Search engine spam is a method that is used to manipulate the web page to get an artificial boost regarding search engine rankings. It is replicating the same message so that viewers are forced to see them. There are certain guidelines provided by major search engines as to what a webmaster should keep in mind while designing the web page. Spam is generally the technique used by the site owners to deceive the search engine spiders.

Be acquainted with the most common types of spam:

Doorway pages:
Doorway pages, also known as portal pages, gateway pages, entry page etc. are generally pages that can be easily identified. Their main purpose is to drive traffic to a site. They are like full screen banners which the viewers are forced to see. They reduce the quality of the search engine result and are irritating to their users.

Mirror sites:
Mirror sites are the replication of another internet site that uses different keywords. They are used to provide the same information or preserve historic content and allow faster downloads. Search engines tend to avoid duplicate content in their result pages because this increases the number of listings and lessen the worth of a result page.

Hidden text:
Hidden text also known as search spam, are generally readable to search engine spiders but they are invisible to visitors. It is just like dropping a letter written in white in a white background. It is invisible to human eye but easily identifiable by spiders. Hidden text is a variation of the keyword that are attractive to spiders but not to human beings.

Search engines scan the pages for unique materials. If the header of the page is not relevant to the body of the page then it would be difficult to get a good ranking. Search engines detect a page when multiple keywords are placed on a page. They are just used to confuse the spam filters. Research shows unwanted e-mail accounts nearly half of the messages received.

What can you do to prevent unwanted messages from coming to your address?

- Avoid having your e-mail address on the net. You can use form emails to hide your address or programs to encode your email.
- Install a spam blocking software. They are programs that will help you to block certain unwanted mails which you have to set up manually.
- A multiple e-mail address approach can be used to avoid spam. It is just like keeping your personal e-mail id and your business id separate.
- Avoid attachment from unknown people. Spam generally has attachments that may contain viruses. Personal e-mail id is more open for spammers and so you should not open attachments from unknown persons. Look for services that can filter the mails coming in your account.
- Use e-mail services that have bulk mailer baskets so that you can pile the unwanted mails there.