Tech-Insight : What Are ‘Toxic’ Backlinks?
In this tech insight, we look at what ‘toxic’ backlinks are, how to identify them, and how to remove them.
Backlinks
Backlinks (incoming links) are believed to be one of Google’s top three ranking factors. Trustworthy backlinks from websites with a high authority score are a factor which contribute to higher search engine rankings. However, some lower quality links, perhaps from suspect websites, referred to as unnatural links / spammy links / “toxic links” can have an opposite negative effect on search engine rankings.
What Makes A Link “Toxic”?
According to Google’s guidelines, “Any links intended to manipulate PageRank or a site’s ranking in Google search results may be considered part of a link scheme and a violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. This includes any behaviour that manipulates links to your site or outgoing links from your site.” For example, this could include buying or selling links that pass PageRank, excessive link exchanges, large-scale article marketing or guest posting campaigns with keyword-rich anchor text links and using automated programs or services to create links to a website. Also, Google identifies links that weren’t editorially placed or vouched for by the site’s owner on a page as being “unnatural links”. Examples are text advertisements, paid-for advertorials or native advertising that all pass PageRank (PageRank is a value of importance allocated to a page by Google’s algorithms).
In summary, a toxic link is a non-editorially placed link that comes from websites that have been set up for the purpose of linking out, and which aren’t topically relevant, and aren’t indexed by Google. Also, toxic links can be links:
– Forced in blog comments or on a private blog network (PBN).
– From ‘spun’ content. This involves writing one article, using software to spin it into many different variations, and posting it on different directories while including backlinks from the text.
– Hidden in footers.
In low-quality directories.
– Included on every page of a website
– Using exact match keywords or followed links marked as sponsored.
– From large reciprocal linking schemes (lacking relevance).
– From a widget or plugin (putting the link there as the developer).
– From scaled guest posting (platforms solely for exchanging guest posts).
Opposite of Toxic = Quality Links
The kinds of links that are unlikely to be marked as toxic and really could deliver a boost to search engine rankings are what could be considered ‘quality’ links. These are essentially links that have been editorially placed as a result of someone finding the content on a valuable page and choosing to link to it. It also helps if that link comes from a trusted, relevant web page with a good PageRank that has the potential to send referral traffic, and uses a relevant keyword / key phrase in the anchor link.
How Toxic Links Are Discovered
The main ways that toxic links from web pages to websites are discovered include being identified by search engine algorithms, a competitor submitting a spam report to the search engine, or simply being in a niche that’s known for spam. Competitors may also discover a website’s toxic links by using specialist SEO software, e.g. SEMRush.
Consequences Of Having / Building Toxic Links
If a website has unnatural / spammy / toxic backlinks, the consequences could be:
– A drop in search engine rankings.
– A manual action by the search engines being triggered, e.g. a review. This could mean a ranking penalty being applied to certain pages (or site-wide) until the toxic links are removed from the pages they came from.
– The links being ignored by the search engines, bringing no benefit to the website.
How To Discover Whether Your Website Has Toxic Links
In order to discover what backlinks you have (and which may be toxic), conduct a website (root domain) link audit of the website. This can be carried out manually, or using specialist SEO audit programs, e.g. SemRush, Majestic, SpyFu, Screaming Frog, and many more. Link audits can also be paid-for and outsourced to digital marketing companies or agencies. Also, Google’s Search Console (formerly Google Webmaster Tools) can be used.
Once the toxic links have been identified:
– Build a remove list (and a whitelist).
– Contact the site owners for your ‘remove list’ and manually ask them to remove links to your site, keeping a record of which ones and what the response was. Software tools include templates for removal requests.
– For all those that don’t reply, create a ‘disavow list’ (text) for the links that need to be removed. Login to Google Search Console, submit the file via Google’s link disavow tool, and wait.
What Does This Mean For Your Business?
