You could say that about any form of marketing. There are only so many cola drinkers to sell to, and if I market Coke it will be at the expense of Pepsi. Marketing is always an arms race (so is business in general).
To take your lawyer analogy further consider this: you could say hiring a lawyer is gaming the system (i.e., being found innocent when you are in fact guilty). Or you could say that hiring a lawyer is ensuring that your case is presented as well as possible, allowing it to succeed or fail on its own merit.
Similarly, you probably view SEO as gaming the system, whereas I view it as ensuring that your content is presented in the best way possible.
Either way, your issue is with the Google/the court, not with the SEOs/lawyers or their clients/defendants.
btw, the funniest thing you can do when an SEO approaches you is ask them if they have a website, then type 'SEO services' in to google and see if they come up in the first 10 results, if not (and that's a 99% chance) enjoy hearing them squirming to explain why not.
Sure, and if a company calls to sell you marketing services and you've never heard of them, you should ask why. And if a company wants to make you a website and their's looks shitty, you probably don't want to hire them either.
To take your lawyer analogy further consider this: you could say hiring a lawyer is gaming the system (i.e., being found innocent when you are in fact guilty). Or you could say that hiring a lawyer is ensuring that your case is presented as well as possible, allowing it to succeed or fail on its own merit.
Similarly, you probably view SEO as gaming the system, whereas I view it as ensuring that your content is presented in the best way possible.
Either way, your issue is with the Google/the court, not with the SEOs/lawyers or their clients/defendants.
btw, the funniest thing you can do when an SEO approaches you is ask them if they have a website, then type 'SEO services' in to google and see if they come up in the first 10 results, if not (and that's a 99% chance) enjoy hearing them squirming to explain why not.
Sure, and if a company calls to sell you marketing services and you've never heard of them, you should ask why. And if a company wants to make you a website and their's looks shitty, you probably don't want to hire them either.