i think use of the word “spam” injects some emotion into this that ought not be there.
“behavior by Google that will specifically penalize small business owners.”
– i get the opposite read on this. if you de-value paid links, the guy with say $xx,xxx a month to spend on links (in an effort to manipulate search engine rankings – not as traffic gathering tools) has no advantage over the fellow with $xxx to spend on links.
it levels the playfield.
and it you’re buying links for the traffic (err, like, an Ad), what’s it matter if there’s a “nofollow” tag on it, or it’s javascripted? your getting visitors.
“I prefer the option of taking special care to make sure Google never finds out.”
– aye. there’s always a workaround, isn’t there?