What Is Cloaking In SEO?
Cloaking in terms of SEO refers to the way in which different content or URLs are displayed to human users and to search engines. Cloaking is considered a violation of the Google Webmaster Guidelines for providing customers with results that are different from what they expected.
Some examples of clocking:
- Provides a page of HTML text for search engines and a page of images for users
- Insert text or keywords on the page only if the user agent requesting the page is a search engine and not a human visitor.
- If your site uses technologies that make it difficult for search engines such as JavaScript or images to access, see our recommendations to make that content accessible to search engines and users without clogging. Learn about broken links.
If the site is hacked, it is not uncommon for hackers to use cloaking, making it harder for the site owner to detect the hack. Read more about hacked sites.
What is the purpose of Cloaking?
Hiding the actual content on those sites can lead to cloaking other sites than the user expects. During cloaking, the search engine spider and browser are displayed with different content for the same web page. HTTP header information or IP addresses can help send the wrong web page. Searchers access websites that contain information they do not like, including pornographic sites. Website directories also offer their share of cloaking techniques. Learn about canonical tag
Many large search engine companies oppose cloaking because it frustrates their customers and does not adhere to their standards. In the search engine optimization (SEO) industry, cloaking is considered a black hat technique that is opposed by many legitimate SEO companies and web publishers when used. Catch cloaking can lead to hefty fines from search engines and be completely removed from the index.
for more details click here to watch a video explaining cloaking
