Blackhat tactics used in the search engine marketing scrap could be damaging the reputation of the internet, it has been suggested.

Professionals have recently been singing the praises of creating unique content on websites to boost search engine optimisation (SEO) and get one over on competitors.

However, there is growing concern that there is a blurring line between information and online marketing content.

As David Viney, director of seo agency SEO Expert Services, opined "commercialism is becoming a real issue" for the internet as a source of information.

He told vnunet.com: "Seven or eight years ago, the internet was essentially an academic tool for research and information.

"Search engines are reliable, so you tend to get authoritative results. There could come a point where the marketing dollar rigs the election so that the nature of Google's results has changed markedly."

However, with the credibility of search engine giants such as Google and Yahoo on the line, you'd expect them to be working their hardest to combat the danger of blackhat spamming damaging reputations.

What do we think? Do the search engines have the power to keep deceptive informational marketing under their hat?

Online Marketing specialists Business Feet help create value from business websites