Black Hat Internet Marketing

What is Black Hat, and is it really as "evil" as some people make it to be?
If you’re not aware, most Internet marketers and search engine optimization experts consider themselves to be either White Hat or Black Hat. It’s two different schools of thought, each with its own methodologies, benefits, and disadvantages.
To make it easier for you to understand the following interview I did with Vince Tan, a Black Hat Internet marketer from Kuala Lumpura, you should understand these terms that are mentioned throughout the interview:

1. Black Hat – Someone who uses lesser-known and sometimes unorthodox methods of marketing which often require a high skill level. It is based on exploiting loopholes in the system for personal gains. Their techniques are generally fast in producing results but are typically more short-term.
   
   
2. White Hat – The exact opposite of Black Hat; someone who uses orthodox and common marketing methods to promote their Websites. Their techniques are generally slow in producing results but are typically more long-term.
   
   
3. Pagerank – A ranking mechanism used by Google to display Websites on it’s search engine results. Common belief is that the higher your Pagerank or PR, the better your sites perform and the more traffic you get.
   
   
4. Backlink – Links from other people’s Websites to yours. It is believed to be a critical component of Pagerank.

INTERVIEW:



Gobala Krishnan (GK): Tell us something about yourself, Vince. We want to find out more about your background so that we can get to know you better.

Vince Tan (VT): OK. Basically I am a graduate software engineer, and I’ve been doing Web development since I was 15. I love everything related to building Websites. When I was 18 years old, I was interviewed by Jaring Internet Magazine and that’s when I got involved in commercial Web development.
Fast-forward to about two years back, I started to look into the Google Adsense program. At first I was pretty excited and I set-up my first Adsense Website. I was getting about a click a day, or sometimes a dollar a day, and that was pretty exciting.
But as I drilled deeper into it I realized that there were more techniques I could employ to explore Adsense further. I actually came around a few strategies that were stretching the boundaries of the Adsense program, and the ability to generate more income out of it. These were known as "Black Hat" methods.
For the past two years I have been researching, building and optimizing my sites using Black Hat methods, and that’s pretty much how I got involved in these Black Hat strategies. 

GK:How did you actually build your first Adsense Website? Was it using normal HTML? 

VT: Because I had a Web development background, it was easier for me to develop sites, not using HTML but PHP programming. I actually built "White Hat" Websites during that time because I didn’t know there were other alternatives such as Black Hat in the first place. So I developed Websites on celebrities and other similar portals. 

GK: OK, now for the benefit of the readers who aren’t sure what "Black Hat" or "White Hat" actually means, could you explain a little more on the difference? I actually use more of White Hat tactics, although I occasionally dabble in Black Hat stuff as well. Still, I can’t consider myself to be an expert in Black Hat as you are.

VT: OK…the exact definition of Black Hat is "A person who uses his knowledge of vulnerabilities and exploits them for private gains."
So what it means is that if you’ve found some loopholes in the system (for example in Google) that you could exploit for your personal gains, and you actually do it, then you are Black Hat. But how Google Adsense related to Black Hat is that you make use of vulnerabilities you discover in search engines or in other Websites that can be used to drive traffic to your own Website, and getting the traffic to click on your Adsense ads.
Let me give you some examples.
We all know that social bookmarking sites are gaining momentum, for example, Del.icio.us. Getting links from sites like these will help your Webpage to get indexed and ranked in search engines pretty quickly. Using Black Hat methods, we try to generate not one or two, but tons of accounts in these social bookmarking sites, and use them to increase the number of "backlinks."
The average user would probably have one account, and they will probably bookmark their page once. For us, we’d probably create about 500 accounts and bookmark each page once in every account. That’s how we have 500 backlinks to a single Website instead of just one.
Another example is using Myspace—you’ve heard about that right, Gobala. I’m sure you have a profile there? 

GK: Well yes, I have a band profile and a personal profile, but my personal profile is untouched.

VT: As you know, you can place comments on other people’s profiles or even send out bulletins. Now that is also a system that we can exploit, since MySpace does not lock your profile. By that I mean your profile is publicly available, so Google or other search engines can actually index your profile.
What we’re able to do is to detect which profiles have a certain PR (PageRank). We know that getting links from high PR sites will benefit your own sites a lot. So we trace the high-PR profiles and place comments on those profiles, and hopefully the owner of the profile will approve those comments. That would automatically get us some pretty good backlinks as well. 

GK:So from what you’ve just said, Black Hat is about finding and exploiting loopholes in search engines. And you exploit it by mass-producing your Websites and links, am I right?

VT: Yes, in a way that’s how it works.

