Content Scrapers and Black Hat SEO

In March 2019, I began to notice an unusual amount of daily traffic to my Google blog. I was accustomed to seeing the Google bots, active on various blog posts, using a host of different IPs, and usually visiting a particular blog post once and maybe twice. Around March 23rd, I began to see 3 IPs that were acting quite unusual in their activity and visiting particular blog posts numerous times in succession, making me think that somebody was stealing my copyrighted images and content.

It was because of that unusual activity that I began searching Google images to see if somebody had stolen my copyrighted images from my blog posts. That was like opening a can of worms and giving me quite the headache. I began finding so many content scraping websites with my copyrighted images and being indexed a bit too high in Google searches. And, many seemed to be hotlinking to my actual images in the Google blog posts!!

Content Scrapers stealing copyrighted content from Julie Ann Brady Google blog

Referring URL of May 22, 2019

I noticed a curious visit from Israel on May 22, 2019 at 1:05am and then I saw the above questionable site showing a referring url to my Google blog. Hmmm!

The internet has become a minefield of non-authentic sites which fancy themselves as content farms "using" other people's original work to capture visits, often tricking unsuspecting visitors. Authenticity is an endangered species, being threatened by greedy, unscrupulous content scrapers. Please do not support these thieves ... when you see "Julie Ann Brady Blog" in the title or description, please be aware of the website you contemplate visiting. I don't recommend that you visit a non-original site with my content. Look for the ORIGINAL, authentic Google Blog, https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/ and support my work. Thank you.

DEAR GOOGLE CORPORATION : HELP!
I believe Google search teams pride themselves on getting it right; i.e., knowing the original content and copyrighted images that should be ranked. For sure, a blacklisted url with malware, anasfim, who is ranked high in Google image searches with my image and blog name, should be removed from your searches. And, another content scraper with that same stolen content is attachmax !

Content Scrapers : anasfim and attachmax

DEAR MICROSOFT CORPORATION : HELP!
Reading Safer Web Exploration with Bing, I'm hoping your team will also be able to sort out the content scrapers, particularly the one ranking a bit too high in Google image searches with my image stolen from my Google blog. That site, anasfim, has also been blacklisted and has malware.

Recently I experienced issues with a top blog post of mine on Morton's Neuroma. Somebody submitted a "shocking content" report against that post. A competitor perhaps? Or somebody who had taken my copyrighted images and content to use? Another blog post of mine on Hollohaza Hungarian Porcelain was reported as violating policy. Why?

I have dealt with a number of high profile online sites hosting content thieves who have stolen hundreds of my copyright images and designs to use for their own purposes. It never ends.

CONTENT SCRAPERS WITH MALWARE!!!!!

I just found a website that has stolen my content with my review of Minute Maid Lemonade which set off my anti-virus software!

Website anasfim dot com that stole my blog content and set off my anti-virus software

Website anasfim dot com that stole my blog content and set off my anti-virus software

Website anasfim dot com infected with URL:Blacklist

OMG, and now we have the evidence on the black hat negative seo tactics being employed. Here are more content scrapers I have found with my images and written content!! Doing a Google Image Search for "julie ann brady blog" brings up these images of mine, using my blog posts and link information! Google has indexed the stolen content with my blog name.

Some websites that stole my images and are indexed in Google images

If you look closely at the image directly above, a Google image search brings up 2 images out of 10 linking directly to my Google blog ... the other 8 are content scrapers and pinterest!! All my hard work so that some unscrupulous content scraper can steal it.

I've included a list of content stealing websites below. These websites stole content from the Google blog of Julie Ann Brady. This is the initial list, it is in NO WAY a complete list of content scrapers. It seems like a bad penny, more and more pop up each day!!

