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Hacking is NOT black hat SEO dumbass

By theGypsy | June 3, 2010

Shit shit shit shit. Why do we get fucking blamed for everything? Seriously… look at this headline;

“Blackhat SEO Scam Hits Mop.com Gaming Site”

It’s sure sticks out huh? So, being the concerned netzian that I am I decided to go check it out.

“One of the world’s most popular online gaming sites is under siege from a creative malware scam that attempts to swindle players’ personal information and gaming credits”

Huh… so how the fuck is this SEO? Sure doesn’t sound like it. So we read on….seems they’re quoting another piece. So I went to check that out.

“Security pundits around the world have issued numerous warnings over the past year for Internet users on popular social networking and community sites to be on the lookout for socially engineered malware scams that attempt to capitalize on breaking news and pop culture events, as well as popular online gaming sites. ”

Ok hold the goddamned train a moment here. I still don’t get it? They are talking about hackers and putting us (wonderful and sweet) SEOs into the same fucking pile. What did we ever do to the security world? Are they of their rockers or what?

It sure seems they know a thing or two about SEO, however misguided, because they targeted a link in the post with ‘black hat SEO‘ which leads to this. A post about SQL injections? Listen up my bird shit writing brethren – HACKERS ARE NOT SEOs.

I mentioned this to some of me mates in the BH community and even they were offeneded (lol I had no idea they took pride in their work hehe). I don’t mind the trolls that trash SEO shenanigans as there are some black hatters that make a mess of the web, but to put them into the same boat as hackers? No fucking way. That’s illegal and entirely different. Are these shitheads ignorant? Or trying to capitalize on the spectre of those evil black hat SEOs? Not sure… but it is some serious crap.

Anyway, as you were… I just thought it was total BULLSHIT and had to get it outta’ my system.

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  • Hacking is NOT black hat SEO dumbass

Topics: Myths and Crap | 24 Comments »

Posted on 03 June 2010 by David Harry

Just a ranting and rambling search geek.... Web gypsy and renaissance man! When not losing what's left o' me mind here, I can be found blogging on the Fire Horse Trail and hanging wid me peeps at the SEO Training Dojo

has written 19 articles for SEO Bullshit

  • http://www.goosh.co.uk/ Goosh

    Don't blame ya for being pissed off Dave; It's common mis-conceptions like this that get a whole community/sector/industry into trouble.

    Whilst the deepest, darkest side of black hat can dip its toes into injection attacks, cookie hijacking etc etc, it most certainly left its SEO affiliations a long way back when it took the criminality, money making, don't give a shit who I burn route.

    “SEO's – Hated more than terrorists!”

  • http://www.searchmarketingwisdom.com alanbleiweiss

    I took the time to read the original WebSense Labs report. It seems that the SQL Injection inserted functionality that only targets visitors who come to the site from Baidu. These unsuspecting visitors get hidden code that upon activation, redirects to a different location. That process is the only thing that those asshats could even possibly pretend to claim is the “Black Hat SEO” they're referring to.

    Which is total bullshit. Because Blackhat SEO that presents unique content based on visitor origin, does so by presenting one type of info to the search bot, and another to the humans visiting the site. And that's not what happens in this particular situation at all.

    Because the attack has NOTHING to do with increasing search ranking for the site attacked, now does it?

    Nope. It's pure BULLSHIT.

  • jimrudnick

    <head nodding here big time> Spot On David! I like that what bugs you — bugs me too! And writing a 'reader-bait' Headline like that one is shoddy blogging/journalism, eh!

    :-(

    Jim

  • seoouthouse

    Blackhat SEO is any process the technically inept do not understand, except in such cases as OH MY GAWD it's against Google's guidelines!!!!!!

    Which is why I've seen keyword stuffing and link-buys called black-hat. No, that's asshat, morons.

  • http://www.justinparks.com Justin Parks

    I do not own a black hat.. but I know a man who does… and hes a hacking bastard.

  • http://www.spiced2.com Thomas Fjordside

    Do not judge a man by his hat.. Unless it's a really ugly hat..

  • http://fantomaster.myopenid.com/ fantomaster

    About time that someone put it in such words, good job!

    Of course, there's a perfectly obvious source for all this bullshit: Google propaganda. Matt Cutts has been trying for years to lump “Black Hat SEOs” and “Crackers” together. Not for me to gues why he would do that, lol.

    Note that it's a very easy spiel as well: in the computer security and hacking world, a “Black Hat” actually signifies someone who cracks – typically illegally – other people's systems, hijacks them, infuses malware etc. The only difference being that there's no “SEO” tag attached to the term – a fine distinction not everyone is prepared to bother about. (Incidentally, these people tend to call themselves “hackers” as OPPOSED to “crackers” or “black hats”, i.e. “hacker”, to them, indicates the benign kind of security expert. So you may want to avoid falling into that very same trap yourself, heh.)

