The goal of these attacks is to elevate the rank of the malicious sites so that they become more attractive to users searching for information on a given topic. Many colleges and research institutions have legitimate connections to some of the keywords that spammers and phishers favor such as medical and pharmaceutical terms making it even more problematic for victims. The attacks can be very difficult to recognize and avoid, perhaps even more so with the.edu campaign. The attack is not very heartening, with attackers and spammers relying on the technique to draw victims to phishing sites and other undesirable destinations.
Source: https://threatpost.com/attackers-targeting-edu-sites-seo-poisoning-campaigns-012610/73427/