Black hats vs white hats – how SEO changed the last 10 years

What is the biggest single change in black hat vs white hat SEO over the last 10 years? Let me give you my perspective through a short story.

Why listen to my perspective?

I have worked with SEO since 2010. Ten years of consulting and five years building an SEO tool (giving me the opportunity to see a ton of SEO data).

I am no guru, but I believe this story is not far from the truth:

The old days of black hat vs white hat SEO

There was a time when people who would be called “black hats” were the kings of SEO.

⚫️ Black hat: Tricking Google’s algorithms to rank higher on keywords.

⚪️ White hat: Someone trying to do things for Google and the user.

When I started in SEO in 2013, it was still the “easy days” where a lot of tricks worked:

• Getting a ton of irrelevant spammy links from other websites
• Putting your keywords everywhere (known as keyword stuffing. On Google’s official spam list)
• Hiding your keywords by changing the keyword text color to match the background color (🙄)

In those days, it was hard to be a “white hat” SEO consultant.

Black hat tactics were simply cheaper and gave faster results.

So as a young naive white hat, or sometimes a bit grey to be fair, it was a challenge to sell myself to clients.

My best argument would be “I want to do stuff that also works 10 years from now.”

Guess how much a desperate business owner would appreciate that. Not a lot 😀

Fast forward to 2026: Why white hat SEO has won

The hottest SEO gurus are no longer promoting “tricks.”

They simply link to Google’s official SEO guidelines.

I see it all the time here on LinkedIn and elsewhere.

That rarely happened in 2013.

Why this change?

It’s because Google won the war. They defeated many black hats.

When Google used to update their search algorithm, us SEOs used to laugh at how easy it still was to cheat it.

But the last few years especially, Google has gotten on top. People no longer laugh.

Now it’s suddenly cool to be a white hat.

SEO consultants used to be the dirty kids in class. Now we are that annoying perfect student with our hands always raised, ready with the correct answer from our Google guidelines textbook 🙋

Black hat vs white hat SEO: The remaining loopholes

5 examples of black hat loopholes still working:

1. Adding extra words to your content. Even if not nice for the reader.
   • You might say “c’mon, this doesn’t happen anymore.” Well OK, then Google for a few guides and you tell me why they stuff it with so much intro text and unnecessary fluff? 😉 I do see a trend of shorter content working well too though. More of that please, Google! I love how this word count contest is slowly dying.
2. Links from low quality websites (backlinks)
   • Backlinks can still be manipulated and adding your keyword in the anchor tag still works to some degree. Even from sites you wouldn’t call serious. But Google’s March 2026 spam update specifically targeted manipulative link schemes. The risk of a penalty is now higher than ever.
3. Lying about which cities (or region in general) you offer services in
   • Google still struggles to perfectly fact-check local service claims. Example: a car dealer claiming they serve London when based in Oxford. But this is getting riskier. Google settled a $93 million lawsuit over location data misrepresentation – showing they take location integrity very seriously now.
4. Ranking on AI texts that pretend to be a real person
   • Google has no problems with AI content – as long as it’s useful and high-quality. But saying an AI text is from a real person is still an abuse. You might call it grey. I call it black as coffee.
5. Targeting a keyword with an exactly matching domain like: Black-hat.com/black-hat-seo-tactics
   • Maybe not black hat, but it can be spammy for sure. In smaller countries and less competitive niches you will still see this often. I searched for grass in Netherlands, and I saw +10 websites using this tactic.

So there you go, this is how I see the biggest change in black hat vs white hat SEO over the last 10 years. All black-hat loopholes are slowly being closed.

New ones are already appearing. Things like manipulating structured data to game AI-driven snippets, or flooding content feeds with spun content. Classic tricks with a 2026 twist. But I still see Google having the upper hand here. The white hats won! ✌️

Article top image:
first design we made for Morningscore (our SEO tool). The idea was to build the tool around a wild west story… We quickly moved on to space 👨–🚀

Frequently Asked Questions

What is black hat SEO?

Black hat SEO means using tactics that violate search engine guidelines to rank faster. Classic examples include keyword stuffing, buying backlinks, hidden text, and cloaking. These worked well in the early days. In 2026, they mostly don’t – and they carry a real risk of Google penalties.

What is white hat SEO?

White hat SEO means following Google’s own guidelines. Useful content, genuine backlinks, and good site structure. It’s slower than black hat. But as the last decade proved, the results hold up – and sites don’t disappear after the next algorithm update.

What are common black hat SEO techniques?

The old classics: keyword stuffing, link buying, doorway pages, article spinning, and hiding text by matching the font color to the background. Newer versions in 2026 include manipulating structured data and flooding content feeds with AI-spun low-quality articles. Google is catching up on these too.

Does black hat SEO still work in 2026?

Some loopholes exist. Low-quality backlinks still move rankings a little. Content padding still happens across the web. But Google’s spam detection has improved dramatically since the Penguin days – and the March 2026 spam update specifically targeted link manipulation. The risk now clearly outweighs the reward.

What is grey hat SEO?

Grey hat sits between white and black. Tactics that aren’t explicitly banned but are still manipulative. Buying shady backlinks, misrepresenting service locations, or publishing AI content without disclosure are good examples. The grey area is shrinking – Google closes more of these gaps with every major update.

Is AI-generated content considered black hat SEO?

Not automatically. Google has no issue with AI content if it’s genuinely useful and high quality. The problem is mass-producing low-quality AI content – or presenting AI text as if a real person wrote it. That’s where it tips into black hat. Google’s own guidelines on auto-generated content are pretty clear on this.

Which Google algorithm updates hit black hat SEO hardest?

Panda targeted weak, low-quality content. Penguin went after spammy backlinks. BERT and MUM made keyword tricks far less effective by understanding context and user intent better. Each major update closed more loopholes – and AI-driven updates in 2025 and 2026 continued that trend.