Google's Stake in Search Engine Optimization

Monday, March 24, 2008 3:00 Prime Minister PDT

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Companies that supply services for improving Web sites' search-engine rankings and running effectual search-engine advertisement political campaigns have got a new competitor: .

Bundled in the DoubleClick acquisition came Performics, which supplies search-engine marketing (SEM) and search-engine optimization (SEO) services.

This have created concern for SEM and SEO service providers, which now confront Google, a cardinal partner, also as a rival.

"It sets us in the awkward place of competing with Google's ain [SEM/SEO] federal agency for client accounts," said Spear Loveday, chief executive officer of , an SEO and SEM firm.Background

Over the past seven years, as Google's popularity with advertizers and end users have boomed, so have the SEM and SEO business. Marketers began disbursement important amounts to publicize on hunt engines, primarily Google, and they realized that they needed aid from SEM houses to design, fine-tune and path the effectivity of those campaigns. At the same time, those sellers recognized that they also had to do certain that their companies' Web land sites ranked well on hunt engines when users entered keywords relevant to their businesses, which is what SEO service suppliers specialise in.

Before the DoubleClick acquisition, SEM and SEO houses saw themselves as suppliers of complemental services to Google, but now that Performics is portion of Google, things have got changed.

For starters, there is a concern that Performics will acquire particular entree to inside information about Google's search-engine algorithms, allowing Performics to supply SEO services that are more than effectual that its competitors'.

Then there is the concern that Google will force its in-house Performics SEM services at highly discounted prices, or maybe even free, in direct competition with SEM service providers.

Due to these and other clang points, SEM and SEO suppliers state their human relationship with Google will inevitably acquire strained. This volition likely be bad for Google, considering that SEM suppliers have got a batch of influence over how their clients apportion their hunt advertisement budget.