I entirely understand why the inner workings of the algorithm cannot be public. The treachery is Google's unwillingness to communicate with people of good will. The arrogant founders and management would rather let the unscrupulous SEOs prey upon the public than deal with the problem themselves. They certainly have the resources to cut out these middlemen and cultivate a good relationship with small business but they would prefer to maintain the fantasy of robotic mystery by changing the rules in secret and making people guess what could possibly have gone wrong. Consequently the businesses that do well online are not those that provide the best products and services but those that are best able to navigate the corrupt system. There is no time to lovingly provide widgets to the public, only time to play bizarre guessing games with the ever-changing algorithm.

This is likely to continue for the forseeable future, but it is their greatest vunerability. It will take an extrordinary competitor to drive a wedge there, but it could happen. The Google magic cannot last forever. I for one am sorry I was once an enthusiastic booster and would do things differently if I had it to do over. One lucky thing at least was getting out of GOOG over 600.

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...the Rockies may tumble, Gibralter may crumble... G & I Gershwin, 1937