What to do when majority of results have shady links?

[SL_SEM]

So I am doing my back link research for the hosting industry and I am running across two different types of link schemes that make it hard to compete with straight white hat techniques.

I am determined to keep our efforts white hat to retain long term value, but at the same time I am constantly tempted to slowly add links in the more grey ways.

So here are some of the common practices I see a lot of (e.g. 8 of the top 10 sites for top terms use these).

Link Buying/Article Links - You know this one well, their link profile has a 10:1 ratio of keyword links compared to brand name links, and the majority of those keyword links are on nonsensical blogs, or on related "tech" sites but obviously labeled as paid links. - I don't like this much, and have even reported some of these.

"Hosted by" - So the majority of hosting companies out there have pre-built collections of templates for wordpress, joomla, and other CMS systems, and they have taken the extra step of putting "Server Hosting by XXXXXX" in the footer of those templates. This leads to thousands of small sites being hosted with the keyword backlinks. While I understand this, at the same time I would hope they wouldn't get credit for links all coming back from IPs that they own. While they aren't creating these sites they know the majority of users won't change the template (or know how to).

Lastly there are some "Link to us and get discounts" programs going on with customers as well.

So, seeing the linking setup this way, would you try to report each instance you see to Google? If so do you think they would really change anything considering how rampant it is among the results?

Lets hear some opinions!

In the mean time I am going to go work on my awesome content, press releases, and cross-company promotional campaigns ;).

[StoresDirect]

I went through a phase of getting really frustrated about seeing competitors succeeding with dodgy link tactics. Then I decided to focus on differentiating our sites from competitors with great content, great usability and outreach into relevant communities. This wasn't just some random mission - I analysed site performance before and after SEO  began (we were late adopters of SEO) and realised that we are now converting and generating revenue much more effectively even though we don't yet dominate the SERPs quite to our heart's desire! With 13 retail sites to look after I simply don't have time to start a crusade against competitors employing dubious tactics.

Black hat SEO can help a site to achieve high rankings, but it can't make visitors buy. If you are selling any product you still have to make shopping a comfortable experience, present your products well and most of all gain the trust of your visitors so they will take the plunge and complete an order.

By all means report as you go along if you come across something Google might take seriously, but stay focused on developing and promoting your own site.