SEO Crimson

SEO technology is an ambiguous term that is currently undefined.

In common language we use this phrase to describe both the technologies employed by search engines, and the technologies employed by end users wishing to increase their search rankings.

History

The internet was initially designed for use in military applications, indeed the protocols still in use today were funded by the United States Defense Evaluation and Research Agency (DARPA) in the 1970’s.

Commercial use, and mass acceptance, of what is now known as the World Wide Web did not begin until the early 1990’s.

The internet relies on common standards, but perhaps it was inevitable that corporate interests would eventually have a major impact upon the landscape.

The Need for Search Engines

The information available on the internet has been growing exponentially since its early conception. With such huge quantities of data available, the need to catalogue and index this information quickly became apparent.

Early attempts at creating such an index were unrealistic. Simplified search models failed to create any meaningful, searchable reference.

Gopher, released in 1991, was able to crawl the web but was limited to storing only page titles. It was not until two years later in 1993 that the first automated system, Wandex, appeared, finally capable of indexing a full page.

Implications

As more information was available on the web, commercial interests there boomed. The fledgling search technologies allowed businesses to promote their products to an international audience, albeit a small one in the mid 1990’s.

It was of great value to be listed in a search engine, especially if the search term entered by a user described your products or services.

Enterprising individuals began to market their ability to move a company up search engine rankings. The problem was that the techniques employed could be used to move content to a high ranking position for unrelated keywords.

As search engines were now giant corporate entities, they had a responsibility to provide their users with relevant results. Without consistency in these results users would be reluctant to use the affected search service.

SEO Technology

Carefully drawn up Terms and Conditions were introduced, warning that attempting to bypass the algorithms used to determine relevancy, would result in a site being removed from the search engine altogether.

While terms and conditions had an undeniably affect, mechanical methods were needed to handle the sheer volume of data to be indexed.

Profits

However technological development was not limited to the search engines.

Many individuals and companies relied upon high search rankings to maintain their income and reputation. Those affected were willing to invest in technologies of their own, in order to keep their position, thus begun a struggle that is ongoing to this very day.

Today, Tomorrow and the Future

The information published on the internet has inspired a global revolution.

People have an intrinsic thirst for knowledge, and search engines allow quick discovery and evaluation of this knowledge, not only factual information, but of thoughts, opinions, products and services.

A commercial element to the World Wide Web will always be needed to provide the funds for innovation and expansion, and users will always attempt to circumvent the logic based systems that determine relevancy.

As users circumvent these methods, there will always be a need for replacement technologies, feeding an endless cycle of innovation that will ultimately bring positive benefits to the end user.