Blackhat SEO
I clicked on the links mentioned, and got as far as seeing the banner was Blackhat SEO.
Then I closed the windows.
Seriously, has any SEO activity been anything other than somewhere in the spectrum between "dodgy" and "possibly illegal"?
I saw an SEO2 forum a while back where the person, while talking how great her revenue was, said that every page you put up is there to make you money, if it doesn't make money, it gets taken down.
What a way to think. My site is hundreds of pages. I'll admit a lot of it is probably balls, but there's some useful information in there too. That's the point. And you'll not find one analytic or banner or pop-up or served advert on the entire site. It is NOT there to make me money. I have a job for that. What's the value in something that is only there for the lure of dollar signs, gaming both users and search engine algorithms in an attempt to increase said profits.
Like this guy. He gamed eBay. But, on the other hand, was what he did technically wrong? Morally, yes. It'll be an interesting thing to watch to see the fallout and who lays claim to what.