 | | Your RSS Feed Might Look Like SpamRSS search engines are just beginning to pick up steam. As more RSS feeds become searchable, the number of visitors will increase and spam is sure to follow. It is an unfortunate side effect of free communication. While RSS users can typically unsubscribe to feeds they deem as spam, browsing with keywords in an RSS search engine is where the problem arises.
RSS spam largely consists of three main types most often found in the RSS search engines. The first type is keyword stuffing.
Keyword stuffing involves filling each RSS feed article with high-value keywords for a specific topic. The articles are not intended for human visitors, but instead for search engine robots to direct traffic to a target web site. This RSS spam technique is nothing more than an adaptation of the typical keyword-stuffed web page, often banned by major search engines.
The second type involves RSS feed link farms. These RSS articles often contain very little content, if any, other than a simple keyword. Their main attraction is the feed title. Clicking the feed title takes the user to a blog containing tens or hundreds of other blogs and RSS feeds, each directing to more links within the farm. The goal of this type of RSS spam is to trick the user into clicking advertisements or directing them to a product web site.
The third type is the creation of fake RSS feeds. These appear as legitimate, but often duplicated, article content. Whether they provide value or not is certainly debatable. These feeds are usually created in mass, using automated scripts, and appear similar in nature to the link farms. By attracting the users to seemingly valuable content, they hope to gain advertisement clicks or product web site traffic.
Your RSS feed might happen to fall into one of these three categories. While you may currently be experiencing increased traffic from the RSS search engines, these directories are working on filtering out the RSS spam techniques. However, you can still take advantage of RSS feeds and their power by following an RSS-friendly guideline.
Refrain from using automated scripts to create online content used by your RSS feeds. Instead, write your own original thoughts, product descriptions, and reviews. It takes a little more time, but the search engines will value this content much more highly, your visitors will appreciate the unique content, and the subscription count to your RSS feed will grow. It is also important to keep your feed updated with changing content as opposed to using a static feed, which remains the same. Search engines value dynamic feeds and will likely rank you higher as a result.
There are tools and services available, which aid in keeping an RSS feed updated with your changing content. Such services include FeedFire for converting your web site content to a periodically updated RSS feed or software such as FeedForAll for creating and editing RSS feeds.
A successful RSS feed is very much the same as a successful web page. It may take a little more time to digitize your thoughts, but the end result is well worth the effort. By avoiding the tricks in RSS feed spam, you can help make the difference in quality of feeds and enjoyment in your readers. |
|
|
|
|
| Information Security: Principles and Practice (Hardcover)
by Mark Stamp |  | As businesses and consumers become more dependent on complex multinational information systems, the need to understand and devise sound information security systems has never been greater. This title takes a practical approach to information security by focusing on real-world examples. While not sidestepping the theory, the emphasis is on developing the skills and knowledge that security and information technology students and professionals need to face their challenges.
Publisher: Wiley-Interscience (October 28, 2005)
Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
Paperback: 416 pages | About the Book:
The book is organized around four major themes:- Cryptography: classic cryptosystems, symmetric key cryptography, public key cryptography, hash functions, random numbers, information hiding, and cryptanalysis
- Access control: authentication and authorization, password-based security, ACLs and capabilities, multilevel and multilateral security, covert channels and inference control, BLP and Biba's models, firewalls, and intrusion detection systems
- Protocols: simple authentication protocols, session keys, perfect forward secrecy, timestamps, SSL, IPSec, Kerberos, and GSM
- Software: flaws and malware, buffer overflows, viruses and worms, software reverse engineering, digital rights management, secure software development, and operating systems security
Additional features include numerous figures and tables to illustrate and clarify complex topics, as well as problems-ranging from basic to challenging-to help readers apply their newly developed skills. A solutions manual and a set of classroom-tested PowerPoint(r) slides will assist instructors in their course development. Students and professors in information technology, computer science, and engineering, and professionals working in the field will find this reference most useful to solve their information security issues.
An Instructor's Manual presenting detailed solutions to all the problems in the book is available from the Wiley editorial department. | About the Author:
MARK STAMP, PHD, is Professor of Computer Science, San Jose State University, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate-level information security courses. In addition to his experience gained in private industry and academia, Dr. Stamp has seven years' experience working as a cryptanalyst at the U.S. National Security Agency. | Book Reviews:
"Information Security: Principles and Practice presents information security concepts and practices insightfully in an easily comprehensible style. Although primarily intended as a college course resource, this book will appeal also to many security professionals. Highly recommended." (CHOICE, April 2006)
"The book is well suited for beginners, and contains enough introductory material on a variety of topics." (Computing Reviews.com, January 9, 2006) |
|
|
|
