Black Hat as per Google, where the *intent* is clearly to manipulate the search results. This article is very blatantly all about adjusting the SERPs, even including causing someone else to drop. It was not cloaked in a “just work to improve your own site” mentality, as so much of the published material is these days.

You don’t see this as something new for SEL?

Stephan definitely had the best tips at SMX, but I guess I don’t see why they would be considered blackhat. John, you seem to think being competitive = being blackhat. To me, only being deceptive = blackhat.

So when are you going to allow guest posts to commence?

… and it sounds like Danny’s trying to position himself like Fox News being “fair and balanced” to Google.

So first, like five months ago when I programmed SMX, I would have had to think right, Threadwatch is out of here! Hey, I suppose I might have put that in motion months ago as well, right (http://www.johnon.com/330/threadwatchcom.html).

Then I’ve got to be smart enough to think wait, I don’t want the news to come out in June. Let me wait until Threadwatch closes in July. I’ll slap an 30 day embargo on the news. Yeah, that’ll do it. And I have to hope no one spoils that.

Miracle of miracles, it holds. Well, almost didn’t. I mean, Stephan was going to run that column like two weeks ago or so. Go on, ask him. Chris and I thought you know, we told everyone to do this embargo thing, so we’d better not run the tip so that people don’t think we’re somehow being unfair. But really, it was part of my master plan to wait until Threadwatch was no longer snarky so I could really slam Google.

Hee! It was brilliant, all played out the best I could hope for.

Right. Look, John — I am critical of Google. Here, I’ll do what you want:

I remember when Google was a search engine, with a philosophy that said, “Google does search.” Now it puts ads on TV, in radio, in print — serves as a payment platform, provides web analytics, pitches software “packs” to us and more. Does it really need to have our web surfing histories as well? When’s enough enough?
http://searchengineland.com/070419-181618.php

Not critical enough? You see me not being supportive of them but instead providing balance. When everyone is happy to talk one side, I like to put balance back. If it were Yahoo constantly attacked, I’d be the one saying “wait a minute” about them, because that’s my nature. I like balance, so that people can make up their own minds.

That’s also why I’ve long had “black hats” speak at conferences, to the degree that Doug Heil over there at Ihelpyou will happily tell you what an evil spammer I am (there were plenty of Threadwatch posts that covered this, you know). The black hats do indeed provide a big needed dose of the “real world” where it absolutely is a competition.

I’ve talked about real world SEO for years, honest. And I’ve been critical of Google plenty, honest. And what you saw at SEL in Stephan’s column wasn’t some new shift. It’s just Stephan doing what he does best — passing along real world knowledge. That’s why we have columnists and have them talk.