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So, if you read an article saying "Hire an SEO consultant today to improve your site visibility x100" and the author happens to be an SEO consultant, it would be an ad hominem to point this fact out ?

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It would be ad hominem if you called it a shit or untrue article just because you dislike SEO consultants. It may be a shit or untrue article, but then say why.

ad hominem: his argument is invalid because he is a SEO consultant.

not ad hominem: his argument is invalid because [reason]. he ignores [reason] because he is a SEO consultant.

Ideally, sure.

But suppose I don't know anything about SEO. How would I judge if the article is bullshit or not ?

If, however, I see "x is an SEO consultant" then I would at least suspect that the author is trying to sell me something rather than inform me.

Sure. But it is still ad hominem regardless.

Is this high school debate class? Ad hominem might get you docked points in a competition but purposely blinding yourself to someone's motivations is retarded. The author took the time to type up some scarcely camouflaged ad copy and I think asking Why is legitimate and it should certainly color the interpretation of the information he is presenting.

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