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SEO Is Unethical

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by karan.labra, Jan 12, 2010.

  1. #1
    First off, I am a SEO expert but it just came to me that I am doing it wrong by SEOing my site.. I mean on-page optimization is okay but main part of SEO which is building backlinks is unethical.

    Why do we build backlinks? To rank well in Search engines.. but I think if your site deserves to be on top it'll come on its own when people will link to it, Its like spamming search engines by building links and letting them your site is very good source of info..

    Just my 2cents, I had it on my mind to post this from a long time :p
     
    karan.labra, Jan 12, 2010 IP
  2. johneva

    johneva Well-Known Member

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    #2
    Yep your very right thats exactly the problem with the SEO trade, it is just full of spammers. Unfortunatly now you do have to be clever in how to get your site links in order to be able to get good rankings and get good level of traffic.

    This does not mean you have to spam tho, just be clever in your ways of premoting your site to help boost inbound links there are many ways of getting inbound links without spamming.
     
    johneva, Jan 12, 2010 IP
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  3. cluongo18

    cluongo18 Member

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    #3
    Eating dead chickens is unethical too but hey, you gotta eat
     
    cluongo18, Jan 12, 2010 IP
  4. goliath

    goliath Active Member

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    #4
    Where do you get your ethics?
     
    goliath, Jan 12, 2010 IP
  5. sachin410

    sachin410 Illustrious Member

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    #5
    it's the search engines' fault.

    they disclose the factors that affect rankings and then people try to manipulate these factors.....:mad:.
     
    sachin410, Jan 12, 2010 IP
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  6. karan.labra

    karan.labra Guest

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    #6
    Yeah, They should make new algos to check each page what it deserves.. I sometimes open to search result in google and its full of irrelevant info and it annoys me to death.
     
    karan.labra, Jan 12, 2010 IP
  7. justinmarch

    justinmarch Peon

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    #7
    SEO = Unethical
    Competitive Advantage = Unethical
    Doing Business at all = Unethical

    Its a slipper slope I am not sure much in life is truly ethical, where do you shop, do you drive a car, do you own a house.

    You are using equating Googles guidelines as ethical guidelines, they are not Google is not God despite what they would like to believe.
     
    justinmarch, Jan 12, 2010 IP
  8. Bohra

    Bohra Prominent Member

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    #8
    Well that was how exactly how the search engines thought things would work doing this people are actually asking the giants to play around with thier alorghitms more and more
     
    Bohra, Jan 12, 2010 IP
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  9. karan.labra

    karan.labra Guest

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  10. 1SEONewby

    1SEONewby Peon

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    #10
    SEO = Unethical
    Competitive Advantage = Unethical
    Doing Business at all = Unethical


    I want a T-shirt with this on it! This is absolutely perfect!!:D
     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2010
    1SEONewby, Jan 12, 2010 IP
  11. Jim4767

    Jim4767 Prominent Member

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    #11
    There are two key factors:

    (1) If your website is a legitimate one (not a spam site), with honest and helpful content, and...

    (2) If you do honorable, "white-hat" SEO...

    ... then there is no reason in the world to consider that SEO "unethical". Think of it this way: if a product buys a couple of Super Bowl ads to help boost their market share, is that "unethical"? Of course not. Neither is decent, white-hat SEO that is done for the purpose of getting a good-quality website high enough in the rankings to be found by the target audience.
     
    Jim4767, Jan 12, 2010 IP
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  12. karan.labra

    karan.labra Guest

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    #12
    But if your website is legitimate and with helpful content, people will themself link to your page.. There should be no need to build links..
     
    karan.labra, Jan 12, 2010 IP
  13. justinmarch

    justinmarch Peon

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    #13
    I am an imperfect person, living in an imperfect world, practising an imperfect discipline, with an imperfect site, surrounded by other imperfect sites, accessed via imperfect search engines.

    The fact is, this is what life is about it ain't perfect.
     
    justinmarch, Jan 12, 2010 IP
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  14. justinmarch

    justinmarch Peon

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    #14
    Sorry posted at the same time as you.

    That is very dependant on the type of website that you run karan.labra even the best of us have to resort to link building occasionally.

    Also, what is link building:
    Creating compelling content that people want to link to
    Creating shocking content that people want to link to
    Creating out and out link bait
    Writing testimonials (and therby getting a back link)
    Selective Article Syndication
    Automated Article Syndication
    Press Releases
    Posting on Forums
    Posting on blogs
    Using software for mass Forum Spam
    Using software for Blog Spam

    Which of the above are unethical I think many are borderline and some are downright wrong.
     
    justinmarch, Jan 12, 2010 IP
  15. goliath

    goliath Active Member

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    #15
    I have two lines of business, one is online, and the other is physical.

