tedster - 2:40 pm on Feb 28, 2012 (gmt 0)

Many or most of Google's changes over are made to catch and devalue people/sites that play the system with bad information to get on top.

I don't see it that way. Sure Google does this kind of thing, but a major part of their effort goes to understanding how to serve the average user. The spam fighting component is a necessary evil, but it's nowhere near their core focus.