My personal opinion is that you can't be an SEO "expert" without understanding the black hat side of the debate - the techniques that are working, those that don't, how money is made in that sector, and what the latest in hijacking, link spamming and automated content looks like.

Lucky for us, there's a new addition to the black hat blogger team, namely my good friend (of Newsweek fame), Earl Grey. Earl's promised to keep an eye on Matt, let his detractors know they can bugger off, and give us a glimpse into his world. I'm looking forward to it.

p.s. I wonder if, by linking to Earl, I'm putting SEOmoz in danger of losing rankings. I'm not the only one - check out the sorry gang at Boston.com.