2010-06-01 Search Engine Optimization is Unfair

2010-06-01 Eric Enge Search Engine Watch \search engine optimization\marketing\advertising http://searchenginewatch.com/3640512 Search Engine Optimization is Unfair Search Engine Optimization is Unfair  Imagine two different publishers. One is the world expert on some topic, say Asian butterflies. The expert creates never before seen pictures of rare Asian butterflies, and provides a rich array of thought provoking and interesting articles on the topic. They also address the needs of consumers for related information and products.

The second publisher is an expert on SEO, but they have also decided to publish a site about Asian butterflies, probably because they see an interesting commercial opportunity in that space. They create their articles by hiring a writer who previously wasn't aware that there are butterflies in Asia.

The writer diligently puts some effort into researching the topic, and writes a series of articles about them. Unfortunately, because the writer isn't an expert on the topic, the writer perpetuates some myths. Unintentional, perhaps, but it happens just the same.

Who is most likely to get the most search traffic on the topic? It could easily be the second publisher. Notes for an eventual page:

In a sense, most marketing and advertising is like dealing arms: in the competition for a given market, each brand (or side in the battle) trades money for extra firepower (advertising or arms). If the advertisers (or arms dealers) didn't exist, the battle would be far less costly for both sides -- and the outcome might more accurately reflect the determination of the combatants.

The value that marketing does contribute is when it helps inform people about a new brand or product about which they would otherwise have been under- or misinformed. Unfortunately, the level of manipulation quickly exceeds the level of informativeness in the majority of marketing plans.

Mortgage banking is another area that provides a limited amount of utility which is quickly exceeded by its parasitic qualities. By offering loans to new homeowners, people can start living in their house now rather than after many years of working and saving.

Of course, even at a quite low rate of interest (say 5%), the homeowner ends up paying twice as much (for a 30-year loan) -- even assuming they would otherwise be keeping their savings in a non-interest-bearing account.

The real parasitism, though, is in the fact that banks are essentially "arming" home-buyers with "bigger guns" when they go to the negotiating table. This drives up the prices to much higher levels in "desirable" areas. If there were ever a choice between saving up and getting a mortgage, the balance is tilted ever more towards getting a mortgage; very few people make enough money to buy a house outright, and those that do will set their sights towards a larger house rather than avoiding the mortgage.

Further, since this tends to have more of an effect in "desirable" areas, the price discrepancy between "desirable" and "undesirable" areas grows ever greater. The "value" (a misnomer) of comparable houses in two different parts of the same town can vary by a factor of 10.

An SEO expert explains how SEO causes unfairness -- primarily in that it favors content-producers who know SEO over those who produce quality content.   