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A comment on Ask HN: Competitor is successful with black hat SEO.

Re:Ask HN: Competitor is successful with black hat SEO by ryandrake on Monday March 20, 2017 @12:31PM (#13915491)
Isn't it pretty risky to have a business rely so heavily on a 3rd party (Google) with whom you, presumably, do not have a business relationship? If your business is vulnerable to being hurt simply due to some other company "doing SEO", maybe consider trying to address that weakness directly rather than just riding it out or trying to SEO back at them. I don't think I'd have the guts to start a company that depended so heavily on the whims of Google's search algorithm.
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Re:Ask HN: Competitor is successful with black hat SEO by throwmesomeseo on Monday March 20, 2017 @12:35PM (#13915525)
If you're a marketplace it's mostly SEO (and branding). Yes it's risky to depend on Google.
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Re:Ask HN: Competitor is successful with black hat SEO by dhimes on Monday March 20, 2017 @03:32PM (#13916985)
Per this comment https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13914768 is it not possible to win at adwords in your area?
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Re:Ask HN: Competitor is successful with black hat SEO by sumedh on Monday March 20, 2017 @07:22PM (#13918502)
It is risky to depend on Google but what choice do you have when more than 90% of new visitors come to your site via google.
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Re:Ask HN: Competitor is successful with black hat SEO by gbelford on Tuesday March 21, 2017 @08:21AM (#13921498)
That's easy to say, hard to execute. Many businesses depend very heavily on SEO as a means of acquisition.
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