Each day, millions of people rely on search engines to keep them afloat on the sea of information that underlies the web. But if you think search engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN Search and Ask Jeeves provide an independent guide to what is online, think again. Search results are increasingly influenced by a growing industry of "search engine optimisers", companies whose job it is to ensure search engines place their clients at the top of the results list for the most relevant matches. Businesses have wised up to the fact that ranking high in search engine results makes money. Because of this, the search engine optimiser industry of North America alone is now worth around half a billion dollars, according to the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) based in San Francisco, California. Optimisers Oneupweb in Suttons Bay, Michigan, estimate that a US company can increase sales by 42 per cent in the first month it moves into the top 10 on a Google search and by about 80 per cent in the second month.
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