The term "scraper" IMO refers to bots who collect entire websites or collect snippets for certain keywords. These snippets are (due to lack of own original content) presented to visitors as search results, be it static or dynamic.

So, technically speaking, no your are not a scraper by this definition.

However, any of the tactics you mention are shady or in a gray area of Adwords/Adsense. You should check the Adsense TOS for compliance.

If you are using Adwords to advertise your site, #2 seems to me against Adwords TOS (if I remember correctly).

#3 seems to be okay, as RSS feeds seem to be the invitation to re-publish articles. Could get you into trouble though, if you do not adhere to the publishers TOS.

And #5 seems to be against Adsense TOS (again, if my memory serves me right) as you may not place Adsense ads on content that does not belong to you.

on each page the guy placed where he got the article from and credited the person

is not the same as "having permission" ..
just that alone makes you a scraper ..

adsense is responsible for such a load of crap on the 'net ..

would you run your site if adsense didnt exist?

would you scrape or use others images or text without permission?

So Leo explain, I have a website riddled with RSS feeds on FX trading from say 10 different websites...using a feed reader that generates HTML, that the bots can read.

How different is this if its static html. I am yet to comprehend the difference. Am I not stealing content am I. What about MYSPACE for #5. If Google never signed up with them would that be against the TOS?

No, you are not a scraper, you are an MFA (made for adsense) publisher.

WHAT!

Are you serious...I know hundreds of people that want websites...
1. Companies that dont have one that might think it good to advertise.
2. People who want to publish info about themselves i.e resumes, thesis etc.
3. Non-Profit Organizations that would just love to do it.

Explain to me then what Tripod and other sites do.

Then are you telling me that MYSPACE is an MFA. I find this hard to believe. So if Google themselves are doing it why cant I. The only difference is Im monetizing to at least break even for the domain names.

If I give away a free domain, give away free hosting..yourname.mysite.com and do all submissions to the search engines. I dont see the harm if I monetize with Adsense.

In my TOS the people and companies will know that they dont hold any advertising rights.

How the dickens am I an MFA?...The site was not specifically made for Adsense but there must be some ROI..

newborn,

your statements lead the majority of WW members (including me) to the conclusion that you do not have content on your own. You also seem to lack an established web site with organical growth. Also, you seem to want to get rich quick. (There is nothing wrong with that, but you can't do the trick when you have nothing.) I am just assuming here from the statements you made above.

Many here have learnt the business the hard way, often starting with a small website years ago. They got some traffic and then tried to monetize that. You are suggesting that you want to create websites with little/no use for end consumers. In general, these sites are called "MFA" here.

There is nothing wrong with offering free web hosting. I think what is not welcome is the combination of your plans:

1) Re-publishing of articles. How USEFUL is that? What do YOU add to the user experience? Or are you just littering the web? Please explain.

2) Ads with mis-leading ad copy. How useful is it, when users click on "Widgets DVD" and get to "Horse & Hound Magazine Subscription"? Please explain.

3) Use of RSS feeds to clutter the web. See #1.

4) Strong key word articles. Do you write them? Who writes them? Are they unique? Do your writers or you know enough to actually write about the topics covered? Or are you trying to just litter the web with keyword stuffed articles, so that some traffic is generated? Please explain.

5) Free websites. Nothing wrong with that. You mention Myspace and Tripod. Can you compete with them? Why should I host my personal homepage with you? Must be more than your ads on my site. You know, I can get that from Myspace. Please explain.

6) Buy Domain Names with existing traffic. See # 4.

But again, it is obvious from your statements that you have not a clear plan on what you want to achieve and how. Yes, you want to earn money, that much is clear. Hence you go ahead and talk about MFA tactics. Which is not very welcome around here.

Go develop a good website. Write good articles. Grow the traffic. Then put ads on your site and start earning money. That's the typical process. All other ways result (often enough) in just another "I've been banned" thread here.

Ok Manzig let me be clear I have been reading threads here for almost a year now and basically my major site is less than one year old. Might I add that ALL MY WEBSITES HAVE ORIGINAL CONTENT. No I dont steal content. The sites I bought are obviously duplicate content. But here is the real question...
Why are certain sites banned and others not. They do the same thing. i.e article websites that allow authors to publish on their sites. These articles are scattered accros the web (so much copyscape has hundreds), yet these sites rank so well for top paying keywords.

So why hasn't Google banned them from Adsense for duplicate content?

Now all options listed in my primary thread are just to define what Google might 'percieve' as a bannable offense, that might not have been specifically laid out in their TOS. I am not guilty.

However #5 is an option I am going to take for the sole reason that I will introduce a www.yourname.com domain for free. Why?

Lets say Manzig Ltd. does not have a website, then they can log on send me their info online and in 48 hrs I'll have a templated website put up. Manzig can now market manzig.com to their customers, leading to traffic and eventual sales for them.

Tripod or MYSPACE does not do this. Plus I have a niche by country.
So dont assume here Manzig.

I still believe that if I do this and am classified as an MFA then so is MYSPACE AND TRIPOD.

You don't get banned from AdSense for duplicate content, except maybe for copyright issues. You get banned from Google's index for duplicate content.

