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In theory, you're correct - the premise being they'd not want to risk penalizing innocent site owners. In reality, Google makes mistakes all the time.  Some bounce back, others don't. Also, Google is constantly changing their rules.  And based on rule-changing patterns I've studied over the past several years, if a technique even appears to be in the shady category today, it's very likely to be a primary target tomorrow.  Because of this, I prefer to focus on methods and tactics I believe to have a much more resilient long-term potential.