Google says that generally black hat search engine optimization works and you will not get caught

Google’s John Mueller admitted on Twitter that sometimes black hat SEO and risky practices work and you don’t always get caught. But he added that sometimes you can get caught and “not getting caught doesn’t mean it works”. But he added that building a business on these practices “seems like a terrible idea”.

It is even worse to use these risky tactics for your customers without telling your customers about the risks.

Here is the tweet:

There are many risky practices; sometimes you don’t get caught, and sometimes it even works for a while (not getting caught doesn’t mean it works). I wouldn’t build a business on it, and doing it for unsuspecting customers seems like a terrible idea.

– 🧀 John 🧀 (@JohnMu) October 20, 2021

A few years ago I knew a lot more SEOs who worked in the black hat area than I do today. In the early 2000s it was super easy and even less risky, but now it’s a lot harder and a lot riskier.

So I wouldn’t recommend the advice that says, oh my competitor is doing this black hat method and they rank well, so should I. It could catch up with you one day and your business could suffer badly. Create something that is stable, consistent, and outlasts Google’s time …

Forum discussion at Twitter.