Organic search is a process where a World Wide Web users finds a web site through unpaid search engine listings, rather than through pay per click advertisements displayed among the search results. Jump to: navigation, search Graphic representation of the World Wide Web around Wikipedia The World Wide Web (WWW, W3, or simply Web) is an information space in which the items of interest, referred to as resources, are identified by global identifiers called Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs). ... Jump to: navigation, search The success of the Google search engine was mainly due to its powerful PageRank algorithm and its simple, easy-to-use interface. ... Pay per click, or PPC, is an advertising technique used on websites, especially search engines. ...
The field of search engine optimization is concerned with maximizing the visibility of a web site by making it's listings appear more frequently and more prominently in the organic search results. Some businesses have based their strategy upon the successful insertion of their web site listings into the organic search results for popular keywords through the practice of search optimization. Jump to: navigation, search Search engine optimization (SEO) is a set of methods aimed at improving the ranking of a website in search engine listings. ... In computer science, a keyword is an identifier which indicates a specific command. ...
In the early 2000, search engines and SEO firms attempted to establish an unofficial "truce." There are several tiers of SEO firms, and the more reputable companies employ content-based optimizations which meet with the search engines' (reluctant) approval.
As search engines operate in a highly automated way it is often possible for webmasters to use methods and tactics not approved by search engines to gain better ranking.
Should the search engine then apply some software to "digest" that content and use it in their search results (often monetized with their own advertising) then pinning an "unethical" label on the webmaster is neither fair nor accurate.