Spam those search engines? I recommend....no.

The usually spot-on Greg Boser (without a doubt one of the top SEOs in the biz) poses an odd directive to the big brands - spam the search engines!

I don't follow Greg's logic because the "perfect storm" for Google is spam from a big brand that allows them to kick them out and force them to use aggressive PPC "while we sort out your problems".

I'm sure this type of "extortion" is NOT practiced directly (though I saw evidence of something like this by Inktomi before Yahoo cleaned up the practice) However there is considerable monetary incentive to leave SOME of the big sites OUT (though not all or relevancy is too compromised).

Over time I think Search engines will actually crack down MORE, not less, on spammy practices because they compromise the index AND cracking down creates the most revenue positive environment for them which is me ONLY finding BMW at the TOP of the PAID listings.

Where's the down side for Google in being punative?

However, SUPPORTING Greg's thinking is the recent BMW spam incident he's referencing where BMW was back in the index before you could say "whoops, we didn't meant to do that Matt!"

all we’ll get is a tiny slap on the wrist to show the world that the particular search engine is serious about web spam. And once our public scolding is completed, we will instantly be allowed to cut to the front of the confessional line.

Still, you must balance risks and rewards and I see little reason to think that agressive WHITE hat SEO is less likely to work than black hat which is *almost certainly* going to create eventual problems, so I say "just say no!"