Content stealing websites: anasfim.com, attachmax.com, tah-heetch.com, caroleneilson.com, listitdallas.net, flowernifty.com, theurbanwalker.net, bokehcambodia.com, michalschein.com, hasshe.com, litlepups.net, softballkelowna.com, thenewsleekness.com, thegolfclub.info, layout.alimb.us, studiofmp.com, freesongs4u.info, mitchj.info, lonneker.info, muzzikum.info, soggiorno.ayokonseling.com, keywordbasket.com, yousense.info, study5.info, lionelkearns.com, timaylenphotography.com, metanetworks.org

Website that stole Julie Ann Brady blog content

Website that stole Julie Ann Brady blog content

Website that stole Julie Ann Brady blog content

Website that stole Julie Ann Brady blog content

Website that stole Julie Ann Brady blog content

Website that stole Julie Ann Brady blog content

Website that stole Julie Ann Brady blog content

Website that stole Julie Ann Brady blog content

Website that stole Julie Ann Brady blog content

Website that stole my blog content

Website that stole Julie Ann Brady blog content

Website that stole Julie Ann Brady blog content

Website that stole Julie Ann Brady blog content

Website that stole Julie Ann Brady blog content

Website that stole Julie Ann Brady blog content

Website that stole Julie Ann Brady blog content

Website that stole Julie Ann Brady blog content

Website that stole Julie Ann Brady blog content

Website that stole Julie Ann Brady blog content

Website that stole Julie Ann Brady blog content

Website that stole Julie Ann Brady blog content

Website that stole Julie Ann Brady blog content

Website that stole Julie Ann Brady blog content

Website that stole Julie Ann Brady blog content

Website that stole Julie Ann Brady blog content

Website that stole Julie Ann Brady blog content

Website that stole Julie Ann Brady blog content

Website that stole Julie Ann Brady blog content

To understand what kind of shenanigans are at play, you might want to read 6 types of negative SEO to watch out for. Learn about the negative effects of link farms, content scraping, and forceful crawling along with some advice on how to stay safe from these unscrupulous competitive attacks.

COPYRIGHT REMOVAL

It is going to be tedious, but it looks like I need to report the content scrapers who stole my images. Google has a form, Report alleged copyright infringement: Web Search. We will be doing this next.

WHAT THE HECK IS PROD UHRS PLAYMSN ??

I noticed a visitor from Halifax, Canada clicking through to my blog post on the Monarch Butterfly, Caterpillar, Pupa and Egg. The entry string was quite strange, showing prod.uhrs.playmsn/judge. Googling that link brought me to a sign in page for UHRS.

Blog visit from prod.uhrs.playmsn dot com /judge/Views/
judge?hitappid=74&mode=judge&toolbar=false&g=1&fromHitApp=1

And, after I clicked on that link to the sign in page for UHRS, I immediately saw another blog visit from Microsoft Azure in Chicago through IP 23.100.232.233. I've written about unusual activity I noted from 3 Microsoft IPs for a two month period of time. Could it be that they were part of this?

WHAT THE HECK IS CLICKWORKER AND MECHANICAL TURK ??

So, is all this most unusual activity on my Google blog connected to UHRS clickworker dot com activities? To understand what that is, as I never heard of such a thing, I was reading an article, Asking Microsoft for fair treatment of UHRS workers.

Oh wow, I noticed an article with a Clickworker Review where a user deleted their account after one day!!!

WTH is Mechanical Turk??? Looking into it a little further, I read an article, Inside Amazon's clickworker platform. Holy smokes, but I've seen Amazon visits regularly to my blog!

COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

I first wrote a blog post, Help with the Content Stealers, way back in August 2012! At that time, I was a content writer on Squidoo. I had written hundreds of lenses and was including a phrase on my lenses, "do not copy do not plagiarize the contents of this page." Little good that did. And, now it is nearly 9 years later and content scrapers are more active than ever!

I have also been active for many years on Zazzle sharing my original photography and designs on thousands of cool products. So, now the content thieves were stealing the original designs to sell products on Amazon! Three years ago, in May 2016, I wrote about Amazon Design Theft of Zazzlers Art. I followed that blog post up with two more posts about the never-ending battle to stop the copyright infringements in the Amazon marketplace.

In September 2017, I found a website that had stolen hundreds of my copyrighted photography and images to offer as royalty-free images. Wrong! My blog post, Pinsdaddy Copyright Infringement, touched on the prolific thievery by that website. I heard from many other original artists who discovered that Pinsdaddy had ripped them off as well.

