Back links

[baldidiot]

It's not a case that one domain = one site ranking. If you look at the backlink profiles for the ones that are ranking they're using the domains they buy in a few different ways:

1. Core site to rank for the main term (mainly non-gamstop, although they have been creeping into the generic terms as well)
- eg: mentoruk.org.uk

2. Redirects into the core site (although I guess these could have been ranking sites that were moved)
- eg: thebackbencher.co.uk

3. Rebuilds of an expired site with a sitewide link to the core site using the target anchor (there are tons of these per site)
- eg: glastonburyfm.co.uk

So it could be that for every site you see ranking they're actually using quite a lot of these domains to do it which is why they're so hungry for them.

That and stopping their competition.

 

[baldidiot]

So how do they still make money from them considering that the websites are being blocked?

For the non-gamstop stuff I'm assuming they're relying on people using a VPN. If you're the kind of person who knows about gamstop and you're trying to get around it, chances are you're a problem gambler who has self excluded and probably aware of what needs to be done to get around gamstop (ie: a lot of the non-gamstop casinos also require the use of a VPN to stay off the UKGC's radar).

So my best guess is that they're doing this to stop the UKGC submitting takedown requests to google, which was happening a lot in the early days of this nonsense (and may also explain the redirected domains in my post above).

EDIT - I stand corrected, ignore all that, it's much simpler than I thought

 

[Hook]

What i don't understand is that if you visit some of these domains converted into websites is that you get a popup stating that the page is blocked in the UK.

So how do they still make money from them considering that the websites are being blocked?

They are available, just on desktop resolution screen size browsers, they show you that message. On mobile (and mobile screen size in desktop browser) you see the actual site/offers. No VPN needed.

For the non-gamstop stuff I'm assuming they're relying on people using a VPN. If you're the kind of person who knows about gamstop and you're trying to get around it, chances are you're a problem gambler who has self excluded and probably aware of what needs to be done to get around gamstop (ie: a lot of the non-gamstop casinos also require the use of a VPN to stay off the UKGC's radar).

So my best guess is that they're doing this to stop the UKGC submitting takedown requests to google, which was happening a lot in the early days of this nonsense (and may also explain the redirected domains in my post above).

None of them are blocked, they just don't show on desktop - UKGC is too stupid to check on mobile is the thinking behind it.

 

[Jeff]

I get it that Google can't monitor every website in real time (yet), but surely they can record a domain's registration and expiry dates. If a website is inaccessible for a couple of months, the domain's registration date changes and then the website reappears with different contents, it's a sure sign that the domain has dropped and been repurposed, and should therefore lose it's ranking and start from scratch.

So why doesn't Google do this? Am I missing something?

 

[baldidiot]

This is a new twist on the whole thing: new-betting-sites.co.uk - ranking very well for some major terms and it was only registered last month.

If you check the source you'll see it's actually based on this domain: orchardmanorcarehome.com but they're using rel="alternate" to point to the new betting sites domain:

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-GB" href="httpx://new-betting-sites.co.uk/" />

There's other dropped domains involved as well, eg: notorestaurant.uk - which have orchardmanorcarehome.com as a canonical link, and the target site as the rel="alternate".

So it appears to be evolving...

 

[Hook]

This is a new twist on the whole thing: new-betting-sites.co.uk - ranking very well for some major terms and it was only registered last month.

If you check the source you'll see it's actually based on this domain: orchardmanorcarehome.com but they're using rel="alternate" to point to the new betting sites domain:

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-GB" href="httpx://new-betting-sites.co.uk/" />

There's other dropped domains involved as well, eg: notorestaurant.uk - which have orchardmanorcarehome.com as a canonical link, and the target site as the rel="alternate".

So it appears to be evolving...

This has been the method since April I believe, but you are now fully caught up ;)

I did it 3 times with one of my sites and the results were good



But spam is spam, and in my niche I don't need to spend so much on the domains.

 

[baldidiot]

This has been the method since April I believe, but you are now fully caught up ;)

I did it 3 times with one of my sites and the results were good

View attachment 490

But spam is spam, and in my niche I don't need to spend so much on the domains.

Ha, OK fair enough, I hadn't seen the rel="alternate" method before. Or perhaps I just wasn't looking out for it.

Seems like a short term spike on the site - was that just how it played out (ie: short term boost then drop) or was there something else going on? Just being nosey really.

 

[Hook]

Ha, OK fair enough, I hadn't seen the rel="alternate" method before. Or perhaps I just wasn't looking out for it.

Seems like a short term spike on the site - was that just how it played out (ie: short term boost then drop) or was there something else going on? Just being nosey really.

You get about 6-10 days of ranking per a domain, the canonical can add another "spike" of rankings, but only short-term. hreflang/canonical work in similar way with this method.

the actual links are not so important.