The quality of a website’s backlinks has been for many years, and still is an important factor for helping to decide both PageRank and search engine rankings. Google for example, has clear guidelines about what makes a quality link, and what will be regarded as an unnatural (toxic) link. There are now many ways e.g., using specialist SEO software to discover which links could be holding a website back from achieving the kind of better rankings which could translate into more sales and enquiries. Also, insights into backlinks to competitor websites can help to deliver competitive advantage. This is why many companies and organisations now regularly monitor their toxic backlinks either in-house or outsourced to a third-party as well as trying to keep expanding their quality backlinks.
Featured Article : Nightmare at Netflix?
In this article, we look at the possible causes of the recent large losses of Netflix subscribers, and what’s next for the global streaming giant.
200,000 Subscribers Lost
In its Q1 results, the world’s biggest global streaming service, Netflix, revealed that it had lost a massive 200,000 subscribers in the first 3 months of the year. It’s a far cry from the early days of lockdown when families who had to stay at home signed up to Netflix and the company reported a massive gain of 8.5 million new users in the fourth quarter of 2020 (36 million subscribers in total in 2020). By April 2021, however, Netflix was blaming a big slowdown (2 million less subscribers than forecast) on the slowdown in production of new content during the pandemic. However, with new subscriber numbers going from bad to worse, share prices falling by 35 per cent, competitors like HBO and HBO Max picking up the lost subscribers, and Netflix cancelling many new shows and movies to mitigate the losses, what’s been going wrong and why, and what could be next for Netflix?
Challenges
Some of the main difficulties that have led to the huge loss of subscribers from Netflix include:
– Like many other companies, pulling out of Russia due to their waging war against Ukraine. This has reportedly lost Netflix 700,000 viewers. However, Netflix is reported to have gained 500,000 new subscribers since the start of 2022 which offsets the loss to an extent.
– A large number of Netflix viewers are not necessarily paying subscribers. This is because accounts (i.e. account passwords) are often shared between family members – an estimated 100 million households watch the service for free using shared passwords. This has led to Netflix testing (in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru) monthly payment plans to add user profiles for people outside their household. If successful, this could be rolled out to other countries, but some commentators believe this could cause another drop-off in subscribers and make it difficult to attract new ones.
– The cost of living crisis (food, fuel, and energy) is forcing people to cut back on subscriptions and what some may see as non-essential products and services, such as streaming service subscriptions.
– A price increase in the US in January, a price increase for UK Standard and Premium subscriptions in January, and another price increase scheduled for May have caused some customers to cancel and / or switch to another service.
– A slowing rollout of broadband and now the threat of plans that would allow broadband giants to charge tech companies for access to their networks.
– A lack of new programs and films being made during the pandemic affecting the content that Netflix (and other services) could offer.
– Increased competition, e.g. from Disney Plus, Prime Video, HBO and HBO Max, and Apple TV.
– The effects of the widescale news coverage that Netflix is losing subscribers and of Netflix’s warning to shareholders that another 2 million subscribers look likely to leave in the 3 months to July.
What Now?
In response to the subscriber drop-off crisis, in addition to planning to possibly introduce extra payment plans to get revenue from family and friends sharing passwords, other measures Netflix is taking include:
– Cancelling the development of many new shows and movies, particularly in its animation department. This is despite Netflix also saying that it plans to improve the quality of its programming.
– Considering the introduction of a cheaper, ad-supported subscription for consumers.
– The price increase next month.
– The possible introduction of a free games service for subscribers.
Five Forces Help To Reveal The Dilemma
Looking at Netflix’s challenges quickly and briefly through Harvard Business School’s famous business strategist Michael E Porter’s ‘Five Forces’ model helps to highlight the position of Netflix:
Threat of New Entrants:
Netflix is now facing some serious competition, although as the leading platform, Netflix is in a good position to negotiate with content creators in a way that new entrants can’t.
Threat of Substitutes:
With the world now mostly opened-up from the pandemic and the increasing penetration of technology into everything, the threat of substitutes is significant, e.g. gaming, Spotify, AR and VR, and more.
Bargaining Power of Customers:
With a subscription model, a price sensitive (cost of living squeeze) customer base, and plenty of competition, plus the ease of switching, customers (as subscription drop-offs have shown) currently have considerable bargaining power.
