Once again. This thread over at SEW highlights the hypocrisy of the so-called "ethical seo" position.

There simply isn't a position that rewards all stakeholders, and to tie ethics to technique is simply wrong in this context (seo). As Mel rightly points out, what we really have here is "conformal seo" - strict adherence to a prescribed technical standard. Unfortunately, this call for standards has been associated with the field of ethics, which naturally implies that anyone who doesn't follow the standard is somehow unethical, or one who uses unethical practices. That is one high horse!

Given the absence of any concrete examples, the argument becomes little more than an academic exercise with no practical application. Or perhaps a marketing position. Not a particularly appealing position either - why bolt the redundant term "ethical" on the front of your profession? Anyone visited at "Ethical Doctor" recently? Would you? It would make the doctor, and the wider medical profession, sound like anything but.

"Ethical SEO" is FUD. Nothing more.