Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Researchers Track Down a Plague of Fake Web Pages

Via NewYorkTimes.com -

Tens of thousands of junk Web pages, created only to lure search-engine users to advertisements, are proliferating like billboards strung along freeways. Now Microsoft

researchers say they have traced the companies and techniques behind them.

A technical paper published by the researchers says the links promoting such pages are generated by a small group of shadowy operators apparently with the acquiescence of some major advertisers, Web page hosts and advertising syndicators. The report is available at www.cs.ucdavis.edu/~hchen/paper/www07.pdf

The finding is striking because it hints at the possibility of curbing the practice.

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