As with our cousins in other service based industries, the Search Engine Marketing sector has had to deal with cheats for years. The fact is, the services we sell can not be touched, smelt, eaten or easily understood by our clients. As a sector, we rely on a trusting relationship with our clients. Without the trust of webmasters and business owners, none of us would work in this fascinating business environment. An SEO who cheats or uses illegal practices as a common rule makes all of our lives more difficult. From a business perspective, cheaters place us all in perceptual peril. From a human perspective, no one with any sense of kindness likes to see other businesses suffer because they got scammed. There are REAL PEOPLE behind the website with REAL JOBS and REAL LIVES, many of whom have never read source-code. These real people have mortgages or rent to pay. They need to feed their children and pay for their educations. A business that has been banned by Google after previously enjoying strong placements will almost certainly suffer for the sudden lack of inclusion. Will any of those real people get laid off from their real jobs due to the techniques used on their sites by Traffic Power? This is a REAL ISSUE for the SEO and SEM communities.

We are in the unique position of seeing commonly used practices suddenly banned by the mediums we work with, however, a good SEO or SEM firm learns to adapt their techniques to meet the ever changing best practice guidelines. As a matter of fact, there is a specific search engine marketing forum dedicated to discussing and promoting best practices in our industry. Run by South Carolina based SEO Doug Heil, the Best Practices Search Engine Forums are among the most widely referred to sources of information and discussion in the ethical SEO sector. As with many other Search Engine related forums, there has been quite a bit of discussion about the Traffic Power issue. Here is a link to the liveliest discussion at the Best Practices Forum. I wrote to Doug Heil asking him his opinion on this issue. Here is what he had to say about "outing" SEO and SEM firms using unethical practices on client sites, "Naming spammers does two things; It 'informs' the general

public as to 'who' might risk your website, and it informs the spamming SEO that they have a problem. "Many" times SEO's have contacted me saying they made changes to their business model because of what was discussed in my forums, and have become a true "Best Practice SEO" who follows the guidelines of the search engines." Doug is absolutely correct on this issue.

Here are links to other forums and discussions about this issue.

JimWorld | High Rankings Forums | SEO Chat | WebProWorld | Affilate Gurus | WebMaster World | Traffic Power Sucks

SEOs
This issue is going to spill over into the mainstream media sooner than later. When it does, it is likely our industry will be placed under an electronic microscope. There will be a number of stories about ethical and unethical SEO techniques and there will be a number of SEO and SEM firms who will likely feel the heat. At this time, it is probably a good idea for all of us to review our techniques and be ready to explain them (without giving away the farm of course) whenever clients or the media come calling.

Webmasters and Business Owners
The only real advice I can offer is to ask difficult questions before hiring an SEO firm. Take a few minutes to learn about the industry so you will be able to make an informed decision regarding the company you are going to bet your placements on. If you feel uncomfortable with the answers you are receiving from an SEO, be sure to copy everything down and check your notes with another SEO firm. Look to see if the SEO firm you are thinking about hiring has posted a statement of ethics on their website. Check with past clients to be sure that the company does stick to its ethics. Most importantly, shop around. The highest price does not necessarily guarantee the highest level of service. Similarly, the lowest fees don't necessarily mean you'll get scammed. In Latin the phrase is CAVEAT EMPTOR or "Let the Buyer Beware". Don't get caught unaware like clients of Traffic Power have.