Comments on: Another Vanity SEO Service, and One Guy Who Gets It http://www.johnon.com/215/vanity-seo.html I think there's an opinion on that subject lying around here somewhere.... Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:41:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.7 by: john andrews http://www.johnon.com/215/vanity-seo.html#comment-2876 Mon, 08 Jan 2007 18:34:16 +0000 http://www.johnon.com/215/vanity-seo.html#comment-2876 Au contrare', Darren. John Andrews may not be as common as John Smith, but it's a very common name. Not only are there several <a href="http://www.johnon.com">John Andrews</a> working in high-profile IT industry positions (and that means web and Internet) but there are two I know of specifically in SEO and SEM. Add a famous architect, a Senator, a popular urban restaurant, a world-renowned photographer, a founding father of an evangelical church, etc etc etc. Yet all it takes it a bit of work and you'll find me at #4 in Google for <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=john%20andrews&btnG=Google%20Search">John Andrews</a>, and #4 in Yahoo for <a href="http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=john%20andrews&fr=yfp-t-501&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8">John Andrews</a>, quite clearly differentiated from the others. Add just a smidgen of additional data and you'll know for search-engine-certain which one is me, if there was any doubt at all. "Security through obscurity" is an optical illusion in this age of information minutia. All it means is you are hidden until *someone looks harder*. The process of exposure is a hyperbolic one: a little more info yields a lot more exposure. That leads to arms races... whomever has the best tools (or the best grasp of common tools like Google), or the most related data, quietly learns things without you ever knowing they have been learned. Au contrare’, Darren. John Andrews may not be as common as John Smith, but it’s a very common name. Not only are there several John Andrews working in high-profile IT industry positions (and that means web and Internet) but there are two I know of specifically in SEO and SEM. Add a famous architect, a Senator, a popular urban restaurant, a world-renowned photographer, a founding father of an evangelical church, etc etc etc.

Yet all it takes it a bit of work and you’ll find me at #4 in Google for John Andrews, and #4 in Yahoo for John Andrews, quite clearly differentiated from the others. Add just a smidgen of additional data and you’ll know for search-engine-certain which one is me, if there was any doubt at all.

“Security through obscurity” is an optical illusion in this age of information minutia. All it means is you are hidden until *someone looks harder*. The process of exposure is a hyperbolic one: a little more info yields a lot more exposure. That leads to arms races… whomever has the best tools (or the best grasp of common tools like Google), or the most related data, quietly learns things without you ever knowing they have been learned.

]]> by: darren http://www.johnon.com/215/vanity-seo.html#comment-2873 Mon, 08 Jan 2007 17:27:58 +0000 http://www.johnon.com/215/vanity-seo.html#comment-2873 I think everyone has it all wrong. If you name your baby John Smith (requires legal name change most likely) you probably won't have to worry about a reputation management problem. You might have other more serious identity problems - but at least you wouldn't have to worry about the serps. "John Smith" contest?? I think everyone has it all wrong. If you name your baby John Smith (requires legal name change most likely) you probably won’t have to worry about a reputation management problem. You might have other more serious identity problems - but at least you wouldn’t have to worry about the serps. “John Smith” contest??

]]> by: Hans Kaspersetz http://www.johnon.com/215/vanity-seo.html#comment-2839 Mon, 08 Jan 2007 04:46:06 +0000 http://www.johnon.com/215/vanity-seo.html#comment-2839 I have to admit that my parents were quite forward thinking when they named me. My name puts me in competition with exactly one other person on the web, my father. My dad happens to be a well know sport fisherman who wins lots of <a href="http://www.sportfishingmag.com/article.jsp?ID=45051&destinationID=">tournaments</a> and hangs out with a writer for a large paper here in NJ. So he is all over my SERPs, the nerve. There are some down sides to the unique name syndrome. First, my full name is Hans Christian Kaspersetz, it doesn’t fit on any of the standardized tests. I always felt inadequate because I could only get a partial name on the test. Second, it took me a long long time to learn how to write all of it. It was problem in grammar school by the time I started to get it right. Third, when someone Googles my name, they find me immediately and everything I ever posted, even silly questions about Cobalt RAQ 3i servers. My unique name removes any doubt I may have been able to leverage about who actually posted something. I have to take full responsibility for the things I have posted on the web. Hmm…. Unless I blame the comment on my dad. I have to admit that my parents were quite forward thinking when they named me. My name puts me in competition with exactly one other person on the web, my father. My dad happens to be a well know sport fisherman who wins lots of tournaments and hangs out with a writer for a large paper here in NJ. So he is all over my SERPs, the nerve.

There are some down sides to the unique name syndrome. First, my full name is Hans Christian Kaspersetz, it doesn’t fit on any of the standardized tests. I always felt inadequate because I could only get a partial name on the test. Second, it took me a long long time to learn how to write all of it. It was problem in grammar school by the time I started to get it right. Third, when someone Googles my name, they find me immediately and everything I ever posted, even silly questions about Cobalt RAQ 3i servers. My unique name removes any doubt I may have been able to leverage about who actually posted something. I have to take full responsibility for the things I have posted on the web. Hmm…. Unless I blame the comment on my dad.

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