Curious title isn’t it? Or is just me that thinks this way?! An engine for searching out whatever the heart desires or a carefully constructed set of code designed to funnel human beings towards the highest paying advertiser?

Ok, so we start with a few questions – cynical questions at that, but search has become a huge deal on the interwebs and a little trip down memory lane, can help us to understand why it’s become one of (if not THE) most profitable revenue generator online. Way back (when the internet was just a bunch of nerds arguing about whether Star Wars or Star Trek was the true vision of humanity’s future), human beings had to KNOW the address they needed to type into the bar at the top of the browser.

Sure directories quickly sprung up – such as DMOZ – , where Websites could be listed and found by the curious, but boy was it a laborious, time consuming affair and it relied on site owners knowing that they COULD list their site and which directories were likely to get them the most visitors.

The first true search engines started to appear very quickly after the birth of the internet, and they were – well – ok, useful to an extent, but not a particularly accurate way of finding the most useful site(s) for your particular query. And then along came Google (sorry, you knew I was going to have to mention it at some point!), and changed the face of search, and ACTUALLY, the whole damned world.

It took time though, and it’s easy to forget now, that it really did take a hell of a long time for Google (other search engines are available, but we all know that it’s the one most people use!) to work out how it was going to make money. Adwords was the solution and when it launched in October 2000 only 350 customers were prepared to invest in an advert, 12 or so months later the big Goog turned it’s first profit and it has never even glanced over it’s shoulder, never mind looking back!

So what does this mean for the entreprenuer who needs to get a listing on the most popular search vehicles for her business to survive and thrive? Well, with so much competition to gain a placing on the first page now, in most industries, it means constant attention to the metrics, strategic use of content and Social Media and liberal sharing between all avaible medium, and yes, an adwords strategy too.

Hit us up, if you’d like to discuss a personalised search engine programme for your enterprise, we’re friendly, thorough and capable and an initial consultation is always free of charge.