By the way, CPays is a member of this forum. I'm sure he is aware of this thread, but I am PMing him anyway.
http://www.casinomeister.com/forums/members/cpays.html
One quick comment from me - I am pretty much appalled but not surprised at this
SEO "contest". As mentioned earlier by Dom in this thread, a legitimate contest would have incorporated the standards outlined here:
Quote:
Quality guidelines - basic principles
Make pages for users, not for search engines. Don't deceive your users or present different content to search engines than you display to users, which is commonly referred to as "cloaking."
Avoid tricks intended to improve search engine rankings. A good rule of thumb is whether you'd feel comfortable explaining what you've done to a website that competes with you. Another useful test is to ask, "Does this help my users? Would I do this if search engines didn't exist?"
Don't participate in link schemes designed to increase your site's ranking or PageRank. In particular, avoid links to web spammers or "bad neighborhoods" on the web, as your own ranking may be affected adversely by those links.
Don't use unauthorized computer programs to submit pages, check rankings, etc. Such programs consume computing resources and violate our Terms of Service. Google does not recommend the use of products such as WebPosition Gold™ that send automatic or programmatic queries to Google.
Quality guidelines - specific guidelines
Avoid hidden text or hidden links.
Don't employ cloaking or sneaky redirects.
Don't send automated queries to Google.
Don't load pages with irrelevant words.
Don't create multiple pages, subdomains, or domains with substantially duplicate content.
Don't create pages that install viruses, trojans, or other badware.
Avoid "doorway" pages created just for search engines, or other "cookie cutter" approaches such as affiliate programs with little or no original content.
If your site participates in an affiliate program, make sure that your site adds value. Provide unique and relevant content that gives users a reason to visit your site first.
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I like this one because I feel this is a core idea:
A good rule of thumb is whether you'd feel comfortable explaining what you've done to a website that competes with you.
There are a number of affiliate managers that are probably just as disgusted as I am, and it really pisses me off to see casino affiliate programs condoning these sort of tactics to get more traffic. I'd like to see one of the managers at CPays explain this contest with a straight face to 32Red Affiliates or Trident Lounge. Hell, the CAC is just around the corner. What an opportunity!
Simply put - how friggin' greedy do you need to be?
And in my opinion - and take it for what it's worth - the management of an affiliate program
reflects directly on the business ethics of the casino itself. There is
no separation between the two. If you are willing to spam the hell out of a search engine
that is designed to be a tool for collecting and searching for information, who's to say this casino won't go to extremes to trick players into making deposits, or throw some weirdness into their terms and conditions?
I'd like to hear from CPays on this issue. This is not a matter that merely affects affiliates; it is something that affects the entire industry.