There are a number of valid and profitable business models.
Antoine has developed his for a long time and is very successful with it.
I think that too much growth too quickly would look “unnatural”. I don’t follow all the SEO trends, just the basics, and google likes natural growth.
I have never been in the sandbox, so I really don’t know how to get out. But I imagine google watches the sandbox to see what “tricks” are employed and uses this to adjust their algo.
Lots of people in the box will use every trick in the book to get out – what a treasure trove for google to watch.