Sphinn - Even a SEO Needs an Ethical Code(Even Blackhats)

40
Sphinn It!

Even a SEO Needs an Ethical Code(Even Blackhats)

Went Hot: December 29, 2007 - 1:11 am
Posted By: sphinndr 330 days ago
Topic Type: News Story (Jump to http://www.slightlyshadyseo.com)
Category: SEO

I thought it was a good time of year to bring back up a long time discussion of SEO and Ethics. SlightlyShady gives a good launching point- What is your stance on the topic?

12 Comments

Who Desphunn This (0)

Comments

from emanuelh 329 days ago # - show/hide this comment

Votes: -1 | Vote:

+ -

I thought of adding something that has to do with the SEO/Client relationship, for instance "I'll never make up a price quote". But then I realized that it's really too much to demand. After all, every price quote is made up. More at: "How Much Should SEO Cost?" (http://sphinn.com/story/20112)

from wheel 329 days ago # - show/hide this comment

Votes: -1 | Vote:

+ -

One more fab post from the hit parade of slightyshadyseo.

from SlightlyShadySEO 329 days ago # - show/hide this comment

Votes: -1 | Vote:

+ -

:-)thanks wheel!

from sphinndr 329 days ago # - show/hide this comment

Votes: -1 | Vote:

+ -

@wheel - I agree, I have recently added slightlyshadyseo too my must read blogs.

from IncrediBILL 327 days ago #

Votes: 0 | Vote:

+ -

Aren't BlackHats and Ethics mutually exclusive?

from SlightlyShadySEO 327 days ago #

Votes: 0 | Vote:

+ -

Nope. Blackhat means you determine your own ethics, without consideration to Google. If I don't root sites, I'm sorry, but that's ethics. Perhaps not as strict as your own, but ethics none the less.

from IncrediBILL 327 days ago #

Votes: 0 | Vote:

+ -

See, lack of consideratiion is lack of ethics because ethics is a set of principles of right conduct and you can't do something many would consider wrong ethically.

Next thing you know there'll be mass murders with a set of ethics, OOOPS! too late, that show's called Dexter on Showtime ;)

from SlightlyShadySEO 327 days ago #

Votes: 2 | Vote:

+ -

Heh I believe we've had this debate before bill. But I'll bite for at least this comment.
Lack of consideration for Google. I didn't ask to be included in their index, I didn't ask for them to profit off of me, and I never agreed to anything. So therefore, I have little reason to abide by them. No disrespect to them of course. But they profit off of webmasters work without asking, so I see no problem with profiting off of them without asking. In the same way I can "opt-out" via robots.txt, they can opt-out by banning my blackhat sites.

And you CAN do something many would consider unethical and still have an ethical code. Ethics are something that people determine for themselves, in the same way that many consider pre-marital sex completley unethical, and many others have little to no problem with it.

from g1smd 327 days ago #

Votes: 1 | Vote:

+ -

*** I didn't ask to be included in their index, I didn't ask for them to profit off of me, and I never agreed to anything. ***

But have you ever profited from the free traffic they sent you?

from SlightlyShadySEO 327 days ago #

Votes: 0 | Vote:

+ -

g1smd, come on now.
Yes I've profited.
But at the same time, they profit from me AND you.
If they're going to profit off of me, why shouldn't I profit off of them? They never had to agree to my rules to make money off of me, so why should I have to their rules to make money off of them?

Let's take a look at this.
1)Google crawls any content it can find. They do not ask.
2)Google copies this content, and profits from it. They do not ask.
3)If you do NOT wish for these things to happen, you must "opt-out" via robots
4)At what point did the webmaster agree to ANY set of rules? At what point did he have this sudden obligation to follow their guidelines?

They come into my house uninvited, I'm going to do whatever I please. In the same way I may "opt-out" via robots.txt or request a de-inclusion, they may opt out by banning my sites. I will not hold this against them, I will not rail about the evils of Google because of it.

But if they're not playing by my rules, and are making money off of my content(via searches) however they see fit, I see absoluetly no reason I shouldn't do the same to them.

Webmasters might have a lot of trouble surviving without Google, but remember always that Google would have a hell of a lot harder time surviving without any webmasters and their content.

from emanuelh 327 days ago #

Votes: 1 | Vote:

+ -

A little bit of philosophy - you should distinguish between ethical and moral.

And a little bit of history: the ethical code adopted and prescribed by the Nazy regime was considered moral by most Germans and immoral by the international court at Nuernberg.

from neyne 327 days ago #

Votes: 0 | Vote:

+ -

good points shady! and in these discussions, I always feel the need to repeat GrayWolf's timeless statement: "Google is not government" (not that government should be obeyed withot questioning)