Following Yahoo!'s recent explanation about the terms and conditions of its auto-optimise sponsored search accounts, dissent is still being voiced from many parts of the search marketing sector.

SEO Book's Aaron Wall asks if the search engine organisation has lost its mind.

It has often been suggested by those working in the search engine optimisation (SEO) industry that Google either hates or penalises people utilising the practice professionally.

However, Scott Allen, writing on the online pages of Web Geek, notes that the search engine simply has a job to do, which focuses on setting the guidelines for websites to abide by, in order to keep spam out of the index.

Yahoo! has revealed the "truth" about its decision to auto-optimise sponsored search accounts, but for some commentators, this may well have exasperated the situation.

In recent weeks, the search engine organisation contacted advertisers informing them that it would be able to create advertisements and edit keywords.

A key to Google's success, in the opinion of one of its representatives, is its "willingness and desire" to get users to their search destination in the quickest time possible.

So reports CNET's Don Reisinger, who also revealed that the search engine organisation views itself as a simple middleman.

Pay per click (PPC) advertising could be changed in a "fundamental way" by utilising what one blogger calls Google's best kept secret.

Search Engine Watch's David Szetela is talking about the Google Conversion Optimiser - which was recently added to every advertiser's AdWords.

Among the search engines, Google may still be seen as leading the way as it defied the financial downturn to post strong results for the fourth quarter of 2008.

For the three months ending December, the organisation recorded revenue of $5.7 billion (£4.16 billion), a year-on-year increase of 18 per cent.

The chief executive officer of Google has hinted that the search engine company will be placing a further focus on developing semantic search this year, which could allow businesses to re-examine their search engine optimisation campaigns.

Google Watch's Clint Boulton reports that the announcement was made following Google's posting of its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2008 - in which search query results were strong and revenue increased.

The key to effective search engine optimisation (SEO) cannot be found in black hat "technical trickery" as its future lies with user interaction.

Peter D, in a post for SEO Book, explains that he often receives queries as to what all the variables are in Google's ranking algorithm and if there are any ways around them.

When it comes to search engine optimisation (SEO) one expert has been keen to follow the "golden rule" by only using white hat methods.

In an interview with Search Engine Journal, Steve Plunkett asserted that he has always followed the rule of creating unique content that has been specifically created for the search query.

A method for checking if a website has been banned or penalised has been discovered but the flaw may only remain unaltered for a limited time to check its effect on search engine optimisation.

In a blog entry for Search Engine Watch, Frank Watson stated that Marcus Tander has uncovered the security hole and that by adding "hyves" as a subdomain ahead of the domain will allow the browser to reflect where the page ranks.

Google has in recent days started to redirect iPhone users away from the optimised iGoogle page to the standard mobile version of the search engine website, leading some to revolt, in news which may interest those concerned about how this will affect their search engine optimisation.

The Google forum was soon filled with worried iPhone users voicing their confusion over the changes, to which one of the search engine's spokespersons Paul stated that because people hit iGoogle from different models of handset, the group wanted to ensure they all saw the same version.

Businesses interested in website statistics may be keen to know that Yahoo's relationship with Twitter has been questioned.

In a blog for Search Engine Land, Danny Sullivan, commenting on the subject of the new TweetNews - a news search engine from Twitter which uses Yahoo's BOSS system - asked why Yahoo! had not simply built such a service itself.

The chief executive office or Microsoft was reportedly spotted meeting up with the chairman of Yahoo! in the US last week, prompting speculation in the search media marketing sector that a deal between the two could be back on.

Yahoo's Roy Bostock and Microsoft's Steve Ballmer met up days after Carol Bartz, the new chief executive of Yahoo!, told employees that she had participated in an "informal conversation" with Mr Ballmer, the New York Times reports.

The development of Web 3.0, along social media lines, could effect a change in the way that searches are built and delivered, it has been claimed.

Writing a blog on Search Engine Land, industry expert Tom Wilde argued that the development of Web 3.0 will necessitate a change in search engine results pages so that there is less of a focus on the container, ie the whole web page, and more attention on separate objects, such as videos or individual articles.

Although Google remains ever-popular with the public, consumers would be willing to change to a different search engine in a number of circumstances, a study reveals.

