In today’s Search Insider column, Chris Copeland argues that the logical evolution of search will lead to its extinction. Not just as a standalone business which he argues will be the result of either acquisition by media agencies or diversification of services by the remaining search agencies; but that the discipline itself will disappear. He argues that “the business of search marketing is evolving to a point where, inside of 12 months, the suggestion that we are in the search marketing business will be like suggesting humans are in the oxygen business.” And I think he’s both right and wrong…If I understand him correctly the assertion is that because search will be seen to be such a basic requirement of any marketing activity it will just ‘be.’ In principle I think he’s right; generally speaking, the object of putting a piece of marketing on the Internet is for it to be seen by an audience. If we are doing things to obscure that marketing; making it difficult to be found and seen, then we’re not doing our jobs. So eventually as this becomes recognised, logically all of the best practice that enable marketing to be found and seen will just happen as a mater of course. And yet the very existence of SEO agencies and specialists tells us that someone somewhere is continuing to do just that; obscuring their marketing. Otherwise why would SEO specialists exist to tell them how to undo their obfuscations? 12 months won’t see all of that marketing fixed and all of those habits changed.
As I say, I think Chris is right in principle; good search practice (making your marketing findable) will eventually just be best practice and eventualy standard practice. But I think he’s wildly optimistic in his estimation that this will happen in 12 months. The past decade of glacial evolution by the advertising industry demonstrates that we are creatures of comfort and habit even in what is supposed to be a dynamic, innovative industry.
To paraphrase the oft paraphrased; while the report of the death of search has not necessarily been much exaggerated, the corpse is going to take a terribly long time to decompose.
