SOPA was initially proposed as a way to stop online piracy. The act expands the authority of the government to take down and censor certain content that is seen as malicious or illegal. In reality, the criteria for taking down sites is pretty loose, and this means that several businesses that rely heavily on their legal internet marketing campaigns could see the end of their era.

Among those who would be affected by SOPA are businesses with websites, entrepreneurs, content writers, publishers, legal internet marketing agencies, and other similar businesses – basically the majority of the working population.

Search engines such as Google have been working hard to prevent piracy on their own. Through algorithm changes and general rules that would cause a pirate to get taken off the web, the internet has been running pretty darn well without the need for government interference.

Although the fundamental aim of the bill is to stop and prevent piracy – and who wouldn’t want that? – the extent of its reach will harm innocent web sites and users around the country. A copyrighter can claim that your website contains plagiarized content and a judge could automatically shut your site down, without further investigation. You would pretty much get black listed and search engines would remove you from their listings and you can of course say goodbye to e-commerce because payment processing companies would not be allowed to work with you.

What’s worse is that the alleged plagiarized content may not even pertain to the actual site. Any comment that is left on your site that an authority deems as plagiarized or illegal in some shape or form will penalize your entire site, even if you had nothing to do with it.

The internet is the vastest mode of communication we have in the world. Censoring it is akin to censoring freedom. If you are against SOPA and what it stands for, fight for your rights and protest against the bill today.

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The company is dedicated to helping businesses with their online marketing efforts, such as through search engine optimization (SEO), in order to help them experience greater traffic to their sites and thus greater return on investment (ROI). In protest of the controversial censorship acts, IMC is urging customers and any other web surfers to stand up and fight against SOPA and PIPA.

SOPA and PIPA would completely chance the way the internet runs if they pass. They aim to censor the web and millions of businesses could have their sites shut down without just cause. Not only can the bills impact individual companies, but they can negatively affect the economy of the United States as a whole.

The internet is all about freedom. Removing that freedom is a violation of the rights of each American, and IMC understands that. The legal internet marketing company has asked for help in fighting against it by clicking on the following link: https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

“Censoring the Internet through laws that have not been fully thought out and will slow down economic growth is not in the best interest of the American public,” said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of the Internet Marketing Company.

IMC and other legal internet marketing companies know just what it takes to run an effective business. The government does not need to step in and censor anything and everything they decide. Search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing and others employ tactics to find and remove black hat online marketing scammers and consumers can also follow basic practices to make sure unlawful and illegal internet scams are avoided.

The internet is the vastest resource in the world for communication, business, entertainment and many more. It simplifies our life and makes it easy to research topics, manage finances and stay current on the news. In an era heavily based on technological advances, censoring the internet is a gigantic step back in time.

Fight against internet censorship and protest SOPA and PIPA today.

According to CNET, Google’s homepage will contain a link that will take visitors to a separate page that explains the internet giant’s opposition to the act.

“Like many businesses, entrepreneurs and web users, we oppose these bills because there are smart, targeted ways to shut down foreign rogue websites without asking American companies to censor the Internet. So tomorrow we will be joining many other tech companies to highlight this issue on our US home page,” said Google, in a statement to Business Insider.

And Google, of all businesses, would know just how to shut down black hat internet scammers. Google, as well as other search engines, have specific algorithms that help them track down sites that are not using legal internet marketing practices to boost their rankings. And thus far, Google has done a great job of hunting and shutting down these scammers.

The internet is by far the vastest method of communication linking together the entire world. Such an intricate and complex platform should not be messed around with by the government when Google and other legal internet marketing authorities have done such an outstanding job of securing it and making sure the offensive and illegal marketers are shut down.

This is just one of the many ways the government tries to exercise their power on the people, but Google is not alone in standing up for its rights. Wikipedia will also protest the legislation by going dark tomorrow and several other businesses and individuals have done their share to promote opposition to the bill.

