Have you ever received a backhanded compliment and wondered how to respond?  You're not sure whether to say thank you or bug off.  Well, in the Blogosphere, Hijacking a Blog Post is rapidly becoming an issue that every Blogger must be aware of.  When search engine results for Grand Rapids, Michigan Real Estate Agents  began to consistently rank my Blog on the first page, some of my Blog Posts were hijacked!  In it's most benign form, hijacking can be construed to be the on-line version of a back handed compliment.  In it's malignant form, it is just plain THEFT. 

As a very new Blogger,  I was not anticipating this type of problem.  But as more of my posts became indexed on search engines, I began to notice links to sites that I did not recognize. Initially these links re-directed the search to my original post but more recently, I have noticed a more deceptive, malicious form of redirection.  Taking my title and even the initial first few phrases of my Blog Post, these thieves would then create a link which would re-direct my Blog Post to their own website or whatever they were trying to sell.  In my case...flip-this-house-.com and  oogleclick.com are using my on-line resume and teaching course schedule to re-direct searches to their websites.

I find this very disturbing.  There is no means of contacting a live person by telephone and the e-mail path is so convoluted  that I wonder if anyone would ever respond to my "cease & desist" order.  Fortunately, I am a member of Active Rain.  It occurred to me that this may have happened to someone else, so I did a search and literally put in the words: "hijacked blog".  To my utter amazement , an excellent post by the Harper Team popped up entitled "Help, Stop Your Posts From Being Hijacked". 

As a result of reading the Harper Team post, I now understand that there are at least 2 types of re-directs that can happen to a blog post on-line.  Both are SPAM by nature; one is a form of a back handed compliment and the other is outright THEFT of your idea, name, article, copyright, and legitimate search engine postion.  The former may or may not be worth the time to pursue, as the re-direct is still coming back to you as the original author. But when someone actually steals your content and puports it to be their own, it must be reported. 

To View an Example of  On-Line Out-right Theft vs. a  Simple Redirect on a Spam Blog, you can Click on this link to a Google Search for Blogs with my name Lola Audu.  The 4th entry with the Sticky About Lola is actually a Stolen Blog Post by flip-this-house-.com and also the 5th entry by oogle.com.  According to Oogle, my on-line resume will help you to figure out "What your real Value is" ....perhaps they can take a bit of their own advice by starting with the word  REAL and removing FALSE links.   It is important to check from time to time to see if this is being done with material you are posting.  It has been said that "evil thrives when good men do nothing".

Google does take this seriously. The Harper Team post has a link to the Google Spam Report to report offenders.  This type of activity pollutes the integrity of search engine results for everyone.

According to Google: " We work hard to return the most relevant results for every search we conduct. To that end, we encourage site managers to make their content straightforward and easily understood by users and search engines alike. Unfortunately, not all websites have users' best interests at heart. Trying to deceive (spam) our web crawler by means of hidden text, deceptive cloaking or doorway pages compromises the quality of our results and degrades the search experience for everyone." 

When you experience this scenario, take heart...it probably means you're good enough to warrant some attention.  After, you've calmed down, take the appropriate measures to correct the situation. This is an area in which we must all take personal responsibility. If you can find a number or e-mail, inform the Spammer that they need to cease and desisit from the inappriate use of you name and material.  Next, contact Google or your search engine administrator to report the problem.

I was heartened to see that Laurie Manny's Post on the Active Rain Network that was originally mentioned in the Harper Team Blog has been deactivated. This works!

Here are links to some Excellent Posts that can assist you in dealing with these issues:

• Help, Stop Your Posts From Being Hijacked...by the Harper Team
• Excellent article by David Kyle, The Skinny on Blogging in Relation to SEO which gives BACKGROUND about why some of this type of activity is occuring.
• Stopping Spam...by Jacqulyn Richey
• Grand Theft Blog...by Maureen McCabe.  Also, the post following is highlighted in one of her comments.
• Help, I've Been Hijacked...interesting blog post by Kevin Boer of 3 Oceans Real Estate...he describes a situation in which during a transfer of domain names, someone was able to hijack his blog address.
• Top Ranking in Google GUARANTEED, Jay & Francy Thompson shed light on Scammers who use deceptive and sometimes costly techniques to do a lot of damage.

These excellent resources are worth more than their weight in gold....Education like this is hard to find.  Thank you Active Rain Community.  Membership has truly Rained In many Benefits!

This is Awesome...Just not in MY Backyard!

Yesterday, there was some disturbing news on the ABC News evening broadcast.  Charlie Gibson reported that the Army Corps of Engineers had identified 146 levees nationwide that it said posed an unacceptable risk of failing in a major flood.  The deficiencies were mostly due to poor maintenance and were going to force a number of communities from Connecticut to California to invest millions of dollars in repairs.  A Sacramento, CA man was interviewed who indicated that he had been informed that his flood insurance rate was going to quadruple.

