Black hat SEO methods may sound tempting for a quick surge of traffic but will probably get you in trouble - maybe bigger trouble than you bargained for. Just look at what recently happened to US retailer whose SEO company didn't help them excel with Google but instead got them in some hot water. They said they didn't know what their SEO company was doing. As a business owner or someone responsible for marketing and e-commerce at your place of work, you need to be sure that you know what's happening with your website so that your website doesn't fall off the face of the Google earth unexpectedly due to what's perceived as inappropriate SEO tactics.
Black hat SEO really doesn't pay off. Search engine algorithms are continually tweaked to help them stay 'honest' in letting the cream rise to the top. It's best to start as you mean to go on, even if it takes a bit longer to rise to the top of the search engines. So, how do you identify black hat SEO methods so you're sure to avoid them?