A Hack At The Publication?
How this is happening is unclear. The page that’s ranking tops seems to be one of several full video movie pages that Google believes actually are on the Call & Post site:
The stories do appear to have resided on the Call & Post site at one time, because Google’s cached copy shows them complete with author names, such as here:
However, trying to reach any of the pages generates redirections on the Call & Post’s server that point (via the TinyURL.com shortening service) to Nation2.com. Chances are, someone has gained access to the Call & Post’s server, both to plant the stories and establish the redirections, perhaps through a hack.
Hack Extends To Google News
Servers get hacked all the time by people trying to hijack existing top rankings in Google and send traffic elsewhere. But it’s extremely odd for a hack like this to hit Google News.
The Google News ranking system is supposed to reward sites that have authority and expertise in particular subjects. This site has no such demonstrable expertise in movie reviews — it doesn’t regularly do them at all. And yet, this apparently hacked page got rewarded with top billing by Google News. It’s a terrible relevancy failure.
It’s also not going to help with Google’s relations with Hollywood, which feels Google doesn’t do enough to stop people from locating pirated content.
We’re checking with both the Call & Post and Google about the situation. But no doubt, it’ll end fairly soon after this story goes up.
Tag:Everything’s Not Awesome,Everything,How To,Songs,Full Movies,Hack,Publication,Google News,Google News
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