Mimicry

Website mimicry is the copying of the appearance or functionality of another popular or official resource. For example, websites of companies, government bodies and institutions, brands, trademarks, as well as pages of public figures or creative associations can be copied. A mimicking site may also pretend to be an official resource that does not actually exist.

Mimicking sites pose a threat because:

• they mislead users and can cause them harm (for example, financial);
• they cause reputational and financial damage to the owners of official resources.

How to identify mimicry

• The site visually resembles the original one. Similar colors and graphic elements are used; the logo and icon differ in minor details.

• The site claims to be an official resource that does not actually exist.

• The site does not explain how it is related to the original resource (owner, partnership, license), or such information is not noticeable to the user.

• The site and the original resource have similar content.

• The texts on the site are optimized for navigational queries about the original site. This way, the site profits from someone else's navigational traffic.

• The site's domain is similar to the domain of the original resource.

• Although the site does not visually resemble the original, it pretends to be it. It is difficult for a user to notice such a substitution.

  Example

  A site sells tickets for concerts, plays, and events, and it does not visually resemble the official website of the venue or theater. The page description might say, for example, “Official theater tickets”, “Exclusive seats in the concert hall”, “Tickets from the organizer”.

  Such formulations do not clearly indicate who is selling the tickets. Since the user does not see that they are dealing with an unofficial resource, such sites mislead and can be recognized by search bots as mimicking ones.

  To avoid being classified as a violating site, the description should be revised, for example, to “Concierge ticket sales service”. The user will see the site name in the search results and can decide whether to visit it.

What components do mimicking sites use

• Domain name.
• Site icon.
• Site description in the description tag.
• Logo or avatar.
• Page header and/or title tag.
• Site or page content.

How to eliminate or prevent the violation

1. Indicate how your site is related to the original resource. Include this information in the tags:

   • description — within the first 100 characters;
   • title — within the first 20 characters.

2. In the upper part of the site (header), indicate how your site is related to the original resource. For example: “unofficial site”, “partner site”, “fan site”, “concierge service”, “distributor”. Place the text in a visible location and make it large and contrasting to the background.

3. Confirm the partnership with the official resource. Post documents on your site that confirm your right to use the brand style and design of the resource.

   If the official resource allows the use of its style without restrictions and does not require partnership to be mentioned, these recommendations can be ignored.

4. If your site pretends to be an official resource that does not actually exist, indicate its unofficial status. You can also provide links to informational materials or commercial offers from the official resource.