In October 2017, I wrote two blog posts, BlogCatalog Content Scraper and Blogarama Content Scraper. Both of those literally stole entire blog posts of mine, including original images, to feature on their websites and imply that I supported that. I did not support ripping off my entire blog posts to use on their sites.

In January 2019, I discovered something "new" in content thievery! Now, my Zazzle photography and designs were not only appearing in the Amazon marketplace, but also on Walmart! Holy smokes, but I never expected that Walmart would have so many content thieves ... It has changed the way I look at Walmart. My blog post, Copyright Violations on Amazon Walmart Google Shopping, demonstrated how the content stealers had branched out.

So, as you can probably guess, it has been a LONG time on the internet for me when dealing with copyright infringements and content scrapers. Will it ever end? Will Google and Microsoft be able to develop tools to discourage these thieves from continuing their work. Both Google and Microsoft really need to step up to the plate and stop indexing and ranking the thieves above the authentic and original content creators!!! Look for and support the authentic and original content creators. Amen.

Microsoft Azure Unusual Traffic from Reported IPs

From March 23rd to May 21, 2019, it was pretty much two continuous months of unusual traffic coming from Microsoft Azure hosted IPs. Doing a Whois, it says Microsoft Azure ... so if this was questionable activity, you would need to send your abuse reports to Microsoft Corporation. Before I reported this unusual activity to Microsoft, I generated an output list of IPs for Microsoft's data center to see if this was official Microsoft Corporation activity. I did not find these three IPs on their list, so I proceeded with my report.

It took two reports to get a informational response on May 21, 2019 from Microsoft Azure Safeguards Team that these 3 IPs belonged to a Bing team! Like, I was supposed to know that? They were kind enough to also direct me to a most interesting and informative post about Safer Web Exploration with Bing.

That Bing article goes back to August 7, 2013. It is almost six years later! I don't believe I've seen such unusual traffic like what I've seen the past two months. After being informed of this Bing team, I guess I have concluded that this activity is a good thing for me and my blog. However, in the course of angsting for the past two months because of this unusual traffic, I did find that some websites have employed unscrupulous black hat seo techniques to negatively impact my blog! I am hoping maybe the Bing team might help to rectify that negative activity and set me back on a positive path.

As a result of this new more positive information, I have rewritten my blog post about the Microsoft Azure unusual traffic from reported IPs! And, I have done another blog post to point out the content scrapers who have gone seemingly nuts on stealing my copyrighted images. One of the sites has malware and is a blacklisted url. Not good when you see them ranking with my image and blog name.

DEAR MICROSOFT CORPORATION : HELP!
On May 1, 2019, I first reported this questionable activity to Microsoft through their contact email of abuse@microsoft.com. The 3 different IPs involved:

1. 52.162.211.179
2. 52.162.213.79
3. 23.100.232.233

On May 3, 2019, I heard back from Microsoft Online Security, "Based on the information you have provided, this may have originated from an account hosted on Microsoft Azure. We forwarded your complaint to the CERT team for review and action. Should you encounter additional reports from the same IP, send them directly to Cert@Microsoft.com."

On May 8, 2019, I compiled a comprehensive report on the 3 IPs unusual activity on my Google blog, showing the blog posts and dates and times of the activity. I sent my report directly to Cert@Microsoft.com. I also shared:

There are an extensive number of abuse reports against these IPs. It was because of the abuse reports that I thought something nefarious was going on to negatively impact my blog!
https://www.abuseipdb.com/check/52.162.211.179
https://www.abuseipdb.com/check/52.162.213.79
https://www.abuseipdb.com/check/23.100.232.233

On May 8, 2019, I received back an automated response from Microsoft stating:

In order for the report to be processed it must contain the following information: 

Name:
Organization:
Phone number (optional):
Email address:
Source IP:
Destination IP:
Description of the activity:
Accurate date and time and time zone of activity:
Log Data Extracts:
Your contact details: 

For the fastest response, please submit abuse reports to https://cert.microsoft.com. We will review your report and contact you as appropriate.

