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Detecting Stealth Web Pages That Use
Click-Through Cloaking
December 1, 2006
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Download PDF

BibTex
Authors

Yi-Min Wang

Ming Ma
Publication Type
TechReport
Pages
7
Number
MSR-TR-2006-178

Abstract

Related Info
Abstract
Search spam is an attack on search engines’ ranking algorithms to promote spam links into
top search ranking that they do not deserve. Cloaking is a well-known search spam technique in
which spammers serve one page to search-engine crawlers to optimize ranking, but serve a
different page to browser users to maximize potential profit. In this experience report, we
investigate a different and relatively new type of cloaking, called Click-Through Cloaking, in
which spammers serve non-spam content to browsers who visit the URL directly without
clicking through search results, in an attempt to evade spam detection by human spam
investigators and anti-spam scanners. We survey different cloaking techniques actually used in
the wild and classify them into three categories: server-side, client-side, and combination. We
propose a redirection-diff approach to spam detection by turning spammers’ cloaking
techniques against themselves. Finally, we present eight case studies in which we used
redirection-diff in IP subnet-based spam hunting to defend a major search engine against stealth
spam pages that use click-through cloaking.
Related Info
Related Files
 tr-2006-178.doc
Research Areas
 Security and privacy
Research Labs
 Microsoft Research Lab - Redmond
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