Bargaining Power of Suppliers:
Although Netflix is still highly dependent on licensed content, as the biggest service with multiple agreements in place for how its service is delivered and its power overs content creators, supplier power is not generally a huge threat to Netflix.
Competitive Rivalry:
Clearly, with many other alternative services now in what is still a booming market (Disney Plus, Prime Video, HBO and HBO Max, and Apple TV), levels of competitive rivalry are now a serious threat to Netflix.
What Does This Mean For Your Business?
Although the news for the last quarter was bad, and more subscriber loss is predicted, it shouldn’t be forgotten that Netflix is still a global leader in its market with 222 million subscribers and with a good portion of households as subscribers in its main markets, the US and Canada (75 million out of a total 142 million). Netflix may find it difficult to suddenly start charging for all users when it has essentially allowed password sharing for so long; this and the content are likely to have been motivators to choose and continue with Netflix. Price increases to cash-strapped pandemic restriction-free customers may also be high risk, as may cancelling new content (Netflix believes that customers value its content quality). The losses of Netflix, however, are now the gains of the increasingly strong competition (HBO picking up 3 million subscribers), and a changed post-pandemic environment where there are now many different tech entertainment alternatives makes for a challenging environment going forward. Things look, as forecast, like getting a bit worse for Netflix before they get better.
Tech News : Watching TV To Be Allowed In Automated Vehicles
The UK Government’s Department for Transport (DfT) has announced that following changes to The Highway Code, users of automated vehicles will be allowed to watch TV on built-in screens.
Viewing Content On Built-In Screens
Following a public consultation launched a year ago on how self-driving vehicles can be used safely on UK roads, the DfT has announced changes to The Highway Code. One change to the current regulation will be to allow drivers of automated vehicles to “view content that is not related to driving on built-in display screens”, while the self-driving vehicle is in control. Even though watching TV will be allowed, it will still be illegal to use mobile phones in self-driving mode. This is because research has shown that this can pose a greater risk in distracting drivers.
Must Still Be Ready To Resume Control When Needed
Even though motorists may be allowed to watch TV while in self-driving mode, the DfT says that the current technology is ‘assistive’ rather than completely autonomous and, as such, drivers must always retain control and be ready to act in a timely way if they are prompted to – such as when they approach motorway exits.
Not Allowed Yet
Self-driving cars are not currently allowed on UK roads and the changes to The Highway Code are intended to help ensure the first wave of technology will be used safely. The DfT has said that the first vehicles capable of driving themselves could be ready for use later this year. The first wave of hands-free vehicles to be legally allowed (and legally defined as “self-driving”) will be vehicles with automated lane-keeping systems (ALKS). This technology controls the position and speed of a car in a single lane, and it will be limited to 37mph (60km/h). Tesla cars, for example, already have a mode called “Autopilot” which uses lane technology similar to ALKS and is “level two” on the five defined levels of self-driving cars (level three would not need the driver’s attention at all times).
Benefits
The benefits of having self- driving vehicles on UK roads could include:
– Improved road safety. Self-driving vehicles can regulate and eliminate common human errors, i.e. being able to stop in time if there’s an obstruction ahead. This could reduce the human error which is a contributory factor in 88 per cent of all recorded road collisions.
– Environmental/green benefits and reduced fuel costs. Keeping a consistent distance could mean fewer traffic jams and less idling. The smooth driving autonomous vehicles could also mean lower fuel consumption thereby saving fuel and reducing greenhouse gases.
– Greater accessibility. Those who can’t currently drive or have physical challenges could use AVs, e.g the elderly and those with disabilities.
– The creation of more jobs and opportunities in the AV industry. The DfT estimates that the development of self-driving vehicles could create 38,000 new jobs and be worth £41.7 billion to the UK economy by 2035.
Concerns
Some of the concerns about the recent announcement and changes to The Highway Code are that:
– Vehicles with ALKS technology are not truly automated but are simply assisted driving systems that rely on the driver to take back control. This could lead to drivers putting too much trust in the driving system which could result in accidents.
– The DfT’s recent changes to The Highway Code are fuelling unrealistic optimism about when fully autonomous vehicles will actually be safe enough to introduce to UK roads.