  • Jimboot

    Sheesh some writers don't even know how to spell SEO! Luvyawork mate.

  • http://www.seobegin.com/ safcblogger

    Wow, Ralph, i think this is the first time i think i have seen you stop by here and leave a trail.

    Crackers and hackers are a hugely different breed. Getting into that world is frigging hard. Getting into the mindset is even harder.

    We have all searched.

    We have seen the fringe

    Both are a dedicated, but to tag them anywhere near an seo is an insult to what we try to do as an emerging legitimate industry. In time we will have the ground rules, and G will change. G will change because there are ground rules.

    Tagging seo`s is bullshit. Full Stop (period)

    Damn i want to say more. I should probs put a post together for Mr Harry

  • http://www.huomah.com theGypsy

    Hey Ralph, good to see ye as always brother.

    I've never had delusions of IR peeps thinking of us kindly. But of them, Matt is actually one of the more tolerant. I do remember the 'SEO are criminals' bit a while back and that was unfortunate, but it is a bit of a culture for them to see any manipulation as shitty. Best laid plans… and all that.

    Touched on that here – http://www.huomah.com/Search-Engines/Search-Eng…

    As for this one, I have no bloody idea if these folks (in the security world) are ignorant or actually purposely playing the FUD game and targeting some new KWs. Looking around the site, it sure seems like someone around there knows some SEO… which does seem to imply the latter.

    I've grown tired of the whole 'hat' debate, it's just SEO. I'd say there are very few SEOs that aren't breaking some TOS/guideline in some way. It's simply a matter of degrees.

  • http://www.huomah.com theGypsy

    Hey there Jim, also good to see U as well. I'm glad ye like the new digs. I was often finding myself wanting to let loose and thought the day-blog wasn't appropriate. Thus I started this a few months back for all to use. It's what I lovingly call 'SEO Group Therapy'. We all need to vent now and again ya know… hee hee.. Thanks for dropping a comment.

  • http://fantomaster.com/fantomNews/ fantomaster

    Well, when in doubt, follow the money: Google has a tighhtly vested interest in weeding out just about anything they perceive as a threat to what they're trying to do with other people's content. Which makes them the natural foes of SEO of just about any kind.

    In an ideal Google world (and let's never forget: the other search engines aren't any better as a rule, merely smaller…) we'd all be microbes in vitro, pursuing our little lives without even being aware of their very existence. (“Don't optimize for search engines, optimize for visitors”, haha.)

    Reminds one of restaurants where the only really annoying factor is the guests. Wouldn't the Net be ever such a wonderful place without those pesky webmasters, eh?

    And yes, that entire “white hat”/”black hat” debate is utterly inane as well as technologically clueless. But as an industry, it's our own bloody fault: this is nothing the search engines invented, it's a discourse that generated within the SEO community. Can't really blame the engines to take advantage of it.

    What I DO take exception to, however, is being slated a felon by inference, simply because the Googles of this world are out of their depths dealing with that humungously heterogeneous mass of information we call the Internet.

    It's really rich hearing the parasites complaining that their hosts aren't behaving properly…

  • mvandemar

    Well, technicall

  • suthnautr

    My ranting response? Well, well! It's about *time* somebody exposed you lousy low down four flushing sidewinding miserable low-life good for nothing carpet bagging con artist SEOs – finally! Wait a minute, did you say SEOs? – I'm an SEO – I take serious offense at those remarks! (both that SEOs are hackers and mine).

  • suthnautr

    Very clever.

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  • http://www.mercadeoporinternet.com rafaelmontilla

    you are right HACKERS ARE NOT SEOs. I can have black hat SEOs friends but not any hackers

  • Johan

    Well… it is possible to combine the 2 of course, but in this particular case, its not. Agreed, it's Bullshit.

    I'm sure even the true hackers will be offended to be accused of using black-hat techniques,

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  • Neuro

    not all hacking is BH SEO but breaking to a system to dump links is BH so some BH SEO's are hackers or employ them.

  • http://twitter.com/JadedTLC JadedTLC

    I'm still waiting for SEO to be teamed up with “terrorism” “socialism” or “communism” – I feel like a scientist in the middle ages – worshiped when things go “right” and burned at the stake when things go “wrong”

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  • http://buyativannorx.com/ buy ativan

    I’ve grown tired of the whole ‘hat’ debate, it’s just SEO. I’d say there are very few SEOs that aren’t breaking some TOS/guideline in some way.