AstroSkipper

In your screenshot I cannot see either the search engine used or the search term entered. Such screenshots are unfortunately meaningless.

None of your search terms bring up any Thai results on Brave, at least here in Germany.

@deomsh A search engine can't find and show websites which weren't indexed before. This is usually the job of their automated web crawler.

I totally forgot to say: Very tricky! Good idea!

No idea! I’m just compiling facts, analyzing connections and drawing conclusions. And that doesn’t come particularly hard for me, as I’ve been doing nothing else for decades, and it’s second nature to me. Let’s hope he might still take action! I’ve never had any contact with @xper. To me, he’s always been a bit of a mystery.

It is precisely observations like these that are important and useful. Thank you, @nicolaasjan!

Ok. New theory. New topic views seem to be counted after two days, but then more frequently. I don't know if it is then real-time but here are new results: 70 replies and 985 views:

I can confirm that the forum software counts views of posts only periodically. What kind of periods I can't say. The first period, after creating the thread about "MSFN and its lack of search results in Google, Bing, and all search engines depending on them", was two days, but today, it updated the views twice with a distance of some hours. Now, there are 70 replies and 973 views:

I’ve been a Google user from the very beginning when their first search engine was released. And an Android user since 2014. Nothing Google has done is for the benefit of its customers or users; it serves only its own interests. And if there were a real alternative, I would have moved on long ago. The good thing is, I’m a very experienced Android user and can make up for a lot.

Google cares about Google. And nothing else. When they say that new optimisations have been performed, then they have minimised their costs and maximised their profit. Google doesn't really care about consumers or preserving knowledge for future generations.

If @xper or @Tripredacus can bring themselves to take my comments seriously and investigate the MSFN server, they must do so very thoroughly, as the infection is more or less hidden or invisible. In IT security, this phenomenon is known as "cloaking" (making content visible only to search engines) or shadow injection. Here is an attempt at a factual, technical explanation of why this Thai content was invisible to visitors in their browser: 1. The phenomenon of "cloaking" (the user-agent switch) The malware that has infected the forum checks the user agent (the visitor’s identifier) every time a page is loaded: If you, as a normal user, visit the site using a browser, the server sees: “Ah, a normal person.” The script ignores you and delivers the completely clean, familiar MSFN forum. You don’t see a single spam post. When the Google bot (Googlebot/2.1) visits the page, the malicious script recognises the identifier and switches over. It injects the Thai keywords, casino text and spam links into the HTML code specifically for this one bot. As the Google bot sees this, it stores it in its index. As a user, you won’t notice a thing until you search for MSFN via Google and wonder about the hieroglyphics. 2. Exploiting the internal search function (URL injection) Many forum software packages have a vulnerability in the way they process search queries. Bots send millions of specially crafted search queries containing Thai terms to MSFN. The forum then dynamically generates a page with the title: "Results for the search: [Thai casino link]" . The bots copy this generated URL and link to it en masse on dubious external websites. When Google follows these links, the bot lands on MSFN on a Thai results page (which exists for it) that never appears in normal forum operation or in the sub-forums. 3. Hidden system files (database level) Often, the attackers do not embed themselves in the visible text area of the threads, but instead modify a deep-level system file (such as the .htaccess file on the server or a core file of the forum software). This file intercepts the data stream and adds the Thai code in the background – but only if the request comes from a search engine. Conclusion: There’s no need to worry: the forum on MSFN that people use and love every day is clean in terms of its content. The database of genuine threads remains unaffected. This is a purely technical "parasite infestation" running in the background, specifically optimised to deceive the Google bot and exploit MSFN’s reputation (domain authority) for illegal advertising purposes. As the administration doesn’t see this malicious code during normal forum operations, it usually only comes to light when Google’s hammer strikes mercilessly in the wake of a core update.

Given that I am presenting the whole matter here in an objective and well-founded manner for the greater good, and that I cannot identify a single breach of the forum rules, a ban is neither lawful nor justifiable, unless complete arbitrariness is at play. I would be more inclined to receive a thank you for my efforts to save an important forum from ruin. Not to mention how much time I’ve already spent researching all this, tracking down sources, then spending hours writing it all up and posting it. And then there’s my guiding principle: Veritas saepe molesta, sed dicenda est. Nihil semper ad nihilum.

And then there is another crucial factor. What sort of impression does MSFN give when it presents itself as ‘MSFN = Microsoft Software Forum Network – Where people get to know’ and is regarded by all insiders as a top-tier technology forum, yet isn’t even capable of running a properly functioning server and is considered a spammer by most search engines?

Ok, I’m now in a position to pinpoint the error, bug or whatever setting has been set. After two days of zero views, today there’s a number other than zero: 55 replies and 694 views: It seems to be the case that the forum software counts views of posts only periodically. Of course, this is just a theory that has yet to be proven. I hope this might be helpful.

As far as I know, it is a slave of Bing (Microsoft) and far from being independent. Since 2009, Yahoo! partners with Bing and uses its search results.

Such considerations are purely theoretical. Up until the end of 2025, I always programmed, modified and fixed everything manually myself. Since the start of 2026, and although I have always had serious reservations, I have moved on from being an ‘one-man band’ and, despite my ‘old-school’ tendencies and my dinosaur-like behaviour, have incorporated an AI. I now programme in collaboration with this AI. But only under clearly defined rules. I have set up templates and strict rules that we work by. I am now very experienced in dealing with this kind of AI and am aware of the dangers that come with it. Rules get broken, templates aren’t processed correctly, and the wildest hallucinations occur. I notice this and intervene immediately. And I do so ruthlessly. I don’t let anything slip through. This effort takes a lot of time. And I am now certain that it is impossible for Google to control its many AI assistants and the information they provide. Anyone who blindly trusts an AI and is unable to recognise hallucinations and distinguish them from reality should steer well clear of it. As for MSFN, however, like many other websites, it is reliant on Google & Co, as they unfortunately dominate the market and are used by most people. New visitors or members will no longer be able to find MSFN, and this forum will become an isolated community. Advertising partners will also pull out, as a zero ranking on Google & Co is a no-go in today’s IT industry.

