Hardcore search engine optimizer

[geekerati]

Search Engine Showdown: Black Hats vs. White Hats at SES
By Andrew Goodman,
February 17, 2005

What does a "hardcore search engine optimizer" look like? Does he wear a black hat? With little holes cut out in the top to allow for horns? Attendees at the "Black Hat, White Hat, & Lots of Gray" session at Search Engine Strategies Chicago got to find out.

A special report from the Search Engine Strategies conference, December 13-16, 2004, Chicago, IL.

For a new session that could have been content to trade in stereotypes, this turned out to be one of the most entertaining and illuminating panels of the week. The labels "white hat" and "black hat" have been used to describe different degrees of risk-taking in optimizing a website in the hopes of maximizing search engine traffic. Yet so many unspoken assumptions attached to each "camp" have threatened to distort the reality on the ground, much like the intense focus on "red states vs. blue states" in recent presidential elections.

In the early going, it was no easy feat to look beyond the costumes and the mirthmaking. Designated White Hat Jill Whalen sported a mesmerizing 10-gallon number, while purported gray-hatter Mikkel Svendsen sported a bright orange suit which might make dark glasses a must-have item for all attendees at future panels. Representatives of the black-hat camp, Todd Friesen and Greg Boser (who just as often go by their aliases, oilman and WebGuerrilla), were attired blandly, like wolves in sheep's clothing. Moderator Danny Sullivan's tan hat was suitably neutral.

Search Engine Watch/ A Must Read!