When Rand Fishkin wrote What Makes a Good Web Directory, and Why Google Penalized Dozens of Bad Ones in his own blog, he was writing to his readers with his own voice, his own style and, as do all of us who write in blogs, at his own risk.

It became a trigger for Smackdown’s Michael VanDeMar, who wrote in his blog, Why SEOmoz Needs A “For Entertainment Purposes Only” Disclaimer.

A thought provoking debate in Cre8asiteforums looks at what has been happening as a result of the clash, in Professional Blogging…must Back Up With Facts? and what this means. We have a problem and it’s been repeated over and over for years and seeps into new venues, like Sphinn.

The views and opinions in the discussion at Cre8asite are worth checking out. SEO’s with company blogs, or who write for SEO company blogs, are held to a set of standards put on them by readers with an unusual tendency to worship the one delivering the message. The alternative to worship are the posts that expose, investigate and present what some consider to be fraud, unethical business practices or pure baloney.

The higher some people or companies rise, the more they need to defend themselves or business practices. If you have the nerve to publicly write what you know is being said and felt but not addressed out loud, you’re either a saint or scum. The SEO industry is a noisy, nosey place.

Some search engine marketers are unforgiving and intolerant. Back stabbing and personal vendettas are dividing people into camps. Personal choices and work styles are highly suspect and open to public attack. Rather than trying to work together as a united industry, it’s broken down by expertise, opinion, experience, and who can attract the most attention to themselves at any cost, with any method.

Even if the cost is more damage to an industry already suffering from a bad reputation.

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Another perspective on the topic can be found in What Obligation Does An SEO Blogger Have?