GK: As compared to White Hat strategies, which revolve more around getting good content and not too much emphasis on the intricacies of how search engines rank Websites. Even in terms of SEO (Search Engine Optimization), I think White Hat guys just follow a basic guideline instead of going in-depth. Is that right?
VT: Well, even White Hat sites work to get links from MySpace.com, but the Black Hat way is just different. We go about looking for profiles pages and adding comments, which is not as "respectable" as adding proper friends manually as most White Hat guys do. 

GK: OK, Vince lets get on with the questions. I’m sure that there are pros and cons to using Black Hat Strategies, just as there are pros and cons to using White Hat methods. Lets look at the benefits first, in terms of results; how fast can you see improvements in your Adsense earnings? 

VT: Well, to be fair I use both Black Hat and White Hat strategies, but I focus more on the Black Hat stuff. So my explanation could be biased based on my experience and results so far.
Using Black Hat strategies, I can actually get my pages indexed in search engines within 24 hours and start getting clicks on my Adsense ads the very next day. Of the fastest I’ve achieved so far was going from zero to $20 daily within five days. 

GK: Is it a completely new Website? 

VT: Yes. I did try to experiment from one site to another using Black and White Hat methods. I’m not very good in White Hat methods, but comparatively I get results three times faster using Black Hat methods.
In other words, let's say I take five days to earn using Black Hat methods, it usually takes me as much as 15 days (or more) to get the same results using White Hat equivalents. 

GK: All right, so you get to see the results fast. When you say that you set-up Websites using Black Hat methods, what do you actually use to create those sites? Are you using your own software, or are you just using what everyone else is using, for example static HTML sites, Blogspot and Wordpress? 

VT: I actually use a mix of all. I have my own set of software and tools, and we (my team) use about 50% off-the-shelf tools, and we’re always doing comparison (to our own tools) and testing to see what works and what doesn’t. But what I want to stress to the readers is that in my personal opinion, I think you can get quick results with Black Hat, but I suspect that White Hat sites are a much longer-term strategy. 

GK: Right… so basically you get fast results with the Black, but for long-term stability you need some of the White as well. 

VT: Precisely. 

GK: OK besides what you mentioned about fast but not long-term results, what are the other setbacks or drawbacks of using Black Hat strategies? 

VT: Well, the danger is in pushing it too far that the authorities involved will stop you from doing it. Search engines will probably drop your sites, or you may get hate mail or attacks on your Website.
In the Black Hat school of Internet marketing, we build fast and build a lot. However, you have to find the right balance to it. If you create too many pages at one time and try to get those pages on the Internet in a very quick rate, chances are the search engines will notice it and just ignore your site, or even drop it from the search results. Or, if your Web page design looks too deceiving; for example, there’s no content at all and only Adsense ads, then you’re probably going to get kicked out of the Adsense program pretty soon. 

GK: Now, since you mentioned that, I have another question. You told me before that you make a significant amount of money from Adsense, between $8,000 to $10,000 a month, right? 

VT: Yes.

GK: And you’ve never encountered any problems with the Adsense people? I mean a lot of people have this fear about using Black Hat tricks. They fear that Google will shutdown their Adsense account. But you have never encountered any problems so to speak, am I right? 

VT: Not exactly. I get a warning from Google when my sites or pages are not compliant to their terms of service. But I have never gotten my Adsense account banned before. 

GK: So basically the Adsense team gives you a warning, and as long as you comply again to their TOS by making some changes, it’s fine? 

VT: At the end of the day, my suggestion to any reader that wants to get into Black Hat is to really read the Adsense terms and conditions carefully. If you comply with the terms while doing Black Hat stuff, you should be very safe.
Let me give you an example of a warning I have received. One warning is about putting images next to the Adsense ads. A lot of people know that this actually helps you to increase your CTR (click-through rate). I happen to actually put the images at the side, and I didn’t notice that the images and the ads look like they are related.
I didn’t do it on purpose, but it so happened that the ads and the images were very related, so Google told me that this is not acceptable since it may mislead people to think that they can get more information on the picture by clicking on the ads. What happened to me was that Google banned the particular domain. For others Google was not so harsh. They tell you that as long as you comply within three days, your account is back to normal.
Now, another example. We create a lot of pages, and sometimes the content of the pages are related to mature content. I mean, sometimes even the word "natural" sets off triggers that your site contains mature content. Google does not allow mature content, so if you have that they will either ban your domain, or just inform you to modify it. That’s about it.

GK: Just to clarify, when you say mature content, what you mean is adult content, related to adult sites, right? 

VT: That’s right.

GK: OK, just trying to backtrack a little here. You mentioned that by putting images next to your Adsense ads; and if your images are too related to the ads; Google can ban you. Am I right?
But people do this with White Hat strategies as well. I do that on a few Websites as well. For example on a site about real estate, I put pictures of homes or mansions. There are just some small pictures that are related in a way to the topic of real estate. Is that wrong? 

