The Death of Search Engine Optimization?

According to an article I read today, “The Beginning of the End of Search Optimization” is here. In the article written October 12, 2006, Wyatt Lee reports that in search engine optimization the trend is “now flowing towards the more accurate and humanized features of user-driven indexing systems.” What Wyatt uses as support for his argument is the trend towards social networking.

According to Wikipedia, “Social networking refers to a category of Internet applications to help connect friends, business partners, or other individuals together using a variety of tools.” Popular online site that employ social networking include MySpace, LinkedIn and Flickr.

While it is indeed true that we are moving into un-chartered new territories with the web and that these sites represent the next new thing, relatively nothing new is happening with the major search engines, in regards to social networking affecting their organic results. Keep in mind that Google, MSN and Yahoo! still account for over 90% of the search engine market and while social networking sites continue to grow in importance, until the three big powers decide that social networking matters, search results will go on business as usual.

At the Search Engine Strategies Meeting in San Jose last summer, a panel of experts were asked what, if anything would be changing in regards to the search engines. According to Dave Naylor, “it will be the same, link analysis.” Based on these and other expert opinions, we can safely expect nothing major from the search engines for the next several years, or so. So while Wyatt is right to talk about the importance of the emerging trend of social networking, his announcement of the death of SEO as we know it is extremely premature.

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