Wager2WinUK, you are most definitally on to something here. I for one agree that Google’s algorithm is not as intelligent and advanced as the SEO community seems to think. If one pays attention to any one industry (or one set of keywords) you can see that Google is tricked over-and-over again, rewarding the wrong sites and making it harder for sites that should or might be ranked higher.
Many of us here haven’t paid for “professional” SEO firms to assist us, but at my full-time job we did just this and hired a well known firm to help us. Over $2k a month for 2 years was our contract, in which they promised top ten on Google. I can assure you that these firms have no more inside knowledge than what we already know. In this case the free knowledge availabe on these forums and other sites are just as valuable as the information the “professionals” have.
In the end? Google and the crooks win. There is just one difference with the faulty sites that Google had listed in the top 100, and the ones it has still listed two years later….. The difference is that within those two years, the IRS has been able to catch up with these firms and shut them down. The company I work for, is still above 300 in google (in top 30 yahoo/msn).
And yes their websites were full of blackhat. We were told that once Google’s robots reindex the sites, they will be penalized and maybe blacklisted from the search. Yeh, they’ve been there for 2 years without budging. Some of them not even changing the content….I could go on with whats wrong with the picture.
So, if the mess that is the IRS, is beating Google in determining which companies are faulty and blackhat, one has to wonder WHAT Google is an expert in….
Remember, these aren’t just competitors beating out their competition, these are scam companies that the IRS SHUTS DOWN! Their internet presence and rewards from almighty Google, screw people over who are already looking for help.