In a related article by USA Today, the Corps and FEMA were quoted as saying "We've been lax as a nation in our operation and maintenance of these levees, and it's time to tighten up". said Larry Larson, director of the Association of State Floodplain Managers, an organization for officials who run flood-control systems.  "You're talking about risking a lot of lives if one of these fails".

My interest peaked.  I wondered where these levees were located and if any were in my state.  Apparently, initial release of this information was somewhat muted and only indicated the total number in each state.  Small comfort if your state was on the list, since you had no idea where this potential tragedy could occur next.  USA Today had to file a request for the list under the Freedom of Information Act to gain access to the actual targeted levees.

In 2001, I traveled to New Orleans, sponsored by my local Board as a Director.  We spent almost a week in this curiously, engaging city.  The National Association of Realtors (NAR ) conference was largely held at the Convention Center and we walked and toured the downtown area and surrounding communities extensively.  So, the sights of horror that unfolded after Hurricane Katrina and the accompanying specter of the breaking of the levees was a sight that was heartbreaking to see.  I had been in those areas, had eaten at local restaurants.  New Orleans was one of the most hospitable large cities I had ever visited.  The sight of "MOM's a popular local eatery which served traditional Cajun dishes, surrounded by water with employees living in a trailer was bizarre and unsettling.

*Picture of Ms. Meridith huddled outside the New Orelans Convention Center in the wake of Katrina & subsequent flooding.

Why is this important to Local Homeowners?

According to the USA Today article, local officials are concerned that some cities may not be able to afford the recommended upgrades.  Here in Michigan, we are dealing with a huge Budget shortfall this year.  Secondly, if the repairs are NOT made within the 1 year grace period, millions of homeowners may suddenly find that their property has been reclassified to be in a flood plain and be required to carry expensive flood insurance.  Lastly, as Katrina demonstrated this can be a very dangerous situation.  Lots of water is wonderful when it is contained appropriately but unchecked, even small waves of water can wreck havoc not unlike the damage and upheaval from any major assault or terrorist attack.

 To check which communities in approximately 30 states are affected, you may check for a status update on this list.

According to the ABC broadcast, Hartford, Connecticut was able to raise a bond issue to cover the initial 5 million in repairs, but they expect to have to spend quite a bit more to get the job done correctly.  Is your community informed and ready?

So, what did I find out about my State of Michigan.  Well, thankfully none of the levees were located in the West Michigan area.  However, Michigan had 4 levees in need of urgent attention in our largest, most populous city of Detroit, Michigan.  The spector of  that type of potential devastation in a state which is struggling to recover from recession like symptoms is not pretty.

*I did find some discrepencies in the number of levees in need of repair.  This on-line article on Boston.com indicates the number to be 122.  It also highlights the kinds of problems which are in need of repair.

*Picture of Ms. Meridith at the New Orleans Convention Center is courtesy of Voice of America and is a part of the public domain.

© Audu Real Estate 2007

Search for Home Listings in Grand Rapids & Surrounding Areas by School District:

We place a high degree of importance on education in West Michigan.  We have a number of Award Winning school districts in the area.  You can search for homes in the school district of your choice by clicking the links below.  In additon Grand Rapids has a number of Charter Schools which provide excellent options for our children and their families.  If you would like detailed information about any of these communities, our office can provide a detailed E-Neighborhood profile which will provide address information, class to teacher ratios, and expenditures per pupil in additon to other valuable data.  This report can be prepared for comparisions of up to 4 different areas at a time.  One more Value Added Service provided by the agents of Audu Real Estate!

Search the Local MLS for Homes in

Byron Center School District,

Allendale School District,

Cedar Springs School District,

Caledonia School District

Comstock Park School District,

East Grand Rapids School District

Forest Hills School District,

Grand Rapids School District

Grandville School District,

Wyoming School District

Visit this delightful informative WEB LOG for great insights and a positive, empowering message!  It's great to see Realtors like Joeann focusing on what's right, good and true about life and business when there is so much excess negativity around.  I'd rather choose this kind of focus wouldn't you.

http://joeann.realtownblogs.com/

This site is also featured for November on the on-line community:  www.realtownblogs.com.  This site contains many real estate specific websites througout the country but has postings that are not real estate related as well.  Realtownblogs is recommended by the NAR E-PRO Award Certification and provides FREE BLOG space and excellent on-line assistance if you are interested in setting up your own Blog.

https://www.accesskent.com/OnlineServices/inspections/search.php

This is an amazing and interesting report on virtually every restaurant in Grand Rapids by the Kent County Health Department.  This is not for the squeemish as it becomes rapidly apparant that nobody and it seems hardly any restaurant does things right all the time. But, if you've ever wondered what really might go on behind, those closed kitchen doors, this site makes for some interesting reading.  Go to:  www.accesskent.com/OnlineServices/inspections/search.php