is the legal process by which a mortgage lender , or other lien holder, obtains a termination of a mortgage borrower 's equitable right of redemption, either by court order or by operation of law...
"scam".