In a thread on link wheels the OP asked whether the technique is Black Hat. From the responses, I gathered some people might a little grey about black and white.
Simply put, anything that is against search engine guidelines is not White Hat. It really is that simple. You can call it gray if that makes you feel safer (because it is a safety issue), but if a search engine would call it manipulative, then it is simply not White Hat.
Black Hat techniques are not illegal or unethical -- unless you are performing it on someone else's site without fully apprising them of the risks, of course.
If you search "Black Hat SEO" Google offers a page of definitions at the top of the results:
Quote: Definitions of Black hat seo on the Web: Spamdexing (also known as search spam, search engine spam or web spam) involves a number of methods, such as repeating unrelated phrases, to manipulate the relevancy or prominence of resources indexed by a search engine, in a manner inconsistent with the purpose of the indexing system. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_hat_seoThis term refers to using deceptive or unethical techniques to get high rankings in search engines; for example hidden text, cloaking and link farms. Don't do this!
www.headland.co.uk/pages/glossaryAny optimization tactic that causes a site to rank more highly than its content would otherwise justify, or any changes made specifically for search engines that don't improve the user's experience of the site. In other words, optimizations that are against search engine guidelines. ...
www.bukisa.com/articles/57153_search-engine-optimization-seo-glossary-of-terms And so it goes. To keep it simple, here's list of Black Hat SEO strategies:
keyword stuffingcloaking
Simply put, anything that is against search engine guidelines is not White Hat. It really is that simple. You can call it gray if that makes you feel safer (because it is a safety issue), but if a search engine would call it manipulative, then it is simply not White Hat.
Black Hat techniques are not illegal or unethical -- unless you are performing it on someone else's site without fully apprising them of the risks, of course.
If you search "Black Hat SEO" Google offers a page of definitions at the top of the results:
Quote: Definitions of Black hat seo on the Web: Spamdexing (also known as search spam, search engine spam or web spam) involves a number of methods, such as repeating unrelated phrases, to manipulate the relevancy or prominence of resources indexed by a search engine, in a manner inconsistent with the purpose of the indexing system. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_hat_seoThis term refers to using deceptive or unethical techniques to get high rankings in search engines; for example hidden text, cloaking and link farms. Don't do this!
www.headland.co.uk/pages/glossaryAny optimization tactic that causes a site to rank more highly than its content would otherwise justify, or any changes made specifically for search engines that don't improve the user's experience of the site. In other words, optimizations that are against search engine guidelines. ...
www.bukisa.com/articles/57153_search-engine-optimization-seo-glossary-of-terms And so it goes. To keep it simple, here's list of Black Hat SEO strategies:
keyword stuffingcloaking