Discuss and resolve questions on Liquid, JavaScript, themes, sales channels, and site speed enhancements.
Dear Shopify Community,
I'm writing to you as an owner of a Shopify agency based in Germany. In the course of providing free shop analysis services, we've recently come across a concerning trend that we feel to share with you.
Beware of Page Speed Optimization Services on Platforms like Fiverr
We noticed, that some freelancers, particularly those offering services at unusually low prices, are faking page speed optimizations for Shopify stores. They're achieving this through what we're calling "Google Page Speed Hacks". The results might look impressive at first glance, but they are misleading and potentially harmful.
How the "Hack" Works
Using the YETT Library to Block Scripts: These individuals are using the YETT library to block scripts. In some cases, they block ALL scripts for Linux users. This gives the illusion of a fast page speed because when Google crawls the site, it doesn't have to load any scripts. I dont know if i am allowed to post the full code, as it is harmful, so i will just post snippets for you to be able to check your themes.
Faking Good First Contentful Paint (FCP): Please also search for this code: <img alt="someimgname" width="99999" height="99999" style="pointer-events: none; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 96vw; height: 96vh; max-width: 99vw; max-height: 99vh;"
Why Is This a Problem?
How to Detect These Practices
Our Recommendation
We strongly recommend having your site evaluated by an expert if you suspect any foul play. It's crucial to ensure that your page speed optimizations are genuine and beneficial for all users.
If you have any concerns or need assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out.
Best regards,
Tom
Yes, I have come across a few stores that have fallen for this. Sometimes, they also use code containing keywords like 'document.open' or 'document.write' or 'pDescription'
The YETT Library itself is not harmful, on the contrary it is a very good library to block tracking scripts that would collect data before a user's consent. However the practices that people do with it are indeed out of line, i worked with 3 stores that had the fallen to the same trick.
Exactly! We saw more and more stores in the past weeks that fall for this.
Hello
thank you for this article. Can you recommend a Shopify Expert to fix this issue? One app in my store is not working correctly anymore and the team of this app found exactly this code in my theme 🫤
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