Does Google Patrol The Black Hat Forums & Communities?

Mar 16, 2017 - 8:05 am 10 by
Filed Under SEO Forum News

Google Black Hat

For as long as I can remember, I believe Googlers, including folks like Matt Cutts back in the day, used to regularly visit the black hat forums and communities - including the ones that were private. But are they still doing that?

Well, at least Gary Illyes from Google says he hasn't been to the black hat forums in years. He said so on Twitter. Gary said "I haven't been there for years," referring to the black hat forums.

Here is the tweet:

Truth is, I only monitor the public forums - I don't monitor and cover forums that I cannot link to and quote from.

I'd honestly be surprised if there aren't a couple Googlers who are part of some of the underground black hat communities and monitor them on a regular basis. But I suspect Gary isn't one of them.

Forum discussion at Twitter.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Google Ads

Google Ads Search Google Maps For Location Assets

Sep 2, 2025 - 7:21 am
Google

Google Search Mini Game Encourages Searchers To Search More

Sep 2, 2025 - 7:11 am
Bing Ads

Microsoft Advertising: Here's Why Your Bid May Be Over The Max CPC

Sep 2, 2025 - 7:05 am
Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: September 1, 2025

Sep 1, 2025 - 10:00 am
Google

Google Tests AI Overview With Knowledge Panel

Sep 1, 2025 - 7:51 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google: Crawl Changes Are Independent Of Big Google Updates

Sep 1, 2025 - 7:41 am
 
Previous Story: Are Google Search Snippets Showing False Dates?