I remember being in junior high and seeing my friends write “BFF” on their notebooks. Looking back, it was kind of cute … that special little code seemed like such a big deal. Andrea and Karen were “Best Friends Forever” … or at least until one of them found a new BFF.

I never would have imagined how silly little abbreviations like that would become so wildly popular -- or more astonishing, accepted as actual language! I’m amazed that these days everyone on Earth has heard (and used) “LOL,” and I have to say, I am a bit concerned.

Competition can at times be a very frustrating thing, even though as entrepreneurs, we know competition is what makes it possible for us to take on the big guys and win.  Competition is very evident when it comes to managing a sponsored search or pay-per-click campaign.  How is it that companies that offer completely unrelated services than you, can appear in a higher position on the sponsored search results page?  Is Google just that bad at matching the intent of the searcher with the proper results. 

I recently had a client contact me in a bit of a rage about the fact that when they put in the exact name of their company in a Google or Yahoo! search, their competitors came up in primary positions in the sponsored search engine results page (SERP).  What was even more aggravating was the fact that their own company didn't show in any of the sponsored SERP.  What is up with that, and how can they get away with that?

In the last few years there has been a dramatic shift in the way people are utilizing the Internet to acquire information – so much so, in fact, that the expectations of Internet users are actually changing. Companies looking to market their products and services on the web can no longer rely on a broadcast approach to target their audience and drive revenue. Largely due to the influence of social media applications like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, consumers are now looking to “participate,” thus forcing companies to embrace new, relationship-based, online marketing initiatives.