Naples Florida Webmaster - Personal Diary

Google Search: time warner cable mixup

Do a search for Time Warner Cable...click on the 1st link. It's suppose to go to www.timewarner.com but ends up going to http://www.pathfinder.com/pathfinder/index.html The reason? It might be this:

Two possible scenarios (for want of more information I'll have to speculate a bit here):

1. Your subscriber can access his domain as usual by entering the URL in his browser's address field.

In this case, it's most probably a Google issue. We've seen this before when Google pointed to an old, expired domain that wasn't active anymore, redirecting visitors to another, entirely unrelated one.

This false linking can only be remedied by Google.

2. Your subscriber is being redirected to that third party's setup even when entering his own URL in the browser address field.

2.1 This could indicate a nameserver issue, possibly on TLD level. The reasons could be manifold, with domain hijacking being the most likely, seeing that his content seems to have been stolen, as he reports.

This could only be remedied by the nameserver service employed.

2.2 Alternatively, the hijacker might have manipulated the domain's nameserver IPs with the legitimate owner's domain name provider. He might even have transferred ownership of the domain to himself. (E.g. if the culprit got hold of his access codes.)

This could only be remedied by the domain name provider employed.

(There've been legal precedents indicating that this would also make for a pretty good case in court, but of course only an expert lawyer could tell your client what to do and what his chances in a lawsuit would be.)

All of the above are, of course, under the assumption that his domain hasn't expired and been taken up by someone else in a regular manner.

As for copyright infringement issues, the usual rules apply: if he can prove that his copyright has indeed been violated, and if he can pinpoint the perpetrator, legal counsel is advised -- generally, I'd assume that his chances in court should be pretty high. - Ralph aka Fantomaster

Note: This material was created by Jill Whalen [jill@highrankings.com]...a respected SEO...she had this same question asked to her by another person's page getting hijacked by a major competitor.

I hope Google is getting it's act together...this is looking pretty messed up the search engine world...