About eighteen months ago, Google requested SEOs submit reports when they found their competitors violating the Google Webmaster Guidelines or otherwise using deceptive tactics to achieve stronger rankings. Since then there has been debate within the SEO community about Google’s request. A post today at the Search Engine Roundtable got me thinking about the topic.
Should SEOs report on their competitors? It’s a difficult question.
On one hand, if practitioners don’t police themselves, who will? Google obviously can’t do it on it’s own or they wouldn’t be asking for help. To this day there is an awful lot of underhanded techniques being used in the pursuit of (generally) short-term rankings. Spammy SEO pollutes the environment we work in and responsible SEO practitioners are often the only ones who can spot such spam quickly and efficiently. A good SEO knows how the “cheaters” got the rankings though he or she would not likely use such tactics themselves.
Think of the ‘web as a society. Being a practicing SEO makes you a major participant in the evolution of the web, a highly active Netizen if you will. All citizens have a responsibility to act in the best interests of their society. It’s called the social contract. Certainly preventing and cleaning pollution is in everyone’s best interests, isn’t it?
On the other, Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Who watches the watchmen and who among them is truly qualified to judge another SEO’s tactics?
Some people would likely try to “out” their competition simply to create headaches for them. In this case, I supposed (and hope) Google is watching the watchmen. Too many false or bad reports and perhaps Google should take a look at the reporter. They might not know what they are doing.
Sometimes things are obvious. Yes or no. 1 or 0. Black or white. More often however, the tone of things falls somewhere in between two stark options, often based on opinion. Take the IP-Delivery / Cloaking debate…
If you ARE a SEO, ask yourself this; would most SEOs fully understand the intricacies of the enormously advanced IP-delivery tactics popularized by folks like Todd Friesen or Greg Boser? I’m a pretty clever SEO and I’ve listened while Todd personally explained his tactics and choices. They are pretty complex and they make perfect sense, even if they sometimes appear to stray across Google’s stated guidelines. (note, they don’t…) I can’t honestly say I would fully understand them without the benefit of his explanation. Could I therefore honourably report my perceived issues with Todd’s tactics? Not in my sense of a balanced, karmic universe…
In my own SEO career, I have never submitted a complaint about a competitor’s tactics to Google. While not entirely philosophically opposed to the idea, ratting someone out to Google feels a bit like being a tattle-tale in public school. The Google-friendly techniques I practice (along with the entire Metamend team) work well enough on their own. Our clients already tend to outrank their competitors. Besides which, I am not particularly inclined to do Google’s work for them, at least not in a way which could be punitive to someone else.
Earlier today I sent an email to the rest of the SEO staff at Metamend asking if any of them had reported competitors to Google. The unanimous response (to paraphrase), “We wouldn’t have time, even if we wanted to.”
The debate is obviously going to continue in SEO circles though it is not likely Metamend will participate further in it. The simple truth is, we don’t have time to. We’re too busy doing SEO.
Have a question and need quick answers? 