While the quest for legal internet marketing practices is a world-wide goal, Google is by far the most outreaching and powerful instrument that could be used in fighting back SOPA. Millions of users log on to Google each day for their searchers and when Google makes a statement, you can be sure the whole world will hear it.

In order to rank high among search engines, your website needs to follow strict legal internet marketing strategies. You may already be an expert at keeping your keywords relevant, ensuring there is no duplicate content on your site, and steering clear of black hat SEO tactics, but so are your competitors. Lucky for you, you can use the holiday spirit to attract visitors to your site and increase your business so your site can be distinguished from all the other businesses online.

The best thing is, you really don’t have to do much to boost your site’s popularity this Christmas. Just modify your website to include holiday graphics, holiday coupons, and even tasty recipes. Clients will turn to your site if there is something about you that sets your business apart. Instead of playing Ebenezer Scrooge or the Grinch, why not add a little holiday cheer to your legal internet marketing tactics so search engines can not only rank you for your products and services, but for holiday-related material as well.

Add some holiday SEO words to your website, pictures or flashing graphics, videos or anything else you can think of to dress up your website. Why not help out your customers and include some holiday discount coupons they can print off your site? If you are feeling really festive, you and your colleagues can even take some pictures dressed up as Santa or his helpers to show your customers just how much you stand apart from your competitors. As long as you modify your site in relevant ways, you will see that just a little effort will go a long way with your holiday legal internet marketing campaign.

We can definitely expect the importance of social media to keep rising. Facebook, Twitter and now Google+ are all critical to the success of a company’s legal internet marketing campaign. Social sites are accessed by millions of people multiple times a day. It is a great – and easy – way for businesses to gain popularity and traffic to their sites. Social media sites make a company appear more accessible and friendly, leading to an increase in clientele. They are also valuable tools to advertise discounts, sales and other important news related to a business.

The use of smart phones as a way to improve legal internet marketing will also be on the rise. Cell phones these days are like miniature computers, wrought with innovative applications that people can use to purchase goods and services online, set up accounts, transfer valuable information and other things. Smart phones will only continue to get smarter, and thus, will play a critical role in the success of a business.

You can also be sure that Google itself will continue to dominate the legal internet marketing world. Although Google+ has not surpassed Facebook yet in terms of popularity, the world’s number one search engine will likely come up with new, ingenious ways of defying the laws of the internet in the coming months.

With the coming year, we should also expect tighter rules on legal internet marketing in general. Too many black hat SEO campaigns were revealed in 2011 so search engines are likely to change their algorithms and review how pages are ranked with more scrutiny.

It’s not too early to start revamping your internet marketing and SEO tactics. Planning ahead will ensure that your site ranks high across various search engines and that your New Year starts off as a prosperous one.

SEO techniques are crucial to creating higher rankings for a website, but without offering quality to internet users rankings could be short lived. Google has solid advice for internet and law firm marketing firms. They say, “Ask yourself what creates value for your users.”

Some SEO providers rely on back links and other black hat SEO tactics to increase a pages visibility in searches, but in the long run this can get a page dropped; these tricks only frustrate internet users and search engines.

Valuable content is the best approach to employ in internet marketing. Content such as blogs, articles and videos that speak directly to your target audience is fundamental in creating content with value. Keeping a site fresh with news and regular posts will improve your rankings and attract new consumers. Simply contributing new information to a website is clever internet marketing.

Adding value to page contributions and employing smart SEO may take a little longer to push a page’s rankings up, but in the long run this approach will keep users and search engines happy.

First off, learn to be flexible with your SEO campaign. Sure, there are certain traditions that have worked well for companies in the past but as Google constantly updates itself, so too should you update your internet marketing methods. It’s time to work on your organic SEO skills to increase the traffic to your site. Limit the traffic on your site to less than 40 percent from Google results so that your pages are not dismissed as spam and that you have a good percentage of your traffic coming from other locations in case Google decides to change things up again. It is crucial to make sure that the traffic to your site is coming from various outlets because if you focus on Google too much, any slight change to their algorithms can leave you high and dry.

