The Google Interprise has featured the site, “Volkswagen in America”, admiring how the site was created:

Recently Volkswagen of America completely redesigned their website www.vw.com, literally making the search box the center of the homepage. The site search is powered by a Google Search Appliance and they’ve done a lot of cool UI development so that you can see the most frequently searched for terms as well as search results in an expanding drop down window, without leaving the homepage of the site. Besides being a slick design, putting me in control of the site made me think that VW probably applied the same user-centric approach to designing their cars and made the site feel less marketing-y and more education focused.

Now, what’s the deal?

Search Engine Land noticed that the said site contains hidden text which is against to the guidelines set by Google itself.

today, he noticed that the site loads the box up in Flash. Looking at the source code, he discovered hidden text! Yes, hidden text on a page that was featured by an official Google blog.

Here is the text that is clearly not visible on the page. It’s kept invisible using a special style called “invisibleContent:”

<div class=”invisibleContent”>Volkswagen of America presents U.S. vehicle information, pricing, incentives, deals, comparisons on Eos, GTI, Jetta, New Beetle, New Beetle Convertible, Passat, Passat Wagon, Touareg, Rabbit, R32 and the GLI with links to VW dealers, owner information, Volkswagen merchandise, and VW accessories. homepage, volkswagen, volkswagon, vw.com, home, landing, top, volkswagen.com, home page, home, top, back, VWofAmerica, Volkswagen of America, Volkswagon of America, VWoA, VWofA, volkswagon.com</div>

Does it mean Google really promotes spamming?

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