I agree with many of your points, and have recognized the same pattern here before in terms of info products like you mentioned. Can spot those a mile away now

I agree with many of your points, and have recognized the same pattern here before in terms of info products like you mentioned. Can spot those a mile away now. The distinguishing factor is that a large % of the businesses here attempt to really add tangible value, vs. just selling a dream that they hope some newbie suckers buy into. Again, quality over quantity. For example, Mike Hartl sells an info product. It also happens to be the definitive bible on Ruby on Rails and has helped numerous people start learning the language, including getting jobs as developers. Contrast that with some random person's "WaFo Special" and I think the difference is pretty stark. I'd further add that I'm not dismissing SEO at all. I think it is quite important under the "Content" umbrella, but trying to game it is not sustainable and a waste of resources in the big picture. These days it is about creating linkable, high-density/value content, and then getting relevant backlinks for it. That has never really changed in the SEO space. A lot of the random attempts at gaming the signals you send search engines has.