VT: It’s actually wrong to do that. In fact, for the benefit of the readers, Google recently warned all their publishers that they are very strict about using images next to your Adsense ads. I would strongly discourage anyone from putting images next to Adsense ads from now on.
Because when you think about it, Gobala, lets say you innocently put an image there that is totally unrelated to the content. But you have no control over what ads are shown. Lets say that somehow there’s an ad that is actually related to the image, and someone from the Adsense team happens to see that. They will send you a warning letter of ban your domain. 

GK: OK, I will take that advice seriously. My previous understanding is that you can use images next to the ads, as long as there’s some kind of line separating the image and the ad. As long as the image is not an arrow or anything that "points" towards the ads. I thought that was fine, but with this information you’re giving me I think I need to take a look at some of my sites. 

VT: Yes, that’s what everyone thought as well. But about three days ago Google finally put a stop to all these because it’s a very grey area. So everyone should be removing their images by now.

GK: So even by using Black Hat strategies, you’ve never gotten your Adsense account banned. It’s just some small things they don’t agree with like using images next to the ads and mature content, which sometimes just happen to appear when you’re using Black Hat tricks I guess. I’m sure you don’t really know what pages are being created. I mean, you don’t really have a look at each and every page created using Black Hat strategies right? 

VT: That’s right…

GK: Because people’s primary concern over using Black Hat methods is that Google will eventually shut them down and they will lose their Adsense account permanently.
I need to clarify something. Lets say your Website gets de-indexed in Google when you don’t draw the line while using Black Hat methods; or it gets banned completely; does it effect your Adsense account in any way? Can you still show Adsense ads on your other Websites? 

VT: At this moment, getting a Website de-indexed and having your Adsense account is not related. Even if a Website gets de-indexed in Google, you can continue to show Adsense on that site. You’ll probably still get traffic from Yahoo and other search engines. That’s why we make sure that we get indexed in all three search engines (Google, Yahoo and MSN). So if you are pushed out of one, you still get traffic from the other two. 

GK: OK Vince, now lets talk about your new membership site that focuses on Black Hat Adsense strategies. You mentioned that to me a few weeks ago, and I was a bit cautious to let other know unless I give them both sides of the Black Hat story as we are now. So I was not ready to talk about it until I managed to get hold of you personally! You’re giving away a free e-book on Black Hat Adsense strategies, right? Can you tell us more about that? 

VT: I wrote Adsense: Black Hat Edition to give beginners an overview of the way Black Hat pushes the boundary, the kind of tolls that we use, and how we use it. Now there are a lot of books that give an introduction about Adsense, but none of them are like what I present in Adsense: Black Hat Edition. The information I have in there is not extreme Black Hat. I do touch a few areas but there’s much more to it than meets the eye. The reason it’s not extreme Black Hat is because it can get very technical and will probably take much more than a single e-book to explain properly. 




GK: So it’s a "beginner’s guide to Black Hat," not a hardcore manual on all things Black Hat, right? 

VT: That’s correct. What I mention in the book, I believe, is not too technical so that a lot of people can benefit from it. There aren’t a lot of books out there about Black Hat stuff. A lot of people are curious about it and want to know, but the information available is scattered and it will take them a while to put the pieces together if they try to do it that way.
What I present is what I know and what I use till today. The readers should assess what is presented to them in my book, and how to make the best of it. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, as some people may think that Black Hat is unethical or even "evil" in a way. The only thing I’d like to say is that this knowledge can be tweaked and used in ethical ways on White Hat sites as well. So it really depends on how you want to look at it. 

GK: So basically you can use the Black Hat tricks in your own way, to create some sort of…hmmm…Grey Hat site? (laugh)

VT: Right… you can use it any way you want. 

GK: To make things a little more transparent, you have an offer in there for WebsiteMonthly.com. Can you tell us more about this offer?

VT: WebsiteMonthly.com is not my site, but I happen to know the owner (Edward), and he’s selling it for $197 for lifetime access. I’m offering it at a much lower price. WebsiteMonthly.com has articles, ready-made Websites, templates, tools, software and the whole lot that you can use to build your own Adsense sites. It will benefit anyone to get a head start to build sites faster, because after reading Adsense : Black Hat Edition people would know how it works, but they’d still want to know where do they get started? With the offer I’m giving, they can use the 1,000+ articles available, rewrite some of it if they want, and a whole lot more. You can also use the templates by themselves, or modify them. There’s a good mix of templates in there, including Blogger templates and Wordpress themes. 

GK: Thank you so much Vince for sharing so much today about Black Hat methods. Even if you’re not into Black Hat tricks, you can still read the book and get some pretty good tips you can use for any Website.