Screwed: Is this an inevitability in the SEO World?

Microsoft and Yahoo just announced a 10 year pact for Microsoft to provide search results to Yahoo through their new being the search engine. This deal, while likely good for both parties, still does not close the gap enough to make Google sweat profusely.

The two have been doing a dance for roughly a year and a half, and just when it seemed like Yahoo was ready to get further into bed with Google, this deal finally gets sealed. Under the terms of the deal, Microsoft will pay Yahoo 88% of the revenue generated on Yahoo's sites, but they will not pay Yahoo any upfront money which is good for Microsoft as it attempts to close the gap on search market behemoth Google. Combining the two would give Microsoft's new Bing search engine roughly 30% of the search market which is a little over three times what it currently generates.

While it is too early to predict Bing's true competitive staying power, early opinions seem to suggest that it is a significant upgrade over MSN search and offers unique options to searchers looking for additional information when they conduct a search online.

For the search engine optimization (SEO) world, not a whole lot has changed (yet) because Microsoft's new search engine functions and operates somewhat similarly to that of Google. Link building, quality content, tagging, and user generated content (opinions, feedback, audio, videos, ratings, etc.) appear to carry a lot of weight just as they do with Google. That's not to suggest that Bing is trying to be a better Google, but with greater than 60% market share, would that be such a terrible strategy for Microsoft?

So what does this mean for your business? Well, it is another opportunity to attract new eyeballs especially if this deal creates momentum for the partnership while closing the gap on Google. It also means Google will likely take rapid action to counter this move which means searchers should benefit all the way around through more free content. Hopefully, for paid search advertisers, it provides respite from the dreaded "Google Slap" along with legitimate competition to decrease search marketing expenses. This could also provide an opportunity for organic SEO practitioners to carve out a niche by targeting Microsoft's new search engine as opposed to trying to reverse engineer Google's algorithm in an attempt to improve rankings. That said, the tenets of successful search optimization should remain your focus as a business owner and search engine marketer.

By about 2pm everyday, each of my team members has spoken to a good handful of

clients and potential clients who have been speaking with other SEO firms. This an

absolutely wonderful thing to see, as in the past in our industry, not enough of our

consumers were questioning what they were purchasing. It is a sign that

accountability will come and the bad guys will be weeded out.

While this is

a good sign, it's the cause of my having to answer the same questions over and

over. The consumers in the SEO world are being fed out and out lies by some of the

people who call themselves experts in the area of Search Engine Optimization. They

hear these lies and while comparing prices, contact us at Abalone Designs. They

then proceed to tell me everything that all of these other companies promised them

and I am utterly astonished. Here some of the most asinine claims I hear through

the grapevine.

"We can guarantee your rankings"

Don't be fooled! Ask the company what you will be ranking for,

immediately! 9 times out of 10, a company that guarantees you rankings, is

guaranteeing that you will rank for your own company name, which means people

on Google or MSN or Yahoo! would have to know your company name before

searching. How does this produce new customers and visitors to your site? Chances

are, as soon as these search engines index your site, you will rank within the top ten

for your company name, if not first, because it is unique. Why bother paying

someone for something that is already going to happen, anyway?

Guaranteeing rankings is highly unethical. It is impossible to guarantee

rankings unless you have access to Google's database itself, and even then I'm not

sure it's possible. Keep in mind, we are working with a 3rd party, here. A highly

guarded 3rd party that doesn't, under any circumstances, reveal it's secrets. No one

outside of the companies that run these search engines knows what it is exactly that

makes search engines rank sites high. Especially due to the fact that these search

engines and the rigorous ranking filters they use to spit out search results change

almost monthly. Even a former Google employee doesn't know how to guarantee

rankings! If someone is telling you they'll guarantee top rankings, run fast! Those

are some shady, shady claims. Google themselves have said:

"No one can

guarantee a #1 ranking on Google - Beware of SEO's that claim to guarantee

rankings, or that claim a "special relationship" with Google, or that claim to have a

"priority submit" to Google. There is no priority submit for Google.