First of these was VerifiedSEO, who attempted to establish a system to verify SEO providers for a $99 fee. With a record 130 comments on Sphinn, the outrage from the community surprised many. It was hard not to draw the conclusion that Rhea’s activism had shamed many into action that day.

The campaign, led by Edward Lewis was successful, with the VerifiedSEO project closing it’s doors in the evening. The owner was shocked by the responses but admitted it had been a learning process.

Next against the wall has been TOPSEOs.com, who claim to be “The Independent Authority on Search Vendors”. I won’t go over the numerous complaints in this post but feel free to follow these links to understand the back story.

TopSEOs.com – A Review of the Top SEOs Paid Rating Service
TOPSEOs – Independent Authority on Search Vendors
Complaints and Discussion About TOPSEOS®

Particularly worrying was the insight given by Arnie Kuenn, President of Vertical Measures in this post on TopSEOs by Alan Bleiweiss and Mark Jackson at VIZION Interactive. Both previous customers of TopSEOs.

It’s easy to understand why these schemes upset so many in the online marketing industry. Especially when these operators have little or no interaction with the community they claim to police.

Any long-term marketer knows that standards are a common discussion topic in this industry. We circle through the same arguments every couple of years. It would be great if this current wave of activism could be directed into moving this debate forward.

However much the community dislikes TopSEOs and other companies profiteering from the lack of standards, they are fueled by the poor, ineffective or downright shady online marketing companies out there. For years these companies, big or small, have been a blight on the industry and hammered the reputation of professional SEO/SEMs.

If 2010 is the year to clean up the industry, we can’t ignore this elephant in the room.

There is a demand from clients for honest reviews of potential SEO/SEM suppliers. If the allegations of “Pay to Play” are true then TopSEOs has now become part of the problem not the solution. It’s unlikely they will be the last to respond to this need, as Edward Lewis has pointed out, the business model seems too profitable.

For the next group to try, take note. Standards can only be introduced by a group respected within the community. Their motivation, practices and business model must be completely transparent. Anything less will quickly place the proponents up against the wall – to face the wrath of the SEO revolutionaries.

** Afterwards Tom and Eric weren’t exactly sure at which point during their discussion the elephant had entered the room by David Blackwell, one of the artists who release their work under a Creative Commons license at Flickr – thank you!

Technorati Tags: SEM, SEO, Standards, TopSEOs, TopSEOs.com

SearchCamp Philly Online Marketing Conference

The good news, this two day SEO conference is packed with speakers and is available for the amazing entry price of $21! The bad news, it starts tomorrow (6th). If I lived in the US this would be a must-attend for me, even with flights and hotel it’s on offer for a fraction of the cost of a mainstream conference pass. There’s still time, book yourself a late minute flight now!

ThinkTank 2008: Exclusive SEO Gathering

Next up is ThinkTank, an exclusive gathering of top SEO/SEM talent that will take place on the 26th-27th September in San Diego. The conference is a the idea of Dr. David Klein, who organises the popular Poker Championship held at PubCon. ThinkTank promises to be an awesome conference, with many well-known industry names already signed up.

There are no formal presentations, the aim is to create a relaxed atmosphere where the top minds in the industry can share knowledge freely. All attendees will be required to sign an NDA on arrival. Places are very limited so apply now for your chance to attend or check out this competition.

ScarySEO Conference

ScarySEO is the creation of well known SEO David Snyder and will take place at the Hilton Deerfield Beach/Boca Raton on October 24th-25th. Again, places are limited to 50 so this promises to be another close networking event, backed up by quality speakers. The price is also very attractive at only $200 per ticket (register here).

Technorati Tags: Conferences, ScarySEO, Search Marketing, SearchCamp Philly, SEM, SEO, SEO Conferences, ThinkTank

Dan Thies is one of the most experienced SEOs in the industry, so when he releases a post or e-book you’d be wise to pay attention. Dan has just completed his updates for his free e-book “SEO Fast Start 2008″ and posted it to his site. You can download it here

This e-book is an excellent course to new or intermediate SEOs. It takes you through an optimisation process or strategy for a website, which Dan terms “The SEO Fast Start System”. Each stage is explained in clear, understandable terms and covers everything from the ideal site structure and recommended directories to PageRank sculpting (third level push).

This e-book is compulsary reading for my staff (and myself) and I’m very grateful to Dan for releasing this information free of charge. New additions for the 2008 edition have been helpfully notated, so previous SEO Fast Start readers can quickly scan for this new material.

Download SEO Fast Start SEO e-Book (97 page PDF)

Technorati Tags: Dan Thies, e-book, PPC, SEM, SEO, SEO book, SEO e-book