Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Internet Infoglut And Invisible Ink: Spamdexing Search Engines With Meta Tags, Ira Nathenson

Ira Steven Nathenson

This Article addresses 'spamdexing,' namely, the practice of stuffing invisible keywords into webpages in order to try to get more favorable listings with search engines. For instance, some website owners will stuff the trademarks of competitors into a webpage’s code, particularly by using 'meta tags,' indexing keywords that can be hidden in a webpage’s source code. Although meta tags are not typically viewed by users, the code can be read by search engines, with the result that webpages may be improperly boosted in search engine rankings. Such practices can confuse the public and have also spurred trademark lawsuits. But the …