[apetresc]

Are you kidding? Matt is basically a superhero who helps anyone he can find. He's solved problems for people complaining on Twitter, on Google+, he hosts regular video office hours when anyone can come to him with problems, etc. It may be the first time YOU'VE seen him rush in to help someone, but this is Matt Cutts' standard MO.

[AznHisoka]

No, he's not a super hero.. and no he doesn't help everyone that asks for it. I've brought up many issues over the years to him via Twitter, blog comments, emails, etc, and none of them.. count them.. ZERO have been addressed by him. He just gives preferential treatment to those sites that make a lot of noise, and might give Google or Google's quality team a lot of negative press. That's all he does. I've even brought up 100% apparent, clear spammy sites and he doesn't respond, and doesn't do anything about them. They're still there.

Lots of folks here like to give Matt Cutts this aura of an angel, or some sort of saint. Those who have known his actions over the past 5-10 years know better. Just ask guys like Aaron Wall and Rand. Matt Cutts is just a pawn that is there to do damage control for Google. That's all he is.

[Matt_Cutts]

Hi AznHisoka. A lot of people send me spam reports, and I'm happy to pass them on. But normally we investigate the spam reports without sending back specific feedback of what action we took in response.

P.S. Just curious--is this the same AznHisoka from BlackHat World, the "Blackhat SEO forum"? http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackhat-seo/members/137345-azn...

[AgentConundrum]

> normally we investigate the spam reports without sending back specific feedback of what action we took in response

I understand why you have to do this, but I wish there was at least some transparency regarding confirmation that an issue has at least been looked at, as opposed to just filed as a spam report.

I've only reported one issue to Google before, and the site in question, though incredibly obviously bad, is still the top link on the SERP for the business.

Specifically, there's a pizza place here in Halifax, NS that looks like it didn't renew it's domain in time, and some people are squatting it with an old copy of the site plus their own spammy links. The site[1] displays a copy of the site from 2008 or so, with a banner on the top which reads:

> To previous domain owner: We bought this domain after expiration so it's not our fault that you lost it. We put old content for this domain only to avoid losing good quality of it from SEO point of view. If it's a problem for you contact us ASAP!

I reported it to Google months ago and never heard a word about it, but today when I search for the business name - which I'd imagine a lot of people do when looking for menus, phone numbers, etc. - the "compromised" site still ranks first on the SERP[2]. I wonder how many people even notice the banner telling customers that <jedi>this is not the page you're looking for</jedi>.

[1] http://jessys.ca

[2] https://encrypted.google.com/search?hl=en&q=jessys%20piz...

[code_duck]

If it is, apparently the person in question doesn't enjoy the Blackhat World forum very much, having made one post total.

[Matt_Cutts]

And yet AznHisoka still seems to have time to recommend a colon cleansing product on Yahoo Answers to lots of different people: http://answers.yahoo.com/activity?show=EYIYH5R8aa :)

[code_duck]

There's no hiding from Matt Cutts!

[adamsc]

Oh noes; Matt Cuts is going to think BHW is just spammers - siiigh

[rayz0r]

Oh snap :D