There’s always something to howl about.

What do gambling, pornography and real estate have in common?

A: A lot of “SEO masters” trying to scam their way to the top of Google and Yahoo.

Is there an inverse relationship between an industry’s reputation and the number of “SEO masters” offering sage advice? It seems to hold true for gambling, pornography, payday loans, trial lawyers, mortgage brokers and real estate agents. You know you’re entering a shady industry when your industry has forums and contests devoted to industry-specific SEO (here is an awesomely not safe-for-work example).

Note to “SEO masters:” if this is true, helping politicians rank for searches is the next big thing.