Yes but if you choose to stay out of it (i.e. invest in content and not bother with SEO techniques which cannot really be approved or disproved, unless you work for a search engine) you don't suffer when the algorithms change, because you don't care about it. Your clients/visitors will still come to you because they like your content/service. They will probably share you with their friends. People tend to help each other and if I find a nice website that does something I need, I will share it with my friends if i think they will benefit from it.
As for spam, I have become immune to it. I just ignore it and try to not affiliate myself with websites that generate it (i.e. I don't even bother visiting the websites, let alone purchase their service or what not). The Internet is like a big city... if you contain yourself to a certain area (where all your needs are met), you can live your whole life without going in the slums or the rough neighbourhoods.