Matt Cutts, Google’s head of web spam fighting team, has publicly stated that Google does not consider Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to be spam.
According to Matt, there are plenty of good SEOs out there (also known as White Hat SEO). He explains that Search Engine Optimization basically means trying to make sure that “your pages are well represented within Search Engines”. He also acknowledges that are plenty of “White Hat” SEO strategies that can be implemented. They include helping out with the initial site architecture, URL structure, making sure the website is crawlable, finding the right keywords, ensuring fast website speed and optimizing content to convert.
He did add that there are bad SEOs out there, known as Black Hat SEOs that can produce web spam. Unfortunately for our industry, this is true.
Here is Google’s first video on the topic: Does Google Consider SEO to be spam?
And… just in case you are wondering, WebFuel is an ethical SEO agency.