John Andrews on Privacy and Competitive Webmastering

UPDATED: My blog on Competitive Webmastering is now located at www.johnon.com.

It usually takes me just a few minutes to track down a network of sites belonging to a competitor. Some people probably can do it much better than I.

Do you keep your websites secret? Do you disclose your client list, or are you bound to maintaining confidentiality for your clients? How do you maintain secrecy or confidentiality? Is it even possible? Or perhaps you believe no harm can come from telling people which websites you optimize, or where you are competing for ad dollars, or affiliate sales, or market share.

I come across "ah hah!" moments all the time when reading TW and WMW...places where I see people reveal stuff they really shouldn't.
In the consulting world this stuff helps in strategic planning - it contributes to competitive intelligence. In ecommerce it aids in finding less-competitive niches, or in identifying high-value opportunities. In the adult world this stuff is sometimes used to intimidate and harm (anonymous database programmers and forum mods get outed as a competitive strategy - sometimes they quit when their activities on the dark side go public).

Off hand comments about operational practices, sloppy and premature boasting of successes, posting when drunk [WMW Supporters Forum /forum78/9485.htm], or leaving footprints on websites (from the obvious config files to the more obscure js variable names that aid in the uncovering of silent networks) - they all risk compromising security and confidentiality. They can hurt competitiveness.

I guess that is what I consider most important - that many webmasters are unaware of the possibilities of how information is power, and is used competitively. What other's know CAN hurt you!

With this blog I intend to touch on various topics of secrecy, privacy, and competitive intelligence as they apply to commercial webmastering (and especially SEO), including tools, methods, and new ideas. Hopefully I'll be able to weave in details of current events that demonstrate vulnerabilities, without causing anyone harm or emabarassment. Sometimes people think I'm paranoid, and sometimes people feel threatened by this sort of information. Ethics will be left as an exercise for the reader.

As is true in security, no one is truly authoritative on topics of secrecy, privacy, and competitive intelligence. We can do our best, and we can state what we believe to be the best approach to a situation, but the discussion has to be open for contributions. Perspective is everything. Of all of the audiences that could sharpen whatever insights I have, the TW community seems highly qualified.

About John Andrews

I have a common name and I like that. I published my first website in 1995, and started SEO seriously in 1996 when PHPv3 enabled me to play with HTTP headers. After my first backlink-challenged-but-semantically-innovative website gained top spots in a very competitive niche, I leased it to an affiliate marketer who proceeded to demonstrate 1.) how stupid I was and 2.) how lucrative affiliate marketing can be when you have a high volume of targeted traffic.

I maintain strict confidentiality for my clients. I don't volunteer my own websites. I do no evil. I go to DEFCON whenever possible. I moved to a beautiful place just because. I am a full-time independent webmaster, but I do consult for fun and profit. Someday I will put a website at http://www.seo-fun.com