At SEO conferences (like Pubcon Las Vegas) I often introduce myself by saying that, among other things, my group fights search-engine spam. But I’ve noticed that whenever I say the S-word to SEOs there’s a little flinch, an awkward little pause. Not as though I’ve done something unforgivable, but as though I’d … farted in church or something. Kind of like the way that people who don’t really like strong language react when someone curses.
This is a cultural mismatch, because I can tell you that within Y! Search we use the word pretty freely. 🙂
Anyway, saying “black-hat SEO” instead doesn’t seem to produce the same reaction, so that’s what I’ll say going forward. Yeah, that’s it.
Tim Converse 
How about saying “if you got caught, it was probably me and my team.” It’s only spam if you get caught…
or how about you just ‘improve SERPs quality’ which is a subtle difference but which won’t set off fist fights in the audience at least.
I’d be more humble about calling some folks “spammers” in reference to SERPs if I thought that there would be stricter punishments.
I mean really, if we can’t even string a few email spammers up by their thumbs, what’s the stigma of Search Engine Spamming.
It’s not like they farted in Church or anything.
And then giggled.