Gaussian Blur when Exporting

It all depends on what youwant to use the file for. Anything that needs to be cut or plotted or similar can't have raster based effects (but also it can't have a blend although that would be pure vector).

In an SVG raster based effects are also pointless. SVG effects exist for a reason.

You do what you do and as long as the file remains a native AI file, there's always a way to go back and crank out different versions without the GB if needed. I'm not clear how this should influence anyone's design decisions beyond a) understanding the target medium and b) the client's requirments in the first place. That's all that matters. Why should anyone care beyond that? Everything else is an academic, but ultimately pointless exercise. There is no such thing as a "clean vector" solution to so many things that if anyone actually paid attention to it, we'd still only produce 1990s clipart with basic strokes and fills. So many things will ultimately produce raster data (blends, gradient meshes, gradients, custom brushes etc.), not just a GB, with the only difference really being if the result is baked into the file or the render client (AI, a PostScript interporeter, a PDF viewer, a print driver, a web browser etc.) does it dynamically.

Mylenium