Changes in the way Google interacts with pay per click management agencies might eventually change the face of SEO and PPC marketing. This may seem a stretch at first, but it is the most probable objective Google had in mind when it announced the latest revisions to its relationship with PPC management agencies.

Profit sharing with PPC management agencies

The search giant redefined its relationship with pay per click management agencies to create a more "level" playing field for all SEM Agencies and clients. In the past, large agencies and clients that spent millions of Euros per quarter reportedly received as much as 15% commission for the advertising business they brought Google. The ceiling to receive commission from Google is now supposed to be lowered, so that clients spending over 250,000 Euro per quarter will be eligible for one of eight tiers of commissions ranging from 3 to 8%.

Ironically, this does not quite create a level playing field. Agencies that receive a commission could pay it back to their clients in order to effectively lower the clients' net CPC. However, agencies that do not receive any commission might get left out of the loop as they can't compete on the lowered net CPC. This a different story in itself, though.

Google's plans For SEO & SEM

During a private conversation with the Director of European Sales and Operations, Google Europe, we got a sneak peak at Google's vision for SEO and SEM as an industry. Google believe that the SEO industry will cease to exist in the next few months or a year. SEO, as we know it, will supposedly be reduced to just a few bottom-scrapers still trying to outsmart the search engines. The vast majority of SEM agencies will realize the benefit of pay per click advertising, and the fact that it is the only sure-fire way to be listed in the Google search results, and will adapt it as their primary marketing method.

Future SEO landscape

If we ignore the naysayers, doomsday predictors and hopefuls for a moment and survey the current search engine optimisation landscape, we will find that the search behemoth are perhaps not far from the truth. Most unscrupulous means of SEO have been quashed. Just like virus creators, black hat SEO's will always find new techniques to outsmart the SE, but the vast majority of SEO's will give up the chase and settle for the more reliable paths. Moreover, the advent of local and personal search have made reviewing and tracking optimisation in general more challenging.

Future for Pay Per Click management agencies

The real motivation behind Google's maneuvers becomes evident when we consider what these changes imply to the future of pay per click management agencies. Consider this:

It should now be easier to earn large commissions on pay per click ad spendReturns are more easily guaranteed to clients with PPCSEO is perceived to be more difficult and less rewardingGoogle themselves intend to drive SEO agencies out of business if they stick to SEO, and they are providing lower hanging fruit to agencies so that they consider switching more clients to pay per click advertising

Google users might benefit from these changes too, as fewer spam sites make it into the top 10 results. However, the real winners in this plot are painfully obvious here!