Next thing you should learn is to review how well your company is doing online on a daily basis. At any moment, Google – or any other search engine for that matter – can change their algorithms. You should be keeping track of trends in the SEO world and ensure that your site is modified to meet the necessary criteria of an ever-changing platform. If you don’t have time to do it yourself, hire a top SEO services company to help you keep track of data and ensure the best results for your site.

You can also do your site some good by opening up a Social Media site. Social networking websites, such as Facebook and Twitter help you to get your brand name out there and help you to better communicate with your clients.

Last but not least, always stay on top of your content. The key to a successful site is all in the basics of what you write. Don’t overdo keywords and make sure that your content is fresh and creative. You should be uploading new content every day and researching the trends in key terms to give your competitors a run for their money.

If you stay on top of your SEO campaign and adapt to changes in the online environment, you will ensure that you never lose your rank across a search engine result.

Everyone can use a little coaching when it comes to SEO. This is why TMCnet is offering a FREE WEBINAR: “How to Practice Smarter SEO Techniques Through Your Online Community” to help businesses either improve their existing SEO campaigns or create a new one. This event is scheduled to take place on Tuesday July 12, 2011 at 2:00pm ET/11:00am PST.

Even SEO gurus can benefit from an internet marketing refresher course. The world of SEO is constantly changing and new information and tools are brought to light each day. It is as important to keep up with SEO efforts as it is to create them, so all those who want to rank high across a web search for their product or service should consider being in attendance.

Studies show that businesses are expected to increase their SEO spending by as much as 61 percent this year. Keeping up with your internet marketing campaign isn’t cheap but it doesn’t have to blow your entire bank account. It is crucial to invest in the optimal SEO service companies in order to make sure your site isn’t the product of black hat SEO tactics. Staying as true to the search engine algorithm code as possible ensures your website’s success.

In Part 3 of TMCnet’s Online Community “Connect in the Cloud” webinar series, SEO experts will share valuable information on credible SEO practices and how to best drive organic search engine rankings to improve your business’ online rank and revenue.

The webinar will discuss how businesses can better rank across major search engines in a competitive environment, how to best use online communities to your advantage, how to avoid black hat SEO techniques and many other important tools and tricks of the trade.

This webinar is aimed at helping those in the internet marketing and advertising arenas, as well as SEO and content managers, PR and other communications experts, and virtually anyone else who is interested in learning how to revamp their current SEO strategies or create a solid SEO campaign from scratch.

The head of the Web spam team at Google, Matt Cutts, confirmed the imminent update at the SMX Advanced conference this week.

All you spammers and black hat SEO lovers out there beware.  The new version of Panda will be aimed at scoping out content that is hidden on sites as well as copied or unoriginal content.

Matt McGee, executive news editor for Search Engine Land, explains in further detail how the update on Panda will be implemented.

“In particular…the Panda algorithm is run against Google’s entire index of pages on an infrequent basis, in order to tag certain sites that should be dinged by it, as opposed to some of its automatic spam detection tools,” he said. “For example, Google’s constantly scanning for pages that might use hidden text. If it spots them, then it may assess a penalty. Google is not constantly scanning for pages that might get hit by its Panda penalty. Instead, Google manually runs that algorithm, which then determines which web sites should be hit by it.”

No matter how many new viruses are created and no matter how cunning spammers think they are, Google will always be one step ahead of them.  By getting manually involved with the implementation of stricter algorithms and web ethics standards, Google will be better able to seek out the malware, black hat SEO and other various spam practitioners in order to ensure that websites with real content and organic SEO are able to achieve their rightful top spot on a search result.

