Do You Play By Google’s Rules?

Someone said something to me last week that really hit home. We were chatting about search engine marketing over IM. I was talking about how I disliked that business and why I got out of it years and years ago. Then he said…

“You know why you hate search? Because you play by the rules.”

It was as if he dropped a bomb on my head. Dead on right. Bingo! He continued…

“I stopped playing by the white-hat rules a long time ago, and I hated search too before that. When I started playing by my own rules instead of Google’s, it became fun again.”

Do You Play By Google’s Rules?

I’m not sure you would admit it if you don’t, so I’m not expecting an answer. It’s more of rhetorical question. Think about it though. There are lots of implications for your choices.

I Chose To Play By The Rules

My friend was dead-on right on why I hated search, because it was/is really hard to dominate like I used too (pre-Florida update years ago). It was back then I decided to leave the search business on a conscious decision that “I’m not going to base my income on the whims of a search engine ranking.” I moved on.

In other words, I hated search because it became too hard. The easy way out would have been to stop playing by the rules and go toward the dark side, or gray/black hat search techniques. I refused, and I’m pretty darn sure I’m not as rich as I would have been if I decided to go that route.

As for who was the person who said that to me. I won’t expose them, but they can come forward and leave a comment and claim it if they wish.