Search Optimization, The Evil Way

I'm shocked, shocked that SEO could occur here.

Interesting article here in the New York Times about search engine optimization, and how J.C. Penney ended up as the #1 destination on Google for a whole bunch of search terms over the holiday season. Kosher? Not so much... Google is now in the process of punishing them for gaming the system. Though Penney's claims they have no idea how such a thing could have happened. Uh-huh.

Basically, some unknown entity put links to J.C.Penney's site on thousands of other sites, for terms like "area rugs" and "cocktail dresses". I'm having a hard time figuring out why someone would do that unless Penney's was paying them to do it. Of course, it's just a coincidence that Penney's fired its SEO firm after this came to light.

SEO can be done a right way, and then there's the way that will get you pushed down in the Google rankings or even completely erased from Google search results (AKA "the death penalty"). If you're marketing something, you'd be well advised to know the differences... and how not to cross the line.