I think it is a bit harsh to refer to this as
a scam, and I'd like to say a few words in defense
of the perpetrator.
Namely, that as far as I know there isn't any obvious,
simple, well-defined way to get oneself appropriately
listed on the various search engines. The search engines
generally aren't particularly forth-coming on how they
index stuff, and to the extent that they are, they all
tend to do something slightly different.
Probably this guy is making an honest effort to get himself
prominantly listed in the face of "approximately 10,000
hits", not trying to perpetrate a scam.
>
> If my crawler detects any of these "ploys" it simply drops the page.
>
In general I consider this a dis-service to me, the searcher.
In my opinion, if somebody is willing to put in
the effort to get himself found, it is likely to be somebody
that I want to find. In other words, I'm looking for a
service, somebody is providing a service that wants to get
found---its an ideal situation.
A better "solution" than playing this cat-and-mouse game with
servers is to provide a mechanism where they can genuinely
be appropriately found. Say, for instance, that the search
services would agree on come common terminology for meta-tags,
and where the meta-tags go. Then the searchee could (more-or-less)
accurately list who they are and what they are providing,
and where they are providing it. I as a searcher could then
insert the proper query, and get a relatively short listing
of, say, just the home pages of the services that match, and
everybody's happy.
Until the search services are able to provide such a service,
I am more-or-less in sympathy with these "scams".
PF