From the Small Business section of the Irish edition, not a bad article, and the first time I've seen it covered in the Irish press outside IT/Web articles...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-2320062,00.html

That is a very sad article - woefully inaccurate in many places and misleading in others. :(

Forget the accuracy of the article, I've yet to read an "accurate" article on SEO in the mainstream press.

It's in a mainstream section of a mainstream publication that is the salient point.

That is a very sad article - woefully inaccurate in many places and misleading in others. :(

Very misleading.....

Excellent, why don't we all focus on the irrelevant point...

I'd prefer the media not covering SEO than covering it with complete ignorance.

True, it's good to see us getting some press and raising awareness of the industry. It's always the danger when someone reads something misleading and things that they'll "have a go".
SEO really is the best example of a little knowledge being a dangerous thing.

Although...that does reduce the "true" competition :D

To an extent, though the number of people that are put off SEO because of the scam artists and bad SEOs around is frightening

SEO is not any different (in terms of business conduct and operations) like any other services. There are good ones, so-so ones, then those that give the service a bad name. THat's too bad but to stand out as a good SEO requires more work these days compared to years back...

I and my SEO client were recently interviewed for a LA Times Article involving SEO - and I have to confess I held my breath until the piece came out due to all the bad information out there.

However in their defense, I think the LA reporter did a stellar job in sharing the benefits - and how it helped a small business grow to $4 million in sales last year. (OK, admittably there was a little confusion on research she did on how to actually optimize and keyword density in one line.) We as an industry need to help set the record straight and share what it's doing for businesses today.

You can find the article here:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-smallbiz5jul05,1,7897743.column

(Requires you to be registered w/Times).

SEO is not any different (in terms of business conduct and operations) like any other services. There are good ones, so-so ones, then those that give the service a bad name. THat's too bad but to stand out as a good SEO requires more work these days compared to years back...

The problem is that as it's a relatively new disipline there are not many who understand it even among marketing managers. Sometimes is more difficult to explain things to someone who has half an idea than no idea at all. I recently had a client who has been told that links were bad and you could get penalised for them! It took a while to explain the difference between IBLs, OBLs and recipricols, what each of them did and how they affected a site.

That article looks like it was written 10 years ago! :D

Doesnt it just, so much of the information is either out of date, or woefully inadequate