Another EB classic!

And now the potential problem has been fixed before any harm was done.

I totally agree with you, the tactics used by some of these self proclaimed SEO's and Wanna be SEO's is wrong and like I said I am not excusing the actions of those people. I find them unethical as well. With that said I don't agree with your first paragraph. While yes SEO is evolving and one day a acceptable item may be black hat in this case Morgan knew what he was doing was not white hat and if he didn't then he should have. I was a member of those boards at the time and the subject came up multiple times. I don't know about your ethics but mine tell me if I know something is wrong and I still do it I am not acting in my own best interest. If I know something is wrong being in a position of authority. Such as being a lawyer, doctor, or even a self proclaimed SEO and I advise people to do it anyways I am being unethical. This is where my problem comes in with Morgan. He got burned on his Recip pages directories and what does he do? He creates the same thing and puts it in a new package to resale. I'm sorry but I cannot see how people can justify that. I do need to put a note that most of his clients did know what he was doing was wrong and they took that risk. I'm not excusing them and frankly I don't think Morgan did anything wrong or unethical in there case. My problem is with the clients that don't realize link schemes are against Googles TOS. My problem is with the unsuspecting realtors who receive an email stating they can have #1 rankings in google all they have to do is add some links to there page and do not realize this could hurt there business.

Sam - SEO is constantly evolving...what is acceptable one day is considered blackhat the next. I think the lesson to be learned here is that when you're a visible target, you have to make sure that your tactics are 100% defensible. Morgan's clients missed a penalty, and he's taken steps to make sure that his client's sites are 100% defensible. Morgan's attackers won't let him make a single post without attacking even the smallest detail. This is a cheap tactic...and complete crap in my book. The reason why I like what Knox has written is because it exposes the motives behind the most vocal of Morgan's detractors. These people try to boost their own reputations in the SEO world by attacking others. It's negative PR at its most selfish. They have used these tactics on people besides Morgan (cough cough.) Why not boost your own credibility by showing positive results? Push your portfolio - show what you can do & show a track record of success. It's a valid point. Quite honestly, I hate getting caught up in the BS politics because it takes time away from doing constructive things. I haven't been as excited about anything as I am right now about online opportunities...and that's where I plan to stay focused.

I agree the ugliness needs to stop but I also find people defending someone who has burned his customers twice with obviously Grey /Black hat link building techniques almost funny if it wasn't so sick. I have no web design company, I have no real estate SEO to sell, I have no personal interest in seeing the demise of a certain real estate web design company but I still find his practices highly unethical from a professional to client basis. When you claim to be a White Hat SEO and you clearly practice black hat techniques you are being unethical to your clients who do not know better. THIS TO ME IS HIGHLY UNETHICAL! YOU ARE LYING TO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT KNOW AS MUCH AS YOU, can you image if a lawyer was giving his clients advice that he knew as illegal? That lawyer would be disbarred fast. I believe if you are going to call yourself a White Hat SEO you should be able to hold yourself to the same standard. As for the clients who know better and don't care thats a different story, they know what they are getting and have to deal with the consequences of there choice to use a black hat SEO. Anyways thats my 2c on the subject.

lol, in 1998, Sad as it may be they still work. You'll have to stay tuned for my more advanced methods.

I decided to specialize in EVERY niche ;)

The classics never go out of style.

Nice article pointing out some of the flaws in the realtor.com model.

I read this once before... ...in 1998.

Glad to see you're finding the power of that plugin! Looks good too.

Great post.

I like it....great read.

Fantastic use of analogy. Blackwell pumps out enough fantastic content for 5 bloggers!

I always love Blackwells stuff - great use of the cars analogy.