iMark Infotech

iMark Infotech can claim they are the leading IT service provider in India but as an old song goes "It ain't what you do it's the way that you do it"!

I have found them to be unscrupulous in their pursuit of business and profits, and people should be wary of working with such an unethical company.

I didn't notice that one of my domains was expiring due to personal circumstances. Consequently, the domain was deleted by my Registrar and quickly gobbled up by iMark Infotech. SEO's often buy high PR expired domains and use them for backlinks. The primary reason for this is that they can buy an aged site with an established backlink profile and immediately have a presence on the web.

iMark Infotech put together a five-page website to post articles with links serving their customers. They used my content so the content of their new site was relevant to its niche (e.g. volunteering). The About Us page and Mission Statement are in my words and copied from my main website! They will probably take down the offending web pages when they see this complaint but I have screenshots showing the stolen content which clearly infringes on copyright.

The Registrant, Ishan Gupta, tried to hide the ownership details but on 'filing a claim' about his website infringing on copyright, the domain privacy service passed on his contact details. They wouldn't have done so if I didn't have an authentic complaint. The fact that domain privacy service has a 'File a Claim' option on the homepage gives you some insight into the shadowy nature of link building using expired domains. The strategy involves hiding your identify and excluding yourself from the WHOIS directory.

I contacted Ishan Gupta about the offending content and he said his team would remove it. So far, nothing has been done. I also expressed an interest in getting back the domain and he said the "cost would be $1250 if you are interested". Considering he probably picked up the domain for US$20 or so that is a pretty good return! He doesn't seem at all bothered that I run a company that helps hundreds of voluntary organisations and non-profits find international volunteers and vice-versa. He has no interest in doing what's best for people and planet. Although my company has limited finances for such transactions we did offer him US$500 for the domain but he hasn't responded and even acknowledged the offer.

I am fully aware I was a fault for not renewing the domain but was preoccupied with important matters. It is such a shame to see the domain being used as a link farm - to boost website rankings for clients. And it's a disgrace iMark Infotech can steal text from other websites in order to acquire relevant content. I wonder how many other domains Ishan Gupta or iMark Infotech have bought in similar circumstances? I wonder how many of their clients know they may be cashing-in on other people's misfortunes and are involved in unscrupulous link building?

I my opinion Ishan Gupta at iMark Infotech is an unethical and greedy SEO Director. It's all about the money... and as much of it as possible. As I said at the very beginning.. "It ain't what you do it's the way that you do it"! I can provide the web address of the domain and screenshots of the offending content on request.