Recent changes in the way we communicate through the Internet have been less about traditional broadcast media and more about interactive, two way contact. As this type of communication develops it will undoubtedly affect the way search engines function and by default the process of Online Marketing.

Traditional media “broadcasts” a message to the proposed audience, whether it is in the form of a tabloid or an advertisement (physical or digital) which exposes the reader, listener or watcher to a message. The communication is one way and the intended audience is told something, effectively “talked at”.

Customary methods of Online Marketing carried out by the marketing fraternity and of late the relatively new concept of Search Engine Optimisation companies (SEO Company) are targeted at the way that Google (largely) accesses web pages. This is a type of broadcast media not too dissimilar to a newspaper albeit with digital trickery to make the occurance more interesting.

Is this all about to change? Are the accepted Search Engine Placement services about to become less valuable? Assuming the internet continues to progress along the same lines as it has for the last 10 years, we can expect to see the use of the web becoming more embedded in our day to day real time lives. It will turn into more of a delivery platform as opposed to an information source, a concierge as opposed to a librarian. If we are accessing the net in real time that association will become two way and transactional, broadcast techniques will offer a trivial experience and become obsolete.

Once a buyer can connect with the seller of the product or service through two way communication merely reading a website will be less than rewarding. At this point traditional Search Engine Placement services become obsolete and Online Marketing becomes about making connections not recognising content.

The smart Search Engine Optimisation Company will be looking at how that communication can take place in an atmosphere that is so teeming with information. If at all possible, a buyer is exposed to a seller (or a number of sellers) in an atmosphere where he can dynamically interrogate and compare their offer, ask for detail and maybe even tailor the product or service to his requirement before he makes the conclusion to buy.

Instead of providing website optimisation for a static broadcast, online marketing may be about promoting connections and may take place on Twitter, chatrooms, forums even within games where product placement is already beginning to take place.