Hey guys, I've been reading up on some blackhat methods and it just seems... wrong? well not all of the tactics but some. I read this one about making a fake myspace profile, ect... is blackhat illegal or just unethical?
Most blackhat is against the Terms of Service of specific sites - google, myspace, whatever, but not illegal. There are a few things, such as hacking and sending spam email, which are also illegal. If you're making fake profiles for the purpose of committing fraud, the fraud may be illegal.
Be careful with MySpace profiles. Lots of MySpace lawsuits going on lately. Some blackhat techniques are completely legal, while others are illegal. It depends on what methods you are using since blackhat is a broad definition. Just be careful whatever you do.
magda pretty much summed it up. Most of it is just unethical, but some may be considered "hacking" or "spamming", which can be illegal, depending on the country. In the long term, you're better off being white hat and working hard.
I seen this guy selling an ebook called BlackHat bank.. I just wanted to see what was up with blackhat before I spent $ on it.
White hat if im correct, is making profit buy working hard lol. selling products promoting your own site getting genuine buys etc, where as black hat you might pay for people to click your ads etc... Regrds, B. Ps. Correct me if im wrong!
of course it isn't 'illegal'. To be 'illegal' there'd have to be a 'law' against it. Who or what body could set a law dictating how you try to promote your internet sites across the world? And as for the 'against the ToS' argument - last time I looked, I hadn't agreed to any ToS with an automated robot that steals my content without my explicit permission for it's own profitability and use.
When you do Black hat techniques there is a high risk to get ban from Google or any kind of web sites. SO it's upon to you.
Legal or ethical wouldn't have been referred to as blackhat. It would have been known as whitehat it would have been acceptable under the standard TOS.
The term is vary depend on each person. For me,black hat is illegal + unethical coz it will leave negative effect on the victim.
usually illegal. and mor ethan often get's yoru ad accounts banned and stuff. so i would rahter try to build content first and then think about something else.
Whitehat= 100% tos ok Greyhat= 50% tos ok Blackhat= 100% tos not ok Spammer= 100% illegal against the law. Pretty much my understanding.
Blackhat is just the dark side of SEO. People talk about how bad it is and all, but when you have tried all the so-called methods to be a good citizen and nothing helps, then Blackhat techniques could be the answer. Like any dark art, there is risk, I have seen perfectly legit whitehat guys get the shaft too, it is all a matter of right place, right time, right technique. Blackhat ranges from total spam to fabricated level backlink domains. It is really a matter of prospective. Illegal? Not really. Unethical? Depends on your morals. Spam is "illegal" but jailing and fining someone takes a Federal warrant. Zombie spammers and spam oriented businesses are the target there. Blackhat guys rarely reach that level.
Well ALL black hat techniques are illegal in some way or the way. Else they would have been called 'black' hat The only difference is that some goes unnoticed or are too small to be noticed and hence have become a part of the system. Even paying for digging or stumbling is illegal but do people care!