Google Ranking Hacks

Achieving a page 1 ranking for a Google search can be an important marketing strategy if your business depends on clients finding you by using key words in searches. Since web search engines began, there have been continuous efforts to gain a high ranking in search results. Some efforts focus on having a quality website that conforms to search engine guidelines. Other efforts try to artificially improve a web sites ranking by exploiting possible weaknesses in the search engine ranking process or algorithm. The following article from The Age discusses some of these strategies:

Murky world of Google's rankings and how they can be rigged

Edward Wasserman

March 4, 2011

"One extraordinary instance, uncovered recently by The New York Times, involved the big US department store chain JCPenney. For months, apparently, JCPenney was the top-ranked site if you searched for terms as disparate as ''skinny jeans'', ''home decor'', ''area rugs'', ''dresses'' and ''tablecloths''. It drew more traffic for ''Samsonite carry-on luggage'' than Samsonite's own site.

JCPenney's success was traced to an SEO consultant who had, essentially, contracted with more than 2000 web pages that had no discernible purpose apart from linking to sites such as JCPenney's. The retailer's fortunes rose thanks to this virtual ballot-stuffing."

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2381394,00.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_farm

Q1. Is it 'ethical' to use 'content farms' to create a higher ranking?

Q2. Is it 'ethical' for Google to remove a business link from search ranking if it suspects such attempts to get around their search algorithm?

Q3. How important is SEO to e-marketing?