Every once in a while, CTRL-U is my best friend. If you’re a search optimizer like me, then you know exactly what I mean.

Sometimes, the code surprises you. For example, sometimes that valid link passing juice, isn’t really a juice-passing link after all. Look below the surface, and you’ll find that it’s a tricky cloaking mechanism (largely via JavaScript) that hides your link from the hungry-hungry-bot.

Out of habit, I did it today. Yes, you know what I mean, I toggled CTRL-U. I didn’t mean to look at the code of Google’s SERPS, but it just so happened. What did I find? You would be appalled, fellow SEOptimizer Nazi: Google uses a gaggle (yes, a gaggle) of inline CSS (*waves index finger prodigiously while hissing*). Don’t believe me? See for yourself:

So, does this mean that inline CSS is bad, or that Google is just bad (at SEO, that is)?