Are More 'White Hat' SEO Techniques Being Classified As 'Black Hat'?

A WebmasterWorld thread reminded me of a piece I wrote that attracted a lot of feedback from the industry. It was named Are SEO Blackhats Turning White or Is The Industry Melting? if you have not read it yet, go ahead, read it. Back then, I discussed how tactics that may have been considered black hat by some extreme white hats were no longer seen as so black. As tactics and Google became more transparent, people gained more knowledge and understanding and thus were better able to classify things into buckets. But is this trend changing?

The WebmasterWorld thread has a rant from an SEO who is upset that there are now an influx of webmasters who think they know it all, but know very little. The user summed it up nicely at the end, where he said:

Frowning on black-hat tactics is understandable, but increasingly things that were considered white-hat before are being treated as undesirable. The "hippie" days of the internet characterized by generosity and opportunity are long gone. Now it's all about the money, and this attitude has seeped into every corner of the web in a VERY preemptive manifestation.

It's true, you have webmasters who are confused about what is good linking and what is bad linking. But as more and more webmasters begin to learn a little bit about SEO and link building, more and more form opinions and rules that may be wrong. The open nature of linking has changed from just a few years ago. Those after links, often look for the wrong qualities, and those giving links are often not giving them due to the wrong reasons. Who is to blame? Google? Me? You? I am not sure. But there has always been confusion in this area and it does seem to get worse over time.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.