The top-ranking HTML editor on Google is an SEO scam

SEO is so broken, it's not about website content or website quality. It's about how much money you pay to some punks - "SEO experts" who are hacking a system. I'm so sick of that.

That's why for certain things Google is useless. Have to add certain keywords to avoid the SEO content to get comparisons, reviews, forums.

One day Google may introduce multiple search rankings, where one of them is SEO and another is the "useful things". But I don't hold my breath.

The useful thing would instantly become useless because people would start gaming it.

Agreed, I heard that before.

What about trust-based systems. You choose who you trust and get information that they found not to be SEO-garbage, like trust-rings. When the system can't do it alone, user-centric feedback may work. That could give interesting inputs besides the ones Google already gets using its standard metrics.

When you place a tangible value on trust, trust becomes a commodity to be bought and sold. See:

1. Old domain names bought solely for their old SEO rank.

2. Apps on mobile app stores are sold, and updates begin to include shady privacy-invading malware.

3. Old free software projects on various registries (npm etc.) are sold, with the same result as (2).

Agreed, being able to become part of any group makes this problematic. Without repercussions, it seems difficult. Detection of ownership and the following loss of trust seems to be also in order. Or make the trust innate, not sellable to others, under the assumption that you cannot sell yourself.

Otherwise, it seems really like a cat and mouse game. Another option may be to force SEO to be indistinguishable from the best content. Is that the current goal?