Input hidden...

Recently I noticed a keyword spybot or spylink hitting my website actively.. for about a month. During this time I noticed a competitor jump in rankings and now pushed me to # 2 & he has the one slot in google....

I piece of code on his site I noticed and I am not sure of... was wondering if anyone knows what it is and how it works...

<input type="hidden" name="__VIEWSTATE" value="dDwxMzk3MDQyNzEyO3Q8cDxsPENhdGVnb3J5SUQ7PjtsPDE7Pj 47bDxpPDE+Oz47bDx0PDtsPGk8Mz47aTw1PjtpPDc+O2k8OT47 aTwxMT47aTwxMz47PjtsPHQ8cDxwPGw8VGV4dDs+O2w8XGU7Pj 47Pjs7Pjt0PEAwPHA8cDxsPF8hSXRlbUNvdW50O0RhdGFLZXlz Oz47bDxpPDEwPjtsPD47Pj47Pjs7Ozs7Ozs7PjtsPGk8MD47aT wxPjtpPDI+O2k8Mz47aTw0PjtpPDU+O2k8Nj47aTw3PjtpPDg+ O2k8OT47PjtsPHQ8O2w8aTwwPjs+O2w8dDxAPDMzNjtcZTsxO2 h0dHA6Ly93d3cucml2ZXJzZWRnZXBob3RvLmNvbS9waG90b3Mv dGgtQm9yZ21hbjIwNzEuanBnO1NlbmlvciBQaG90b2dyYXBoeS BNdXNrZWdvbiBHcmFuZCBIYXZlbiBHcmFuZCBSYXBpZHMgTWlj aGlnYW4gUG9ydHJhaXQgU3R1ZGlvOz47Oz47Pj47dDw7bDxpPD A+Oz47bDx0PEA8MzM0O1xlOzE7aHR0cDovL3d3dy5yaXZlcnNl ZGdlcGhvdG8uY29tL3Bob3Rvcy90aC0yLUhpZ2gtQ29udHJhc3 QtNC5qcGc7U2VuaW9yIFBob3RvZ3JhcGh5IE11c2tlZ29uIEdy YW5kIEhhdmVuIEdyYW5kIFJhcGlkcyBNaWNoaWdhbiBQb3J0cm FpdCBTdHVkaW87Pjs7Pjs+Pjt0PDtsPGk8MD47PjtsPHQ8QDwz MzU7XGU7MTtodHRwOi8vd3d3LnJpdmVyc2VkZ2VwaG90by5jb2 0vcGhvdG9zL3RoLTQtLS16LVNlcGlhLVRvbmUuanBnO1Nlbmlv ciBQaG90b2dyYXBoeSBNdXNrZWdvbiBHcmFuZCBIYXZlbiBHcm FuZCBSYXBpZHMgTWljaGlnYW4gUG9ydHJhaXQgU3R1ZGlvOz47 Oz47Pj47dDw7bDxpPDA+Oz47bDx0PEA8MzM4O1xlOzE7aHR0cD ovL3d3dy5yaXZlcnNlZGdlcGhvdG8uY29tL3Bob3Rvcy90aC1E U0NfMDE5OC5qcGc7U2VuaW9yIFBob3RvZ3JhcGh5IE11c2tlZ2 9uIEdyYW5kIEhhdmVuIEdyYW5kIFJhcGlkcyBNaWNoaWdhbiBQ b3J0cmFpdCBTdHVkaW87Pjs7Pjs+Pjt0PDtsPGk8MD47PjtsPH Q8QDwzMzk7XGU7MTtodHRwOi8vd3d3LnJpdmVyc2VkZ2VwaG90 by5jb20vcGhvdG9zL3RoLURTQ18wMjcwLmpwZztTZW5pb3IgUG hvdG9ncmFwaHkgTXVza2Vnb24gR3JhbmQgSGF2ZW4gR3JhbmQg