If you like to prevent Google from crawling certain information available in text format, try HideText. This service converts text into a human-readable image that won’t be indexed** by search bots plus it may be used as an alternative to prevent copy-paste on your website.
You may download the converted image locally or just hotlink to the HideText server where that images is hosted forever. The technique can also be used to prevent AdSense PSAs.
Here’s a sample scenario where HideText says their service could be of use: you want to ask a question in some public web forum but won’t like the whole world to know about your problems are. Since Google will certainly index that forum thread in future, you may certainly hide the question text from Google by using an image instead of text.
**Google can read text inside scanned PDFs but they’re yet to extend their OCR technology into images.
This is converted to an image which is hosted by HideText, that can now be used at places like a blog, website or forum. Thanks MakeUseOf.
Find this article at: http://www.labnol.org/internet/tools/convert-text-to-image/5813/
web: http://www.labnol.org/ email: amit@labnol.org
Reader Comments
It is hardly of any use consdering that Google bots can read text of crawled images. All it does is produce a stripped-down ASCII text banner - totally useless.
Written by Shubhankar on 12.04.08
Another advantage is that no one can copy the text. If he/she wants to reproduce the content, need to type, which less people like to do due to laziness. So, another way to protect your content.
Written by Debiprasad on 12.04.08
but this is only a temporary solution. it’ll make people write even more personal information, and then, that they Google do extend their OCR technology into images - all their sensitive information will be indexed and reviled just as if they have written it as normal text…
Written by eyal sela on 12.04.08
Except in situations as you have mentioned, this service may serve on other use. In fact, this can prove advantageous to copy writers where they can just copy the content and show it as a Image with no credit to the source.
Written by Rohit on 12.04.08