Google’s Spam Report Page Gets “Biggest Refresh” In Years

Google has completely redone the spam report form inside of Google Webmaster Tools, and in announcing it on Twitter tonight, Matt Cutts called it “the biggest refresh of our spam report form in, oh, say 10 years.”

If you’re logged in to Webmaster Tools, the new spam report page is accessible at www.google.com/webmasters/tools/spamreport?pli=1. And calling it a “page” is something of a misnomer because Google has turned what used to be one simple form into a mini-site with eight links for more information about various types of problems.

Rather than a single spam report form, there are now several. The links above for “Paid links,” “Malware” and “Phishing” all lead to separate forms for reporting those specific issues. The fourth form — for things that are “really webspam,” as Google says at the bottom – leads to a much shorter form that looks like this:

The old webspam form was on a single page and asked users to choose one (or more) checkboxes that described the spam-related problem; the checkboxes included options like “Hidden text or links,” “Misleading or repeated words,” “Cloaked page,” “Deceptive redirects” and several others. Here’s a screenshot of the old form, found on HuntsvillePR.com.