My original report to Microsoft had included all of this information with the exception of the Destination IP of my Google blog, https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/. So I edited that same report, including the text block of information asked for, and resubmitted to that email.

On May 9, 2019, I noticed that Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Washington, visited my Google blog to determine more about the destination IP.

As of May 14, 2019, there has been no further response to me directly from Microsoft Corporation about my complaint of unusual activity by 3 IPs hosted on Microsoft Azure. The unusual activity continues daily! You be the judge ... take a look at the type of visits to my Google blog posts ... over and over again to the same posts!

Here is a snippet of one day's unusual traffic from IP 23.100.232.233:

(No referring link)
11 May 02:10:49 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/
(No referring link)
11 May 03:36:05 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2014/10/breaded-baked-chicken-thighs.html
(No referring link)
11 May 04:19:22 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2014/10/breaded-baked-chicken-thighs.html
(No referring link)
11 May 04:56:39 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2014/10/breaded-baked-chicken-thighs.html
(No referring link)
11 May 05:39:20 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2014/10/breaded-baked-chicken-thighs.html
(No referring link)
11 May 06:43:36 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2014/10/reflex-blue-pms-286.html
(No referring link)
11 May 07:04:09 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2013/09/what-weed-has-tiny-purple-flowers.html
(No referring link)
11 May 07:54:55 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2014/10/reflex-blue-pms-286.html
(No referring link)
11 May 08:11:04 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2013/09/what-weed-has-tiny-purple-flowers.html
(No referring link)
11 May 08:40:45 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2014/10/reflex-blue-pms-286.html
(No referring link)
11 May 09:26:05 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2014/10/reflex-blue-pms-286.html
(No referring link)
11 May 09:35:24 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2014/10/hungarian-spaetzle-little-dumplings.html
(No referring link)
11 May 09:40:27 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2013/09/what-weed-has-tiny-purple-flowers.html
(No referring link)
11 May 10:22:15 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2013/09/what-weed-has-tiny-purple-flowers.html
(No referring link)
11 May 12:15:29 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2014/10/hungarian-spaetzle-little-dumplings.html
(No referring link)
11 May 01:00:50 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2014/10/hungarian-spaetzle-little-dumplings.html
(No referring link)
11 May 02:05:34 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2014/10/hungarian-spaetzle-little-dumplings.html
(No referring link)
11 May 04:23:47 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2015/07/seniors-vs-crime-in-florida.html
(No referring link)
11 May 07:12:38 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2015/07/seniors-vs-crime-in-florida.html
(No referring link)
11 May 09:44:10 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2015/07/seniors-vs-crime-in-florida.html
(No referring link)
11 May 11:47:16 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2015/07/seniors-vs-crime-in-florida.html

As of the initial writing of this original blog post, there are quite a few visits from IP 23.100.232.233 continuing on a daily basis. This does not look like normal activity, but someone "obsessed" with my blog.

