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Google Page Creator Offers Easy Spam Creation

posted on February 23, 2006


Google has launched Google Page Creator a free online tool that makes it easy for anyone to create and publish web pages in just a few minutes.

The service allows those without web design experience to create simple web pages that are hosted by Google at http://yourgmailusername.googlepages.com.

Maybe useful if you want to just upload your resume or an invite to a party, but hardly worth it if you’re looking for much else.

Want to update frequently? You’ll need a blog.
Want to have a chance of ranking in the search engines? You’ll need greater control and your own domain.
Want to sell products? You’ll need ecommerce.
Want to interact with your friends? Go to MySpace.com

So, what in the world is the purpose of Page Creator? Is Google trying to take us back to the Tripod days? Is this just another place Google can slap AdWords ads? Will it be full of spam within just a few weeks?

Google is quick to ban a web site from its index because the site uses techniques that violate its guidelines, yet releases a tool that allows for pages to be easily uploaded to the web and potentially clutter the user experience with, at best, worthless drivel or, worse, spam. When Google launches tools that allow the upload of content without charge, it encourages mis-use. Just look at the blog spam we endure with Google’s Blogger and Blogspot. There are 35+ million pages of content that include “blogspot” in the domain name – I’ll guarantee that half of them are either not updated, blank templates or spam. How many “yourgmailusername.googlepages.com” pages will we see flooding the web over the next few weeks?

I’ve not yet checked out the full functionality of Page Creator – the tool is currently offline (surprise, surprise) – but I wonder how many Phishers will use the opportunity to send people to scam sites hidden behind what would appear (to the average person) as a page owned by Google (remember, most web users have no clue about phishing – a site that includes “googlepages” in its domain name would look somewhat legit).

Let us know your thoughts.


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  • http://www.shimonsandler.com Shimon Sandler

    Ya gotta hand it to Google. They are very innovative. I love seeing all the cool stuff they experiment with:-)

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/3506789 Fate

    I don’t think Google -or anyone else- is trying to encourage spam, but all the contrary. Giving people more ways to publish original, autentical material in the web without the technical complexity generaly involved is a great goal, and Google is not responsible if spammers use thier tools to set spam sites or link farms. The responsabily lies in the spammer only.

    Besides, this is a relatively new area to explore, and how better to come up with safe, working parameters to restrict ilegal or annoying content than leaving the door open?

    Greetings!

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/1685318 Andy Beal

    I agree, I am not accusing Google of encouraging spam, but they’ve launched yet another tool that is meant to keep web content in their control (think Base, Blogspot etc) yet ends up providing another avenue for junk to clutter the web. The irony!

  • Anonymous

    I´ve tried the new service, and I think is a great idea.

    Many people are not able to update web content often, so is a good alternative to a blog.

    I hope Google doen´t add Adword ads in the future (even though in the contrat says that they might finance the service by using Ads).

    Some of the templates are quite professional. The appearence is clean and organized.
    I think they will include more features soon. Now the edition tools are not very sofisticated.

    The worst thing is that your domain name domainname.googlepages.com tells everyone what is your email address. Is not like Blogger that you can change the URL ofthe blog at any time. I hope they change that.

    Finally, I agree that many blogs are full of spam.

    A visitor from Barcelona, Spain.

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