Hi - a question for you all, and wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience with CN search engine Baidu.
Our site ranks quite well in Baidu, and we spent most of the summer optimising our .cn site specifically for Baidu. In short we know what we're doing.
However we have started getting some really odd results from Baidu in the last week or so.
If you return a search result, where our site is ranking and you click their link (they 301 onto the actual requested URL), 80-90% of the time you get a .NET web.config error page.
Should you then refresh/f5 execute the same URL in the browser our page loads instantly and correctly.
Ok - so far sounds like our server is returning the web.config file and we have a problem...
The answer is NO!
Our admins checked all available logs, and each time the web.config error page appears in the browser via Baidu, nothing appears in our logs (whereas it should).
Secondly, we changed the web.config file, and requested that errors be displayed.
Nothing ... Baidu is 100% NOT returning our web.config file.
Thirdly, for every successful request (i.e. following refresh/f5), we do get the log reporting (as you'd expect).
So - any ideas anyone!?
How/why is Baidu returning an apparent fake web.config file?
Would love to share the links on Baidu so you can see this in action, but I that cannot happen; suffice to say our website is a big fish in the FX world - and I'm concerned there might some some brown envelope activity going on here with Baidu!
Let me know what you think please - or if this has happened to you.
Thanks
Our site ranks quite well in Baidu, and we spent most of the summer optimising our .cn site specifically for Baidu. In short we know what we're doing.
However we have started getting some really odd results from Baidu in the last week or so.
If you return a search result, where our site is ranking and you click their link (they 301 onto the actual requested URL), 80-90% of the time you get a .NET web.config error page.
Should you then refresh/f5 execute the same URL in the browser our page loads instantly and correctly.
Ok - so far sounds like our server is returning the web.config file and we have a problem...
The answer is NO!
Our admins checked all available logs, and each time the web.config error page appears in the browser via Baidu, nothing appears in our logs (whereas it should).
Secondly, we changed the web.config file, and requested that errors be displayed.
Nothing ... Baidu is 100% NOT returning our web.config file.
Thirdly, for every successful request (i.e. following refresh/f5), we do get the log reporting (as you'd expect).
So - any ideas anyone!?
How/why is Baidu returning an apparent fake web.config file?
Would love to share the links on Baidu so you can see this in action, but I that cannot happen; suffice to say our website is a big fish in the FX world - and I'm concerned there might some some brown envelope activity going on here with Baidu!
Let me know what you think please - or if this has happened to you.
Thanks