I didn’t know this till I reported a post, but Medium informs me that their set-up is like Wordpress: anyone can install one.
UX Collective, which hosted one of the latest misinformation posts about me, informs the writer who made a report against them: the reports aren’t anonymous. Because here’s the latest post I reported using their tools:
The post is easy enough to view: you just sign out and there it is, in all its misinformation glory.
The irony is I had written a very polite email to the author, after Medium said it would not act as it wasn’t on their site. But by the time I came to send it, UX Collective had removed it pending investigation.
Inter alia, here is what I wrote:
I came across your post on Bootcamp about Google SEO updates, and it contains my name.
This is an internet fiction that Semrush has encouraged. My name is definitely not being searched for in the contexts of what Semrush has told you. I suspect the only people making these searches are Semrush users, not the public.
None of what you have read about my involvement in SEO is true. There is also no Google algorithm update that is named for me.
I respectfully ask that the post be edited or clarified. I know you want these keywords in a post so I’m not going to ask for its removal, but the misinformation is affecting legitimate searches for me and my work. As someone else who is self-employed, I am sure you understand.
The investigation has evidently concluded, as now it’s back.
The author replaced the first lie—the usual BS about me having the algorithm named after me—with another lie, now claiming that ‘jackyan’ is what the ‘community’ (what community?) has decided to call a Google update.
There is no community consensus: dozens of bot-written posts that are all misinformation aren’t a community.
It’s going to be remarkably easy to spot any fakes in the SEO world from how much misinformation they generate and how gullible they are when it comes to obeying Semrush.
I have approached UX Collective’s co-founder Fabricio Teixeira to get this resolved, as doubling-down in anger by creating more misinformation was a ridiculous solution. I hope cooler heads prevail, which is why I’ve refrained from naming the author. I could, since his name is quite distinctive, and I bet that my site comes up before his if anyone wants to check his credentials.
I know I named some folks before, but in my own defence, a lot of those looked like they were written by a bot. Almost all of those earlier ones didn’t have reasonably pro websites that showed me they are legitimately in business, just folks getting pennies from Google Adsense. This wasn’t bot-written, and the author has a business, so more’s the pity that he elected to take this action. Many others who were called out put things right, either by removing or correcting.
If things aren’t resolved calmly, then of course I’d have every right to alter this blog post and remove the author’s anonymity.
PS.: Fabricio Teixeira was wonderful to deal with, and he saw my viewpoint. I’m happy to say the article has been removed now.
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