Death of SEO Transparency

Scratching deeper into my little foxhole of the search engine marketing pie, I’ve noticed a trend among true experts – if you want to be over-the-top successful, keep your mouth shut! This trend is not without exception, so for what is sure to be statistically insignificant, please take a moment to participate in the SEO Transparency Poll.

There’s a problem in the search industry: SEO noise pollution! What was once a tight community of enthusiastic pioneers has fizzled into a sea of mediocrity. However, this isn’t just another Sphinn-bashing post. Beyond the Sphinn car salesmen pitching the next “12 Ways to Not be a Complete Idiot Online,” there is an overabundance of forums, blogs, magazines, conferences, podcasts and books providing insight into elusive “SEO secrets.”

With so many information sources and “experts” there’s a flavor for every competent and incompetent search marketer. I don’t blame the industry for the shifting baseline of SEO fame. On the contrary, it’s only natural that as the industry was accepted as a mainstream marketing strategy that it would see the flood gates open to opportunists. I should clarify that in my mind opportunists of early SEO days were in fact highly intelligent, driven individuals that deserve the utmost respect for breaking the mold. The new generation of opportunists are leeches, sucking on the hard work and lifeblood of others.
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