Will Hobo (based in Scotland) be applying for membership in the new UK Search Engine Marketing Companies Charter developed by the UK IAB & DMA? Nope! They are trying to define a “search engine marketing company” and code of standards whilst leaving out the majority of the industry.

Here’s the skinny:

“The Internet Advertising Bureau – the trade association for internet marketing – and the Direct Marketing Association are launching the first search marketing charter to establish best practice throughout the industry. The charter includes four key requirements for search marketing companies in the UK. “

Ok. Define Search Engine Marketing Companies. They’re talking about PPC here, or rather, and specifically, Google Adwords? Aren’t they?

What about on page search engine optimisation? Link builders? Affiliate marketing? Web 2 promotion? Blogging…etc…etc? Isnt that over 80% (bear in mind I’m not a stats kind of person) of the rest of the clicks on search engines?

“This charter represents an important first step in the establishment of search marketing best practice in the UK. - Guy Phillipson, chief executive of the Internet Advertising Bureau”

 

Hmmm. This still only seems to be about Google Adwords.

“This is the first time industry bodies have collaborated on search standards in the UK. The charter is a product of the IAB search council and the DMA’s continued efforts to educate marketers about search marketing – currently worth 58% of all online advertising expenditure in the UK – and to reinforce advertiser and agency confidence in the medium.”

“The charter is aimed solely at search engine marketing companies (SEMCos) and significantly raises the bar on best practice in the UK. To conform with the charter SEMCos must currently fulfill 4 criteria, with more to be added before the end of the year:”

Oh dear….. I don’t think I am a search engine marketeer…..and it gets worse.

  • They must have at least two employees dedicated to search marketing
    • Eh? Since when? So if Aaron Wall was based in the UK, he wouldnt be able to call himself a search engine marketing company? So many of the very best seo companies start small, like us, with one lead seo and a team of people, all concentrating on their particular area, be it programming, web development linkbuilding etc.
  • They must have search engine accreditation (from Google or Microsoft with more to follow) and have received official search engine optimisation (SEO) training as relevant
    • Er…right. SEO Companies cannot get accreditation from the search engines. Only PPC companies can. A UK charter for search engine marketing companies in Google Adwords, as MSN accreditation is not available yet in the UK, then.
  • The company must have been trading for 6 months
    • So trading for more than six months makes you good at search engine marketing?…. nonsense. I know of at least one company, been around for years, who’s ripping people off with either unethical or ineffective search engine marketing and business techniques. And we were good when we started, or we wouldn’t have bothered.
  • The company must be a member of either IAB UK, IAB Europe, DMA or Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organisation (SEMPO) or the Association of Business to Business Agencies (ABBA).
    • Ah….so I have to pay to get in here.

It’s a non-profit organisation geared up to get the business members more business and kudos (and Page Rank eventually) and seems to ignore so many facets of search enigne marketing.

I don’t often comment on industry news with such a personal opinion, and I leave my self open to criticism, which is fair. I’ll make sure I read the charter again, to make sure I’m not misunderstanding things, but to me it looks as though the big boys are forming a back slapping organisation for the industry you need to pay to get into and slamming the door on most of the SEM industry at the same time.

Good seo companies in 2007 are search engine marketing companies, not constrained or limited by these very poor standards for even PPC companies.

Is this organisation to benefit members or businesses looking to get customers from Google?

Call me cynical. Look forward to kicking your butts in the search engines just by following Google’s simple rules and standards. :)
Shaun

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