UmFwaWRzIE1pY2hpZ2FuIFBvcnRyYWl0IFN0dWRpbzs+Ozs+Oz 4+O3Q8O2w8aTwwPjs+O2w8dDxAPDMzNztcZTsxO2h0dHA6Ly93 d3cucml2ZXJzZWRnZXBob3RvLmNvbS9waG90b3MvdGgtRFNDXz AwMTMuanBnO1NlbmlvciBQaG90b2dyYXBoeSBNdXNrZWdvbiBH cmFuZCBIYXZlbiBHcmFuZCBSYXBpZHMgTWljaGlnYW4gUG9ydH JhaXQgU3R1ZGlvOz47Oz47Pj47dDw7bDxpPDA+Oz47bDx0PEA8 MzQwO1xlOzE7aHR0cDovL3d3dy5yaXZlcnNlZGdlcGhvdG8uY2 9tL3Bob3Rvcy90aC1EU0NfMDQxMi5qcGc7U2VuaW9yIFBob3Rv Z3JhcGh5IE11c2tlZ29uIEdyYW5kIEhhdmVuIEdyYW5kIFJhcG lkcyBNaWNoaWdhbiBQb3J0cmFpdCBTdHVkaW87Pjs7Pjs+Pjt0 PDtsPGk8MD47PjtsPHQ8QDwzNDE7XGU7MTtodHRwOi8vd3d3Ln JpdmVyc2VkZ2VwaG90by5jb20vcGhvdG9zL3RoLURTQ18xODY0 LmpwZztTZW5pb3IgUGhvdG9ncmFwaHkgTXVza2Vnb24gR3Jhbm QgSGF2ZW4gR3JhbmQgUmFwaWRzIE1pY2hpZ2FuIFBvcnRyYWl0 IFN0dWRpbzs+Ozs+Oz4+O3Q8O2w8aTwwPjs+O2w8dDxAPDM0Mj tcZTsxO2h0dHA6Ly93d3cucml2ZXJzZWRnZXBob3RvLmNvbS9w aG90b3MvdGgtRFNDXzIwMjMtY29weS5qcGc7U2VuaW9yIFBob3 RvZ3JhcGh5IE11c2tlZ29uIEdyYW5kIEhhdmVuIEdyYW5kIFJh cGlkcyBNaWNoaWdhbiBQb3J0cmFpdCBTdHVkaW87Pjs7Pjs+Pj t0PDtsPGk8MD47PjtsPHQ8QDwzNDM7XGU7MTtodHRwOi8vd3d3 LnJpdmVyc2VkZ2VwaG90by5jb20vcGhvdG9zL3RoLURTQ18yNz MwLmpwZztTZW5pb3IgUGhvdG9ncmFwaHkgTXVza2Vnb24gR3Jh bmQgSGF2ZW4gR3JhbmQgUmFwaWRzIE1pY2hpZ2FuIFBvcnRyYW l0IFN0dWRpbzs+Ozs+Oz4+Oz4+O3Q8cDxwPGw8VGV4dDs+O2w8 MTs+Pjs+Ozs+O3Q8cDxwPGw8VGV4dDs+O2w8MTI7Pj47Pjs7Pj t0PHA8cDxsPFRleHQ7PjtsPDExMzs+Pjs+Ozs+O3Q8cDxwPGw8 RW5hYmxlZDs+O2w8bzxmPjs+Pjs+Ozs+Oz4+Oz4+O2w8YnRuUG FnZURvd247YnRuUGFnZVVwOz4+2yy35k6OT+3rTIkQmEAzjJ/35IY=" />

Any ideas.....

Thanks

That's the ASP.NET Viewstate for that page. It is a hidden HTML control that contains data about the page's state.
From Microsoft site: "Microsoft® ASP.NET view state, in a nutshell, is the technique used by an ASP.NET Web page to persist changes to the state of a Web Form across postbacks."

This almost certainly has nothing to do with his ranking going up.