Research conducted by internet analysts at JP Morgan found that better search results from a different provider would see people happily make the switch from Google.

Traditionally the job of designing a website to better increase search engine rankings through search engine optimisation has fallen into the hands of one individual and their ideas.

However, Andrew Gomez, associate product marketing manager at Google, explained that with the Google Website Optimizer, the thousands of visitors to these online pages can now have an input and "produce results that really matter".

To improve their search engine optimisation (SEO) through Google rankings, businesses first need to please the search engine's robot - the software programme that searches the web compiling data for its database - by feeding it, one online resource has claimed.

An article posted on Axandra states that companies must ensure the robot finds the right information and posts the correct data to its database.

It may be said that the construction and placement of keywords within a website's unique text is integral to the success of search engine optimisation and now one sector commentator has offered some pointers on creating the perfect one.

Writing on the online pages of SEO Book, Aaron Wall featured the term hosting as an example and used web analytics to compile a list of keywords selling for $1 (68p) or more, before exporting the top 800 - which can then be broken down using a competition level filter.

According to one sector commentator, social media such as online business networking will be big in 2009 as people rely on these relationships to get through their jobs.

Martin Warner, chief executive officer and co-founder of Talkbiznow.com, said that there was fundamentally an adoption issue between networking face-to-face and enabling a tool like the internet to aid in this.

Companies interested in social media have been advised by one sector commentator to take steps to reduce the risk of hackers.

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, said that any firm that is running a website should be thinking about password security for their users.

Search engine optimisation may not always be the quickest and easiest path to higher Google rankings, however, as one sector commentator asserts, getting results from the alternative of paid links is becoming increasingly difficult.

Writing on the online pages of e-consultancy, Patricio Robles explains that this is because Google has become more adept at identifying paid links and so penalising the websites that use them.

The new year is set to see many of the world's larger companies making search engine optimisation (SEO) a real priority in their business operations, one sector commentator has predicted.

Jill Whalen, writing on the online pages of Search Engine Land, said that this was something she expected would also grow in 2008 and looking back at the last 12 months she feels this did occur as such firms realised the value of SEO.

One sector commentator claims that he has recently come to some "interesting" conclusions after conducting testing around internal and anchor text.

Writing on the online pages of SEOmoz, Randfish explained that search engine optimisation was always challenging to quantify but that he feels confident in his findings.

According to one sector commentator, effective search engine optimisation (SEO) is not supposed to be easy, but is about building a quality and accessible website with appropriate keywords and content.

Writing on the online pages of Search Engine Watch, Mark Jackson said that nothing about SEO should be easy if it is done right.

One sector commentator has questioned whether Google was right to issue a warning to businesses that involve their sites in schemes that see content being artificially promoted to the top of social media services.

Google's Michael Gray claimed that in the future, there may be a reporting tool for people to use should they feel a site is using social media spam.

Businesses that practice techniques on their websites such as content structure, content depth and individuality, design and sematic markup can expect to "earn better consideration" from search engines, one sector commentator has claimed.

SEOmoz blogger Randfish explained that in addition to this, companies could also see the benefits of the user online activities that play an influence in search engine algorithms.

The number one reason listed by one sector commentator as to why pay per click (PPC) has enjoyed strong growth to become one of the best online marketing channels is high return on investment (ROI).

Writing on the online pages of Search Engine Journal, Brian Carter said PPC was one of the "most profitable" advertising and marketing mediums.

Social media could prove an effective vehicle during the London Olympic Games in attracting and advertising to a "critical mass audience", according to one sector commentator.

Jerome Touze, co-founder of social networking community website WAYN, said that the travel industry in particular could prove beneficial in the lead-up to 2012.

Businesses that have turned to blogging as a way of increasing their search engine optimisation (SEO) may wish to consider how green their posts are, according to one sector commentator.

Writing on the online pages of Wordsicle, the commentator explains that they had always thought of involvement in SEO, internet marketing and social media as being fairly environmentally-conscious activities.

Businesses that are considering increasing their search engine optimisation techniques in the new year may be interested to know that one sector commentator has warned companies should not cut back on their marketing.

In spite of the pressure firms may be feeling due to the ongoing economic crisis, John Dunsmure, managing director of the British Chambers of Commerce, said if they did not look after their customers they would "really struggle".