@Quotes_Papa posted a new topic, subject "Strange backlinks in webmaster tools". It read:

   Not sure how or why but recently I found there were like 1600+ links from some strange location in webmaster tools. The “page linked from” only stated “971.251.5806”.
    
    Then the link page was like this: `http://971.251.5806/authors/babur-quotes.html`
    
    Which looks like just any of my site pages, but how come url is like that?

To which @JeffWalden replied

    It's perfectly valid for a URL to contain an IP address rather than a domain name. I wouldn't worry about extra links that you see linking to your site. They can't hurt you, only help you.

Then @JJMcClure said

    JeffWalden:
    
    > They can't hurt you, only help you.
    
    Not technically true, or at least not provable. Those links may have no effect at all and there's also evidence to suggest that you can hurt competitors rankings and how else would you do it except with links?

After which, @WordsofWorth added

    JeffWalden:
    
    > I wouldn't worry about extra links that you see linking to your site. They can't hurt you, only help you.
    
    No, I WOULD worry about that. Your website is indexed under the IP address as well as the URL, which creates duplicate content. Google Webmaster Tools has identified this for you, which means it knows both versions of the site exist. You need to fix that, or you could face a duplicate content penalty.

After which, @JJMcClure added

    WordsofWorth:
    
    > No, I WOULD worry about that. Your website is indexed under the IP address as well as the URL, which creates duplicate content. Google Webmaster Tools has identified this for you, which means it knows both versions of the site exist. You need to fix that, or you could face a duplicate content penalty.
    
    Good spot.

To which @Mittineague replied

    


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