(No referring link)
12 May 01:46:27 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2012/10/jea-overcharges-customers-for-services.html
(No referring link)
12 May 02:47:07 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2012/10/jea-overcharges-customers-for-services.html
(No referring link)
12 May 05:53:19 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2017/09/juvenile-southern-black-racer-snake.html
(No referring link)
13 May 09:03:34 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2018/10/pink-powder-puff-calliandra-surinamensis.html
(No referring link)
13 May 11:11:25 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2018/10/pink-powder-puff-calliandra-surinamensis.html
(No referring link)
14 May 02:36:17 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2018/10/pink-powder-puff-calliandra-surinamensis.html
(No referring link)
14 May 06:17:46 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2015/01/drake-chinese-elm-tree-removal.html
(No referring link)
14 May 07:04:31 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2015/01/drake-chinese-elm-tree-removal.html
(No referring link)
14 May 08:11:12 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2015/01/drake-chinese-elm-tree-removal.html
(No referring link)
14 May 09:01:52 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2015/01/drake-chinese-elm-tree-removal.html
(No referring link)
14 May 09:18:06 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2012/10/red-fraggle-rock-costume-for-adults.html
(No referring link)
14 May 10:26:24 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2012/10/red-fraggle-rock-costume-for-adults.html
(No referring link)
14 May 11:16:10 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2012/10/red-fraggle-rock-costume-for-adults.html
(No referring link)
14 May 11:54:10 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2012/10/red-fraggle-rock-costume-for-adults.html
(No referring link)
14 May 09:15:17 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2017/09/juvenile-southern-black-racer-snake.html
(No referring link)
14 May 11:49:53 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2013/09/what-weed-has-tiny-purple-flowers.html
(No referring link)
15 May 01:14:39 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2017/09/juvenile-southern-black-racer-snake.html
(No referring link)
15 May 02:14:30 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2014/04/pink-slime-mold-in-sunflower-garden.html
(No referring link)
15 May 02:28:35 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2013/09/what-weed-has-tiny-purple-flowers.html
(No referring link)
15 May 03:06:43 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2017/09/juvenile-southern-black-racer-snake.html
(No referring link)
15 May 03:53:56 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2017/09/juvenile-southern-black-racer-snake.html
(No referring link)
15 May 06:15:33 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2008/01/jaguarjulie-anthology-of-squidoo-lenses.html
(No referring link)
16 May 01:22:43 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2014/09/lamarthe-designer-handbags.html
(No referring link)
16 May 03:36:16 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2013/08/hollohaza-hungarian-porcelain-1777-nude.html
(No referring link)
16 May 06:07:57 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2013/08/hollohaza-hungarian-porcelain-1777-nude.html
(No referring link)
16 May 08:36:03 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2013/08/hollohaza-hungarian-porcelain-1777-nude.html
(No referring link)
16 May 09:43:50 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2013/08/hollohaza-hungarian-porcelain-1777-nude.html
(No referring link)
19 May 11:50:11 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2018/04/russian-mammoth-sunflowers.html
(No referring link)
19 May 01:28:17 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2018/04/russian-mammoth-sunflowers.html
(No referring link)
19 May 02:08:13 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2018/04/russian-mammoth-sunflowers.html
(No referring link)
19 May 02:53:37 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2018/04/russian-mammoth-sunflowers.html
(No referring link)
20 May 07:34:11 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2017/09/juvenile-southern-black-racer-snake.html
(No referring link)
20 May 11:05:44 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2014/10/best-stuffed-cabbage-rolls-ever.html
(No referring link)
20 May 11:13:17 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2017/09/juvenile-southern-black-racer-snake.html
(No referring link)
20 May 11:56:21 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2017/09/juvenile-southern-black-racer-snake.html
(No referring link)
20 May 12:22:59 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2018/03/monarch-butterfly-caterpillar-egg-and.html
(No referring link)
20 May 12:29:46 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2017/09/
(No referring link)
20 May 01:06:49 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2017/09/juvenile-southern-black-racer-snake.html
(No referring link)
20 May 01:13:15 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2014/10/best-stuffed-cabbage-rolls-ever.html
(No referring link)
20 May 01:33:56 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2018/03/monarch-butterfly-caterpillar-egg-and.html
(No referring link)
20 May 02:39:51 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2014/10/best-stuffed-cabbage-rolls-ever.html
(No referring link)
20 May 03:38:49 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2017/09/
(No referring link)
20 May 03:58:16 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2016/12/tersa-sphinx-moth.html
(No referring link)
20 May 04:36:33 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2014/10/best-stuffed-cabbage-rolls-ever.html
(No referring link)
20 May 05:55:31 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2017/09/
(No referring link)
20 May 06:21:23 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2016/12/tersa-sphinx-moth.html
(No referring link)
20 May 08:26:53 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2017/09/
(No referring link)
20 May 09:00:11 PM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2016/12/tersa-sphinx-moth.html
(No referring link)
21 May 01:17:27 AM
https://jaguarjulie.blogspot.com/2016/12/tersa-sphinx-moth.html

On May 21, 2019 that unusual traffic seemed to stop, or maybe pause. I am glad Microsoft finally sent me a note to inform me that this was their Bing team with the 3 IPs at work. How was I supposed to know this? My blood pressure has been through the roof and my insomnia kicked into high gear. Thanks for letting me know!