Google’s failure to identify spam sites and the implications for user safety
While Bing's star continues to shine with the Microsoft's ChatGPT initiative, Google has been struggling to keep spam sites out of search results. Ending up at top spots, especially in localised search queries within Turkey, these spam sites not only tarnish brand reputations but also steer unsuspecting users towards virus-infected websites.
Employing search operators, as shown in the image below, DNSSense carried out a search to identify foreign language websites that featured the brand "enuygun" but did not include "enuygun.com" within their domains.
One of the websites that showed up in the search results was examined using data from Ahrefs.com. The analysis revealed that the website managed to rank for 12,200 keywords in just one week and received an estimated 18,900 monthly visitors.
There was a noticeable surge in traffic between 29 May 2023 and 2 June 2023 as indicated by the performance data analysis.
A review of some of the website’s ranking keywords showed that they were predominantly displayed on the first page of search results, particularly for queries related to the brand of a TV series streaming website.
Further analysis revealed that these spam sites employed a tactic of creating multiple subdomains to generate pages and achieve higher rankings.
We conducted an analysis of one of these domains using DNSSense’s Cyber X-Ray tool, where a suspicious and significant increase in the number of subdomains associated with the website was revealed.
According to our data, the current number of subdomains stands at 824.
There are many different instances and analyses concerning this issue. Spam sites with domain extensions such as .pl, .ca, .es, .it, .de, among others, consistently appear in Google search results for queries involving various corporate brands. These sites manage to secure positions on the first page, making it easy for unsuspecting users to accidentally visit them. Unfortunately, some users end up experiencing significant harm, such as disclosing their credit card information and suffering the consequences.
Furthermore, we have discovered that these spam sites, which previously appeared only in organic search results (those that are free), are now being advertised as paid search results. This presents a significant cause for concern.
When we utilize Cyber X-Ray to examine the aforementioned three sites that Google failed to classify accurately, we observe that they are indeed classified as "Spam Sites" and "Malicious."
Our findings point to the unfortunate implication that Google has been unable to identify and remove these phishing sites that manipulate search results from their index for the past two years.
What lies ahead: Key challenges and opportunities for businesses
Businesses face significant challenges in dealing with these issues. Even if you personally exercise caution and have a strong cybersecurity awareness, it is crucial to consider the awareness level of your employees and customers.
Harmful spam sites can potentially bypass many firewall software systems, which puts your company and employees at risk. Inadequate software and hardware classification of domains can further exacerbate this danger.
How can you protect your brand reputation?
There are various measures you can take to protect your brand reputation. An important step involves removing spam content specifically associated with your brand from search results. If you come across these sites that generate automated content related to your brand, you can use Google's report tools to request the website to be removed.
By actively monitoring and taking action against spam sites that abuse your brand, you can help mitigate potential harm and protect your brand's integrity.
Enhance your cybersecurity with DNSSense
DNSSense has been lauded by industry leaders as one of the top companies in the field of DNS security, based on positive user reviews on G2. It develops solutions that prioritise DNS security, serving as the initial step in businesses' cybersecurity strategies. DNSSense helps safeguard internet security in the age of remote working and digital transformation, starting from the foundational layer. This is made possible through Cyber X-Ray, the world's most advanced artificial intelligence-supported domain database. DNSSense boasts a highly skilled and expansive team dedicated to the development of Cyber X-Ray and proficiently utilising the outputs provided by artificial intelligence. Operating under the “Hub53” moniker, the DNSSense technical team continuously strives to advance artificial intelligence technologies and enhance Cyber X-Ray, which forms the core of its solutions.
