posted on October 10, 2000 06:35:58 PM
auction on eBay. My daughter was searching for anything pertaining to a certain city in Indiana (searching title and description). What she found was something that looks like some kind of a charity thing, although it said that the auction was "ended". On the page where the item description would be, it was just blank white. BUT.....when she highlighted over this blank area, lots of countries, cities and states were there in very small print. The auction title had nothing to do with what she was looking for -but "hidden" in this white area were all these names, one of which was the town she was looking for. Has anybody ever come across anything like this? I don't know how else I can describe it without getting into trouble here on the msg. board!
posted on October 10, 2000 06:39:09 PM
Although I can't say why there was no description at all, the "hidden" portion is called "white text." Basically they used the color white for their text against a white background. It's a 'sneaky' way to do keyword spamming, and it's a definite eBay no-no.
posted on October 10, 2000 06:43:04 PM
The hidden text is produced by setting your text color to the background color (probably white.)
It is a form of "key word spamming," intended to draw in viewers who were searching for something that may be totally unrelated to the given auction. It is against eBay's rules, and if the auction had ended prematurely, this is probably why.
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posted on October 10, 2000 06:44:24 PM
Thanks borgt. They did mention their website - again, some charity in another country. I suppose contacting Safeharbor would be a waste of time. Maybe they don't care as long as they're getting their fees?? Someone told me another name to search on eBay and I couldn't believe it! The auctions made no sense whatsoever! WEIRD!!
edited to say thanks to amalgamated too!
[ edited by bobbi355 on Oct 10, 2000 06:46 PM ]
posted on October 10, 2000 06:49:29 PM
This falls under the category of "keyword spamming" and is against eBay's policies. You could report it to SafeHarbor and they would warn the seller against doing it on future auctions.
posted on October 10, 2000 07:09:46 PM
I just wish someone else could see this!! It is unbelieveable how many hidden keywords are in there! (feel free to email me at my AW email)
[ edited by bobbi355 on Oct 10, 2000 07:10 PM ]
posted on October 10, 2000 10:45:34 PM
I've come across this before. Usually when I search for something and something unrelated gets pulled up. Safeharbor will warn the seller, and if he/she continues will suspend them.
posted on October 10, 2000 10:57:35 PM
Several months ago someone posted an auction that had ended with the invisible text. It was blue text on a matching blue background. Incredible!
