New Insights into the FAST Search Engine: An Interview with Stephen Baker of FAST, Part 2

Free Submissions to FAST

• Free Submissions Continue: FAST still allows free submissions. However, the inclusion service ensures regular indexing and a reserved spot in the FAST index.
• Spam Challenges: A staggering 95% of free submissions are spam, causing delays. Legitimate sites may face a 2-6 week wait for indexing.
• Economic Incentives: PartnerSite offers incentives to discourage spam submissions.

Spam and Indexing

• Spam Definition: FAST categorizes spam into:
  • Page Spam: Tactics like link farms.
  • Spam Stuffing: Keyword stuffing, invisible text.
  • Offensive Content: Detected and flagged content.
• Global Spam Impact: Approximately 20 million servers are blacklisted as spam servers, highlighting the global spam issue (source).

Handling Bans and Spam

• Bans: Sites on the spam list can appeal on a case-by-case basis. Moving to a non-blacklisted server is crucial.
• Server Importance: The server's reputation affects indexing. Ensure your site has a unique IP to avoid issues.

Cloaking and Redirects

• Cloaking Concerns: 20% misuse redirects, complicating indexing. PartnerSite IV customers can use cloaking with strict spam checks.
• Redirect Best Practices: Use META REFRESH tags over JavaScript for redirects to ensure search engines understand your intentions.

Achieving High Rankings on FAST

• Content Quality: Unique, authoritative content attracts links and boosts rankings.
• Link Popularity: Focus on incoming links from authoritative sites. Link popularity significantly impacts ranking.
• Page-Specific Links: Link popularity affects individual pages, not entire sites.

Additional Insights

• New Sites: FAST is starting to work with new domains but offers no special allowances yet.
• Internal Links: Links within your site don't count towards link popularity.
• Dynamic Pages: FAST can crawl ASP and database-generated pages if they're linked to.

Conclusion

FAST prioritizes spam prevention and link popularity. To succeed, ensure your site avoids spam categories and focuses on quality content and authoritative links. For more details, review FAST's spam policy.

For guaranteed indexing and frequent updates, consider FAST's paid inclusion service. It allows for experimentation with keyword relevancy and ensures your site remains fresh and competitive.

Stay updated with developments at alltheweb.com as query analysis evolves in determining page relevancy.