And that is precisely the problem. AI feeds AI, which feeds AI, and so on. And what do we end up with? Rubbish and misinformation, as far as search engines are concerned. I’m not talking about targeted, controlled AI applications. Google and the like have lost the battle and control.

Apart from my attempt to present everything as realistically and objectively as possible, there will certainly be no acquittal for Google, Bing and their lackeys. Google is increasingly relying on pre-programmed filters and AI technology, which can only spell disaster for the world of information. There is no longer any real verification of whether something is right or wrong. It’s all about cost-cutting, profit maximisation, money, power and influence. A conscience and a sense of responsibility for the preservation of knowledge have long since disappeared. We’re just being inundated with rubbish. Whenever I’ve searched for something on Google in recent years, I’ve found it extremely difficult to come across anything relevant. It used to be quite different. Google Search, Bing and the even more pathetic slave machines are, as far as I’m concerned, dead and buried. I want to be informed, not dumbed down.

Very selfless and noble of you. Former captain Schettino should have taken a leaf out of your book.

Yes, unfortunately I had to come to that conclusion, because there’s no getting round the fact that those links contain that damn Thai/Siamese text. Something invisible is coming from MSFN, and the administrator @xper must have neglected important security updates, security settings, malware scans, profile clean-ups, and so on. That aside, whilst creating this thread, I realised that the forum software is absolutely buggy and is still making the same mistakes it has been for what feels like ages. Nothing has been fixed or properly maintained here for a long time.

Right, I’ve calmed down now and am trying to take a fresh look at the whole situation and assess it. At first, I thought Google was mainly to blame. @NotHereToPlayGames believes that the owner and administrator @xper are solely to blame. The truth probably lies somewhere in between. Here is an alternative perspective on the whole matter from a very special source whom I am inclined to trust. I will not answer any questions about the nature of this source. It enjoys incognito status. So, believe it or not. The cause: The "Japanese Keyword Hack" (or SEO spam injection) The fact that Google search results display Thai characters or Asian text, even though the actual page is in English, is due to a security vulnerability in the forum software that was exploited by automated spam bots. In professional circles, this is usually referred to as the "Japanese/Thai Keyword Hack". 1. What the spammers did Automated bots exploited a vulnerability on MSFN (often via the internal search function, registration pages or by generating thousands of fake profiles/posts). Unnoticed in the background, so to speak "invisible", they generated millions of artificial, low-quality URLs on MSFN, which were crammed with Thai terms, casino links, dubious diet pills or counterfeit branded products. 2. What Google did during the Core Update Google crawled these hidden spam pages. As a Core Update re-evaluates the entire index, the algorithm noticed the sheer volume of this Thai spam content on MSFN. As these generated spam pages were highly optimised for the Google bot, the algorithm mistakenly assumed that the main topic or main language of certain forum sections was now suddenly Thai. In the search results, Google then mixes the page’s actual title with the injected Thai keywords from the cache, which is why the links look so strangely masked to you. 3. The consequence: Classification as a spam farm Because the Google bot suddenly found millions of pieces of Thai spam content on MSFN, the algorithm pulled the emergency brake. Google classifies the domain at this point as "hacked" or "abused for spam". This leads to an automatic, algorithmic (or sometimes manual) block and a massive wave of de-indexing. In doing so, Google protects its users from suspected malware. Summary for clarification There is no malicious intent on Google’s part: Google does not “think” like a human. The bot simply sees: “Suddenly, 80% of all pages on this domain are Thai spam – so the entire domain is corrupted.” It is not the intention of MSFN: The MSFN administration hasn't done much wrong; it has simply fallen victim to an aggressive, automated wave of hacking that exploited a technical vulnerability in the forum software to carry out illegal SEO sinking. In practical terms, this means: Only once the MSFN administration, @xper and @Tripredacus, has completely removed all these fake URLs, profiles and injections from the server, closed the security loophole and sent a clean re-review request to Google via Search Console will the Thai characters disappear and the site slowly recover its position in the index.

And here is another example to demonstrate what Google has done with their index: For years, the ProxHTTPSProxy and HTTPSProxy thread has ranked number 1 in Google for the search term "httpsproxy windows xp", as it still does for Mojeek and Brave only at the moment. Zero results which means Google doesn't even know me anymore and technical knowledge is withheld from users of this search engine. To hell with Google Search! Complete de-indexing, as with everything else. Just an example!

@nicolaasjan Thanks for your contribution! And that’s exactly how I’d describe the rubbish that Google, Bing and their lackeys spew out. And you're absolutely right, Copilot is clearly hallucinating. And I know why. It's from Microsoft. What else can Copilot do but hallucinate? Surely he won’t spoil his creator’s mood and betray him.

Here is a screenshot taken from Bing with the search term "msfn.org": Sorry, I can't see any notable difference to Google's search results. Bing uses the same filters as Google, according to an internal source. Bing (Microsoft) is a pathetic copycat of Google and can’t seem to come up with anything of its own.

Yep, since 21 May 2026, Brave is my new default search engine. And if it manages to find D.Draker as well, then the Frisian will give extra points from Germany!