Pagejacking, Mousetrapping, and Screenscraping

Pagejacking can happen to any site, but usually happens to sites that are top-ranked in their category. When a site is pagejacked, the source code for the site is illegitimately copied into the pages of another site. The resulting page looks exactly like the original. The illegitimate site is relying on spiders to rank it based on the legitimate site’s content, placing it higher in the rankings. Often the unauthorized copying of content can be resolved with an email to the owner. In some cases, legal action may need to be taken.

If you have a page that ranks well in the search engines, it is recommended you check every couple of months to see whether the page has been pagejacked. This can be done by copying the text from one paragraph and pasting into Google. The top site listed should be yours, showing the URL of the page from which you copied the text. If any others come up that are exact matches, check them. If the pages look exactly like yours, your site has been pagejacked. The sole purpose of pagejacking is to redirect users to the alternate site’s other content in hopes that the users will buy product from it. This often involves mousetrapping, in which the user’s Back button is disabled and/or attempts to close the program or type in a different URL result in a new window with the illegitimate site’s URL.

If the pages are different but the content is the same or only slightly different from yours, your site has been screenscraped. Screenscraping is very common on the internet and has happened to at least one Web noxious client.

Often, pagejacking and screenscraping can be resolved with an email to the owner. In some cases, legal action may need to be taken. To avoid being accused of screenscraping, make sure you have permission before copying content from another web site for any reason—otherwise, it’s copyright infringement.

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