Buying Traffic?

[scotty M]

I've noticed a lot of people selling traffic on ebay. I realize it probably wouldn't be targeted for a certain niche, and would probably come from overseas.

I would guess that it would be unethical to get a traffic counter, buy a few hundred thousand visitors, and use those numbers to show to potential advertisers. I doubt I'd do this but it would be a thought when launching a brand new site.

My main question is does a huge traffic spike help in google rankings at all?

Any other reasons buying traffic could be a good option?

Thanks guys,

-Scott