SEO: good or bad?

Introduction

I'll be the first one to admit it: I am part of the problem. As a small website, I depend heavily on low-tier SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to stay relevant. What is worrying are big companies that already have an audience, pushing themselves to the top of practically any search engine, leaving the average user confused and blinded.

Examples

Demonstration

A simple search for a tool such as "background removal" gives a bunch of messy websites with subscription tiers and aggressive marketing.

Job market

SEO has a big range of job opportunities, and the people in these positions are not the ones to blame. Companies see that by hiring those people they get bigger returns, and it is fair for them to offer that, although their marketing strategies are still immoral. The ones at fault are actually the search engines that are obviously aware of the problem and allow their systems to be fooled by the tricks of SEO.

Solutions

I can only offer solutions to help individual users, because I obviously cannot change Google's or Microsoft's ways. That said, the practical solution is to add the term "open source" to your search. Open-source projects are typically made by small teams with the sole purpose of helping the community. While it does not guarantee a 100% success rate, it definitely increases the odds of you winning the battle against the greedy websites.