What Does This Mean For Your Business?
The consultation and the changes to The Highway Code may be intended to ensure the first wave of technology will be used safely, but that first wave may be some way off yet. Much more regulatory and technical progress needs to be made before fully self-driving / autonomous vehicles make it onto UK roads. There are concerns too that ALKS technology as self-driving could cause confusion that could lead to accidents. Drivers need to be sure that they are responsible within vehicles containing ALKS technology and they need to be in full control. That said, a future with autonomous vehicles on the roads could bring jobs, opportunities and reduce costs and environmental impact (particularly if they were electric ones) while overcoming other difficulties for haulage and logistics companies. Additionally, they could provide safer, cheaper, and more accessible transport for all.
Tech Tip – Type Faster In Windows 11 Using ‘Voice Typing’
Windows 11 ‘voice typing’ feature uses online speech recognition so that you can enter text on your PC simply by speaking. Here’s how to use it:
– Firstly, make sure you’re connected to the Internet, have a working microphone, and have your cursor in a text box.
– Press Windows logo key + H on a hardware keyboard.
– Press the microphone key next to the Spacebar on the touch keyboard.
– Voice typing will start listening automatically. Wait for the “Listening…” alert before you start speaking.
To stop voice typing:
– Say a voice typing command, e.g. “Stop listening”.
– Press the microphone button on the voice typing menu.
Sustainability: Using Microalgae To Destroy Microplastics
With plastic disintegrating into microplastic particles, polluting the seas and harming wildlife, scientists are asking: could microalgae be the answer tackling the microplastic problem?
Microplastics
Ranging from 1 nanometre (nm) to less than 5 micrometres (mm), non-biodegradable microplastic particles are either primary or secondary fragments of plastic pollution that find their way into the sea and other waterways. Primary microplastic particles come from sources such as personal care products, unintended spills, abrasion of synthetic clothes during laundering and suchlike. Secondary microplastic particles come from the breakdown of larger plastics by weathering, wave action, wind abrasion, and UV radiation from the sun.
A 2015 study published in Science Magazine said that by 2025, 00–250 million metric tons of plastic waste could be ending up in the oceans every year, and researchers estimated that by 2050, the amount of plastic waste in landfills and the environment could total 12 billion metric tons!
Damage and Harm To Sea Life
The huge problem with microplastics is that they have now spread throughout the food chain of the oceans as they are ingested by animals or accidentally or mistaken for food, causing chronic toxicity, sickness, neurological and reproductive toxicity, and death. Microplastic particles have also been detected in our drinking water, beer and food products.
Microalgae … A Possible Remediation Solution?
With measures such as the United Nations Environmental Programme conducting education and awareness campaigns in 100+ countries, laws being passed about microbeads, and campaigns around the world, the problem is now being better understood. As well as drastically reducing plastic waste production, the remediation of microplastics already in the environment is a major part of the clear-up.
Using microalgae is now thought to be an ecological, scalable way to help biodegrade microplastic particles in the water. Microalgae, also known as phytoplankton, are microscopic organisms found in both seawater and freshwater that use photosynthesis to capture carbon from CO2 and release oxygen as a by-product.
How Can Microalgae Break Down Microplastics?
Microalgae can attach themselves to the surface of plastic microparticles, produce enzymes which can weaken the bonds of plastic polymers, and convert them into carbon dioxide, water and new biomass. So far, studies indicate that microalgae can be particularly effective at biodegrading polyethylene (used in clothing fibres and plastic bottles), low-density polyethylene or LDPE (used in plastic bags) and bisphenol A or BPA (both chemicals to harden plastic). One 2020 study showed that a consortium of blue-green microalgae used for biodegradation of low-density polyethylene resulted in a 58.9 per cent decrease of carbon composition in the LDPE sample.
The Benefits of Using Microalgae
Some of the benefits of using microalgae to biodegrade microplastics are:
– Microalgae are a natural solution that can be grown quickly, at low cost, and at scale.
– They can be grown in areas that aren’t fertile, aren’t inhabited, or in man-made ponds or natural lakes, e.g. in ponds on the coast, such as those in Morocco. The large areas of natural freshwater lakes in countries such as Indonesia have also been identified as having great potential for microalgae production.