    Now, the vast majority of internet marketers really seem to revere google, and of COURSE google wants a "pure" internet where everyone only looks at stuff they want to and google's mega-algorithms can easily convice them about what they want to see.

    Back to the real world. It's no less ethical for me to pay for a blogroll or other link than it is for me to buy an advertisement for my physical business. There is no practical difference between paying for a hyperlink and paying for a print ad.

    It's no less ethical for me to link to my site from a relevant comment than it is for me to go around to every laundry room and community center in town and tack my flyer or business card to their bulletin boards.

    Link spamming and comment bots are more like me walking into other businesses and throwing a bunch of my business cards on their floor. Not ethical, not polite, and it creates a bad impression of myself and my business.

    As jim4767 says, there is a REASON that certain practices are considered white hat and some are considered black hat. If you look at them these practices each have a real world counterpart, and the ethics of doing business are well established both legally and 'ethically' in most communities.

    As for what you're saying karan.labra, it's completely true, and in a perfect world it might be enough. But again, it's more like (JUST like) doing business in the real world.

    I live in a city of nearly ten million people. My company works with another company, and we find most of our customers that way. By word of mouth, and doing a good job. But if I pay for a billboard, it's possible that as many as a million or more people will learn about my company who would have never done business with our partner company or come across anyone who had used our service to recommend it.

    So, while the conversation in this thread has mostly been about link-building and off-page SEO, rather than SEO in general, that's where I stand. Nearly every business that wants to grow will advertise in some fashion, online or offline, It's not only ethical, it's a necessity for any significant growth. Just like eating dead chickens.

    And as for on-page SEO, have you ever learned anything about how a large store or retailer is run? If everybody really understood the amount of targeted pitching, layout optimization, and direct customer manipulation is employed at a major retailer, the whole retail industry would be considered "black hat".

    As for what google thinks, google is a business trying to control their own market. They want you to create a clean environment for them to manipulate, and they're not here to do anything but help you help them to make more money. FSM forbid that anyone consider them a source of advice on "ethics" :eek:
     
    goliath, Jan 12, 2010 IP
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  16. zorgin

    zorgin Peon

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    #16
    i agree.

    really, there is "good" SEO and "bad" SEO.

    good SEO = making sure you get a good ranking for a website with quality, relevant content.

    bad SEO = trying to make money off of high rankings when your content is poor, irrelevant or otherwise not useful to the visitor.


    but, either way, "unethical"? we're talking marketing here. marketing is all about trying to get people (who otherwise wouldn't know of or care about your product or service) to give you money. there is such a thing as a commercial website, whether you like it or not, and the concept is neither new nor going away. so i mean, if that is your stance, then all marketing is unethical and the internet (primarily supported/run by ad servers) is unethical.

    not only that but we're in the marketing subforum, for pete's sake.

    and what about non-commercial sites that managed to google-bomb a few years ago, like Miserable Failure showing a bio of George Bush? it's a dissenting political message that the majority of the world could actually agree with, was highly relevant, but obviously SEO'd to the max, so much so that Google figured out how and filtered the method. so yea, Google had a problem with it, but we all got a laugh and i personally feel it was an example of good SEO per my defiition above.

    so, in conclusion, stop whining about ethics. you're in the marketing biz. if you have issues with ethics then go back to school and become a philosophy professor so you can make no money and be depressed the rest of your life.

    :rolleyes:
     
    zorgin, Jan 12, 2010 IP
  17. goliath

    goliath Active Member

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    #17
    A little harshly put, but spot on.
     
    goliath, Jan 12, 2010 IP
  18. Karolos

    Karolos Member

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    #18
    everybody does it... so why not? :-D
     
    Karolos, Jan 12, 2010 IP
  19. jrjiri

    jrjiri Peon

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    #19

    What do you think about advertisement in general?
    _____________________________
     
    jrjiri, Jan 12, 2010 IP
  20. Revelations-Decoder

    Revelations-Decoder Well-Known Member

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    #20
    SEO is not unethical!

    If you Dad your Mum your husband your wife your Son your Daughter or your best friend is looking for something via a search query and you can provide the most relevant result - what Sir is unethical about providing the quickest route to solving that search query by implementing/using SEO to do so?
     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2010
    Revelations-Decoder, Jan 12, 2010 IP