Meta Keywords: Do They Hurt Rankings

[b4cab]

I know that Google doesn't use meta keywords, but does it hurt to have anything in there? Just wondering if I need to remove all the meta keywords that are on my site, or are they harmless to have.

Also, would meta keywords ever be used by an internal search plug-in if we were to install one in the future, or do they generally look at the product title and description for that info?

[GPainter]

Meta Keywords are completely useless Google's said it has no plans to use them, Bing has been known to use them negatively and they also tell competitors what keywords you are after. If I were you I would remove them as they serve no purpose nor will they any time soon.

[TheZenAgency]

I would agree with Chris, we regularly use competitors meta keywords as a means of identifying their current SEO strategy.

I would actively aim to remove them from your website.

Regards

[JVRudnick]

BI - business intelligence is an important tactical advantage if you can establish what a competitor is doing SEO strategy wise that is..

So if you wish to tell the world exactly what SEO keywords you're targeting then sure go ahead....

It's a "not-too-smart" idea in my SEO world tho...