In my opinion you are scraping. Re selling sites with adsense code on - reakon you'll be banned in no time. Your adsense code is unique to you and is non-transferrable. Also if someone else breaches TOS you will get the ban.

I would forget all of your tactice. Go write some good solid unique content, learn how to write a good looking site and be patient. There are no get rich quick schemes. Only hard work will pay off.

Why are certain sites banned and others not.

Why are some automobile drivers caught for speeding and others not?

(there's one answer for you)

Ok so there seems to be confusion here....

No content is automatically place on the sites.
I.e.

Pinkys Garage Ltd. will get a domain name of www.pinkysgarageltd
The domain name will be redirected to pinkysgarageltd.mysite.com

It will be a totally different site that has content written by the owners of Pinkys Garage Ltd. These guys will have an about us page, contact, services, etc. Promoting their company. In certain spots on each page I will place my google ads.

To create the site and domain name the person goes to my website submits all the required articles - minimum 10 pages, choose a template and submits their request.

We/My company reviews the info ensure there is no breach of TOS and buys the domain name and then upload the site to the subdomain then redirects the main domain. There is no stealing of content or breach in any other way.

I just cant see why I would be banned. We will check to ensure that all sites are compliant and the loading process will take less than 4 hours. We have over 300 templates to choose from and make it our point of duty to scour the web for more templates to purchase.

Just not understanding...here guys I must be daft. An no its not a get rich scheme.

Holding an essay competition giving away a large winning prize get in lots of essays about particular topics

My main site has over 700 authentic & unique articles.

BTW

If I give away a free domain, give away free hosting..yourname.mysite.com

what you are talking about there is not giving away a free domain ..you are talking about letting people use a sub domain ( their name ) at ( your site ) mysite.com and then slapping adsense on it ..

what other people are or are not getting away with is moot ..and if you cant see why they are then you havn't understood most of what you have read in your time here ..and possibly your "how can I get to the buckets of money " approach has coloured your reading and your thinking ..;-)

and explaining the obvious to those who dont get it isnt in my resumé ..so dont ask ..

and your proposal is against the adsense TOS ..because it isnt your content ..

how do the others get away with it ..ask google ..directly ..their email is on their pages ..

BTW I would shed no tears if myspace and 99.9% of all adsense sites went "gone" for what ever reason ..

asking for how to get around the adsense TOS isnt likely to get you very many helpfull and favourable replies here ..and most of those replies that you do get are not meant solely for you and your "endeavour" ..but also to dissuade others who may be reading from doing what you suggest ..

there is more than enough crap with adsense on it out there as it is ..

presumably if you are buyint pinky's garage dotcom for pinky ..for free ..then you are also giving them the control panel and listing them as the admin and owner of the domain ..so why should they then go to all the trouble of building pages and etc ..and then let you redirect them to be asubdomain of your space ..,

any "Pinky" with half a brain ;-) ..who already knows enough to upload anything anywhere ..would use their own space ..and host their own domain ..

they dont need you ..

you are offering nothing to them ( unless you really do give them the domain name dotcom or whatever ..and you cannot access the domain control panel ) ..and again ..it's against the adsense TOS ..

get the buckets of money out of your eyes ..and build your own site ..with your own content ..written by yourself ..or paid for by you ..or tell your contributors why you need their content ..and get their permission to use it ..

from your other posts on this site ..the buckets of money are calling to you something real real bad ..;-)

Can you cite where this is against the TOS? Not that I'd want to be in the business of hosting other people's websites, but I don't see a problem with respect to the AdSense rules.

Jo max thank you I have shot off an email to Google ADsense to see if that is so....but I just perused the TOS and still have not seen that..

displaying adsense on the content in a subdomain ( the content of which is uploaded by a third party ..ie the "pinky" garage people )is inherently breaking this part of the adsense TOS ..unless the OP has written permission from "pinky" to transfer the copyright irrevocably to the OP

Website publishers may not display Google ads on web pages with content protected by copyright law unless they have the necessary legal rights to display that content

So unless the Op has such written permission ..he would be in breach of googles TOS ..

( and yes ..myspace probably doesnt have such written permissions ..and for copyright that means hard copy paper written ..electronic doesn't count ..from all of their "spacees" ..but that just means that G is ignoring thet myspace and other large sites based upon the "model" ..or terra networks etc are breaking their TOS ..they can choose to be selective about to whom and how they implement their TOS ...it is a private contract ..they may not give ..and do not have to give every participant the same leeway ..nor do they )

also section

16.Information Rights ( which I wont reproduce here ) would have to be disclosed in full to the OP "participant" pinky's in order to be able to fullfill G's conditions of "full access to all parts of the site" ..no robots text denials ..by "pinky" ..nor the OP ..rare that G insists upon this totally ..but they can ..

In most juristictions of the would ..the OP would be breaking many laws if they did not disclose totally and get acceptance from their "pinky's" that the site is actually bound by the full TOS of Googles adsense program and many juristictions ( especially those of the EU and probably those of certain states of the USA if strictly applied should require that the "pinky's" are shown and agree to ..the full G adsense TOS prior to their acceptance of any offers by the OP ) again such disclosure rarely happens ..people rarely read EULA's and small print ..

that fact ( that ahrdly anyone does show the hidden agenda ) doesn't make laws and contractual conditions ( and various consumer protection legislation ..which applies even to free services such as proposed ) go away ..

