Cloaking

[tinner666]

Is it the same as 'Masking'?
Masking as I know it means redirecting to another site while the type-in url stays the same.

If they're the same, what effect does either have on SEO of the 'hidden' or 'directed to' site?

If I'm posting in the wrong area, please move the thread.
Thanks in advance.

[dcristo]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloaking

It's blackhat SEO because you are tricking the search engines.

[tinner666]

Thanks for the definition.

[myst woman]

No vulcan bird of prey virus?

[WebsiteTraders.Com]

anyone knows the best coach to learn cloaking from? is fantomaster the best cloaking software out there?........if anyone does not wish to post it public you can PM me.

[myst woman]

But if you forward masked domain a to domain b website, and the browser navigates the website even one page, doesn't the url address bar click to the www.domainb/something?

[WebsiteTraders.Com]

it will change to domainb/something unless domainb/something has been redirected to some other url.

[mannoo2005]

in general, it's not blackhat technique.

It's done to:
1- shorten the URL address.
2- hide affiliate links, So customers will click it and don't expect it affiliate link.
3- tracking links (which link clicked)

The methods of doing it is much:
1- by html redirect.
2- PHP redirect
3- htaccess redirect
4- by scripts or software (more professional, more costs)

[MuseHack]

in general, it's not blackhat technique.

It's done to:
1- shorten the URL address.
2- hide affiliate links, So customers will click it and don't expect it affiliate link.
3- tracking links (which link clicked)

The methods of doing it is much:
1- by html redirect.
2- PHP redirect
3- htaccess redirect
4- by scripts or software (more professional, more costs)

Cloaking, as it is generally perceived, is a way to provide better looking links. For example, on a WordPress site, the GoCodes plugin allows a shorter, friendlier URL that can tell your visitor where the results of their click will take them, instead of some affiliate code. It also tracks clicks. Visitors are more likely to click through a nice link. G has not penalized my sites for using this. The same results can be achieved with other types of redirects, and I have never seen this referred to as masking.

There is also a definition for cloaking that is blackhat. This would be something like User Agent Cloaking or IP Cloaking by visitor. That definition is for something designed to cloak a site from search engine spiders, by presenting one page to your visitors and a different page to a search engine. This technique is never recommended, as it can cause more problems than it's worth and get a site deindexed. A better approach is always proper on-site search engine optimization.