What Does This Mean For Your Organisation?
Microalgae appear to be an important likely contributor to effectively tackling the huge environmental and ecological threat posed by microplastics. The fact that they are a natural solution that can be grown at scale, at low cost, are sustainable, and be easily deployed makes them a very promising option not just for degrading microplastics, but also for helping to tackle the problem of global warming. Also, the growing of microalgae at scale could provide jobs and other opportunities as part of a new eco industry. Even though microalgae offer real hope, more research and investment is needed, and microalgae usage should be recognised as part of a wider plan which includes continued education about and improvements in plastic recycling and reusing strategies, regulation and legislation, and more research for additional solutions.
Tech News : 1000+ ‘Deepfakes’ On LinkedIn
Researchers from the Stanford Internet Observatory have reported finding more than one thousand ‘virtual’ employees on the LinkedIn platform.
Faces Created By Artificial Intelligence
Virtual employees in this case are AI-generated photos of employees, the photos of whom don’t belong to any person (living or dead) and are made from mixtures of faces mashed together and featured in 1000+ fake LinkedIn profiles. In this research, it has been alleged that the ‘virtual employees’ have been set up by sales firms to generate more business for themselves. The researchers have suggested that some 70 businesses, listed as the employers of the ‘virtual employees’, may have been using the profiles to send out mass messages without needing to hire more staff or to breach LinkedIn’s messaging protocols. However, despite going against LinkedIn’s policy that every LinkedIn profile must represent a real person, there’s no hard facts that the virtual employee fake profiles have broken any laws.
Problems With Fake Accounts – AI Fakes
On other platforms in recent times, computer-generated faces in fake accounts have been linked to state campaigns, e.g. to distribute pro-Chinese propaganda to discredit opponents of China’s government, in trolling and the harassing of activists, to exert political influence (e.g. posing as Americans supporting Trump, and spreading pro-Kremlin propaganda on Facebook and Instagram to undermine trust in the Ukrainian government).
Easy or Difficult To Spot?
In this case, researchers reported discrepancies in the photos that aroused suspicion, e.g. a woman wearing a single earring and strange hair, unusual eye placement, and blurry backgrounds.
However, a recent study (Feb 2022, Sophie Nightingale, Hany Farid) found that AI-synthesised faces can be indistinguishable and more trustworthy than real faces. The study demonstrated that people only have a 50 per cent chance of correctly guessing whether a face has been created by a computer.
Deepfake Threat
Fake, computer-generated photos are just a part of the wider threat posed by ‘deepfakes’. Deepfake videos, for example, which are banned from Facebook, use deep learning technology and manipulated images of target individuals (found online), often celebrities, politicians, and other well-known people to create very convincing videos of the subjects saying and doing whatever the video-maker wants them to.
Examples of how these have been used recently are the deepfake videos posted online of both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The fake video of President Zelensky talking about surrender had been posted on Meta (Facebook), Instagram, Meta, and its Russian counterpart VKontakte. Meta quickly removed the video from its platform for breaking its rules relating to “manipulated media”. The deepfake video of Putin, posted on Twitter, showed the Russian president announcing the surrender of Russia and asking Russian troops to drop their weapons and go home. A close examination of the video revealed that it had been made using clips from an address delivered by Putin on Feb 21.
What Does This Mean For Your Business?
Although not illegal, these recently discovered deepfake photos would appear to have been designed to perhaps unfairly gain a competitive advantage and to influence the perceptions of other businesspeople. Businesses should be vigilant, therefore, when contacted by (and when interacting with) other profiles online. Although social media platforms already check for and remove many fake profiles (LinkedIn removed more than 15 million fake accounts in the first six months of 2021), more effort and investment needs to be made to stop many of them from slipping through the net and they also need to develop faster and improved detection and take-down systems. Also, as deepfakes improve in quality and become more difficult to distinguish from the real thing, plus become targeted and weaponised, social media platforms are likely to need their own sophisticated AI systems to stay ahead of fakers, some of whom may be state backed with plenty of resources at their disposal.