G adsense TOS are a masterpeice ..:) and they are very very carefull not to put themselves into the juristictions of countries and or states that are not friendly to their operations ..the OP and other hopefulls should be aware of this ..

edited typos ..probably left some in :)..due to cooking dinner and posting at the same time

[edited by: Leosghost at 8:12 pm (utc) on Jan. 23, 2007]

Whoa there, you're way overstating the case. "Necessary legal rights" is a lot different from "transfer the copyright irrevocably".

You'd probably want some kind of formal agreement with the individual page owners, especially with respect to keeping content within bounds (yes, including the robots.txt file I suppose, but that point seems incredibly picky), but the bottom line is that people will be uploading their own content onto the site, knowing that AdSense ads will be shown on the same pages. IMO that constitutes all the permission necessary.

I agree whole heartedly jomaxx, not just because I want to do it but as I stated 'Tom is drunk but Tom is no fool' in which case I am Tom I fired off the request to Google to clarify the matter. But more importantly consider this scenario...countries such as the Bahamas that have no copyright laws and do not adhere to certain International Copyright restrictions much less the DMCA allow companies to set up shop there. Lets assume that I wanted to rebroadcast HBO live online and people could visit my site and watch HBO without paying...HBO could do nothing. Internet providers would have to firewall my site to prevent that because HBO could not touch me in the Bahamas...

There are many countries that remain like this. Is it legal..well YES (in the Bahamas)..is it immoral well who decides whats moral or not. Hanging a man until he is decapiated could be construed this way but others might think differently.

We must go by whats law and multi corps should respect the laws in the jurisdictions that they ply business...if not then just do like YPN and offer it only to the US.

We will wait and see what G says.

I don't understand that example at all. Obviously if you want Google to sponsor your site, you can't flout US copyright law.

Leosghost, I don't follow you. You seem to be saying that any site with user-supplied content is in violation of a number of laws and AdSense TOS provisions. I really don't think that is the case.

"Necessary legal rights" in that case means to own the copyright or to have had the copyright assigned in writing ..paper copy only is valid except in a very few juristictions ..

because you do not want copyright law to be this way ..in order to suit your business model..doesnt change the copyright law ..

"formal agreement with the individual page owners" ..written paper contract ..the only kind that counts for copyright assignation ..be it temporary or permanent

BTW ..I never mentioned irrevocably ..

"picky" ..no ..just pointing out the law and the G TOS ..the fact that they dont choose (sometimes) to interpret them that way ..does not mean they cant ..

if you cant read legalese and understand it's potential ramifications if the other party or parties the contract wished to get "picky about what you both or all agreed to ..you should quit the internet ..

because uptil now ..IMO ..you have just been lucky not to have become some lawyers lunch ..

not clever ..
not understanding , informed , nor erudite ..

just lucky ..

luck can run out ..

many posters here of long standing ( many years ) suddenly post about how some lawyer just wrote them about some picture they were using ( BeedeeW recently )..or how G just pulled their adsense contract ..

at least the OP is asking G direct ..now ..so some of these warnings have had the right effect :)

..but remember their TOS also says that they can change any part or all of it's parts anytime they feel like it ..and it's upto you the individual webmaster to know when they did ..they are under no obligation to tell you before they terminate your contract for what was OK and suddenly isnt ..

Leosghost, I don't follow you. You seem to be saying that any site with user-supplied content is in violation of a number of laws and AdSense TOS provisions. I really don't think that is the case.

unless the site has signed paper transfers of copyright ..they are ..any time G wants to get "picky" ..
if they want reason to boot you ..that would do ..

countries such as the Bahamas that have no copyright laws and do not adhere to certain International Copyright restrictions

Uhhuh!

You might want to contact the Copyright Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Registrar General's Department in the Bahamas.

You might also not want to give up your day job to become a copyright expert on the Bahamas <grin>

I don't know that putting AdSense on free hosted domains is against TOS; I tend to think not, but the only way you you will find out for sure is to ask.

However, if your plan is to buy up a bunch of domains and redirect them to subdomains on your own site, you better know exactly how you're going to do it, otherwise you and/or your clients will have SERP problems, and even free hosting isn't a very good deal if you can't get found by the search engines.

You do NOT have to have the copyright transferred to you. Period.

and it says that where in googles adsense TOS jomax?

Hmm. I guess you can't run AdSense on forums either, since the same argument would apply.

You do NOT have to have the copyright transferred to you. Period.

I agree to an extent... you do need the copyright holder's approval ( hopefully in writing ), but no sane copyright holder is going to 'transfer' the the rights to someone unless they're selling it.

It is universally understood that if a person submits content to a dynamic web site, that content is going to be hosted there and served to other people. That is, in fact, the intention of the person submitting the content. Are you really saying that every time this occurs, millions of times per day on a million different web sites and forums, it is a violation of the law? The majority of web sites are operating illegally, then, Google included.