Because of black hat SEO tactics, websites that don’t deserve to rank high for a particular keyword or phrase do. Practitioners hide white text against a white background, saturate content with too many key terms, as well as other practices that are frowned upon in the internet marketing world.

The black hat SEO practitioners don’t take the time to work for their pages to rank high and merely try to cut corners. A successful SEO campaign takes time to achieve but spammers don’t believe in allowing the quality of their pages to speak for themselves.

Those who spend time and money into improving their websites the ethical way will not be penalized. White hat SEO sites will soon see that their pages will rank better overall once the new version of Panda is released.

An internet scam posing as a cash flow solution has hit the web at large. As other money scams have done before it, this one promises to bring people thousands of dollars a month by just sitting at  home and spending just one hour a day performing a task.

For this malware campaign, black hat SEO practitioners send out email blasts using the email addresses of people you know to get your attention. Once you open the email, there is a link that takes you to a CNBC7 site.

The site is designed to cater to whoever is on it. For example, if you live in Miami, the link will take you to a CNBC7site for Miami and if you live in Houston, the same link will take you to a page specifically designed for Houston. The program does this by asking you your zip code once you click on the link found in the email, then it tells you that there are only 2 job spots left to take, however, those same “2” jobs keep on being repeated over and over. The site can also be accessed independently, so you need not necessarily input your zip code for the program to determine where you live.

Once the user is on the CNBC7 site, they are immediately drawn to the top of the page, which advertises “As Seen On” various media stations such as CNN, Fox News and ABC. The page explains what the product is and provides countless positive user testimonials.

In essence, the product that is being advertised is a Work at Home Kit for uploading links. Users can pay about $100 to purchase this kit and they will learn all they need to know about SEO and link building, which they will then use to upload links as needed by different companies. The product claims that you can work as little or as much as you want and get paid $15 per link you post. You get paid immediately and the money goes into an account you can set up.

With pictures of seemingly real checks and people, it’s easy to think that a product like this might just be the real deal. But in actuality, maybe 1% of “work at home” money schemes are truly legitimate.

White hat SEO researchers found that the CNBC7 url is registered in China and the photos of “real people” sprinkled throughout the page have been taken from stock image galleries. Once the program determines where you live, it will give a case example of  someone in your area that has made a fortune with the link uploading kit.

But what exactly do black hat SEO practitioners get out of spamming web users with the fake product? There are actually many reasons why someone would use a malware program. There is the chance that once you input your credit card information, you do get work and do get paid, however, the “work” may be criminal activity that you may get arrested over. For instance, there have been scams in which participants unknowingly transfer funds from bank accounts that have been hacked.

Another main reason these spam sites are circulated is so black hat SEO practitioners can steal your credit card information and use it for their own purposes. The CNBC7 site lists countless security prevention methods to ensure that your personal credit card information is safe,  but once you provide your credit card number, your information is broadcasted to those running the scam and it could be weeks or even months before they will use it, leading you to believe some other site or person stole your information.

Scams are also sometimes transmitted as host sites which harbor other viruses. These viruses can do a number of things such as steal your IP address, hack into your personal files or latch onto financial information that you enter on your PC. The virus in question can be downloaded either by clicking on the actual link to the initial site or by clicking some other link found throughout the web page.

Although scams such as this one get spread on a daily basis across the web, there are ways you can make sure to keep your PC  and your personal information safe. Never trust a site with your credit card information unless they are extremely reputable. A local mom and pop place does not count as reputable no matter how much you trust the owners. Even more famous shopping sites can get hacked so you never have a 100% guarantee that your credit card information will not be stolen. The best thing to do if you want to purchase something over the web is to buy a prepaid Visa card at your local supermarket and use that to purchase your goods. That way, even if you do get hacked, all you have lost is the money  you put into the card and your personal information remains safe.

By staying internet scam savvy and not allowing yourself to be tricked into schemes that are too good to be true, you will be better able to protect your computer from black hat SEO practitioners.