I can't see that the additional tags would hurt SERP too much unless the repeating of keywords in the "classification" and "target" tags is seen as keyword loading.

I also don't see that the additional tags would greatly help either.

One thing I can see is that the addition of the extra tags could be used to justify several hours of work resulting in higher fees.

If the approach does make a positive difference the the additional work may be justified but if they do not help SERP then it is simply "make work" and the client is paying for work that never needed to be done.

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