Several entities appear to be offering free web counter services as a technique to improve search engine ranking for high-value search keywords.

There are a number of methods in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) known as "spamdexing" which attempt to manipulate the number and quality of links to a target site, to fool search engine algorithms into adducing that the site is more relevant to a target search phrase.

For instance, one such technique is "comment spam", whereby a keyword spammer sends out an automated bot to blogs and submits comments to them that contain links to a target site. Such bots have become common enough that many blog owners now demand users pass a Turing test by typing in randomly generated jumbled letters in an image before successfully adding comments to a blog entry.

See the relevant Wikipedia entry for more information on spamdexing.

A new technique is to offer free "web counters" to internet users, which a number of different companies appear to be using to attempt to manipulate their search engine rankings.

"Web counters" were largely an internet fad that started around 1996. The first successful web counter service was counter.digits.com: a web site owner would place an image tag that linked to a special location on the counter.digits.com site. When a user would "hit" the web site owner's page and request the special image, the counter service would increment its record of that web site's "hit count" by one and piece together an odometer-style readout of the total number of hits that site had yet received, and sent it to the requesting user. Since it was easier to use than CGI solutions (all it took was signing up and copying a small amount of HTML code into your web pages) and said HTML code contained a link back to the counter service, it was a classic case of viral marketing.

However, offering free web counters was not an obviously profitable business model, and many sites that offered free web counters were quickly overloaded with users and promptly went out of business.

More recently, a number of companies appear to be offering "free web counters" to site owners in an attempt to induce them to place valuable inbound links to their sites.

These companies offer site owners a free web counter, but when an interested user completes registration the resulting HTML code they are given to place on their own site contains a link with a valuable search keyword. The site owner is typically warned not to alter the HTML code in any way or their counter will be deactivated.

For instance, a web counter site called Cyber-Counters instructs users to insert the following HTML code in their pages:

<div align="center"><SCRIPT LANGUAGE="Javascript" SRC="http://www.cyber-counter.com/cybercounter.php?page=http://counterguide.com&style=white_rabbit&digits=8"><!--

//--></SCRIPT><br /><a href="http://www.mesotheliomasos.com">mesothelioma</a></div>

"Mesothelioma" happens to be one of the highest paying Google Adwords search terms according to a recent report. Mesothelioma is a rare kind of cancer associated with exposure to asbestos insulation, which is responsible for an enormous amount of litigation in the United States. According to a test as of writing, Google demanded a CPC of $27.55 per click for the search term and more for others like it.

Some free web counters require a small text-based ad in order to use the counter. Amazing Counters, for instance, gives users HTML code that contains a link titled "Chef's Catalog" pointing to the URL http://www.allonlinecoupons.com/st/chefs-catalog/. Whether or not this is a "legitimate" advertisement or an attempt to spam search engines is debatable.

Cyber Counters and Amazing Counters appear to be the top bidders on Google Adwords for search terms like "free web counter" or "free hit counter." In this sense, they may be using Google's Adwords program against it, by enticing users into program that will dilute the effectiveness of other Google Adwords search phrases.

The "free web counter" spamdexing technique is similar to the known "web ring" tactic. Many believe that web rings are acceptable as long as the sites they link to are relevant, it seems clear that placing "mesothelioma" links on sites totally irrespective of their content would be found unacceptable should Google formulate a specific policy on this potential search engine spamming technique.

Any kind of service, including web analytics, that requires you place HTML code on your site is vulnerable to this kind of abuse.

Counterguide.com urges web site owners not to use a web counter from a site that attempts to illegitimately affect search engine results. If you receive HTML code after signing up for a free counter that contains irrelevant links, do not place it on your pages and look for another counter service.

On Counterguide.com there are many web counters listed in the free web counter list. Site owners may wish to circumvent the problem by signing up for a non-free counter from the pay counter list or should they have the technical acuity, set up their own counter using from the CGI and PHP counter list.

You may report suspicious activity to Google using it's spam report form.