I will absolutely pass them on to the DMA. I will also post information about the program as I get it and will certainly encourage the DMA to engage in the blogosphere conversations that are occurring as a result of this announcement.

Ultimately, it is up to them to do that in the midst of promoting the DMA06 conference which should attract around 30,000 attendees.

While the DMA’s press release says: “..and complete ongoing recertification.” which is needed, it does not say how often. Maybe you can get the DMA to publish more specifics, Lee? It also says: “..designed to train and certify the level of competency of in-house and agency marketers.” This can be interpreted in many ways, so I’m hoping, Lee, that you can also get the DMA to have a print and online, clear, conspicuous, complete, and comprehendable disclosure as to what the certification means AND DOESN’T MEAN.

I’ve got to believe that the DMA will be giving out some sort of print or online “authority certificates” as proof of successful completion of the SEM certification. I know you believe, Lee, that “the word

Second, I have some concerns for the truth in what TallTroll said: “a certification program gives more second rate SEO’s an undeserved air of authenticity.” Or, worse yet, a 99th rate SEO like TP or 1p gets certified and hurts the Search Marketing industry even more than they already have.

Ben Edelman ( http://www.benedelman.org/bio/ ) did “Adverse Selection in Online ‘Trust’ Authorities” which was about “Trust Certifications” regarding websites and spyware in which he said: “The sites that seek and obtain trust certifications are actually significantly less trustworthy than those that forego certification.” I just hope that doesn’t happen with the DMA’s SEM certifications.
http://weis2006.econinfosec.org/docs/10.pdf

I don’t think that the DMA is going to police the certified graduates to make sure that SEM clients are not negatively affected due to a SEM Certified Certificate proudly displayed by the wrong SEM. But, at the very least, I hope the DMA has a clear, conspicuous, complete, and comprehendable disclosure as to what the certification means and doesn’t mean. SEM Certifications can be a double edged sword for the reputation of the SEM industry, IMO.

“I think the use of the word

No, a certification program gives more second rate SEOs an undeserved air of authenticity. I can’t imagine any genuinely good SEO even considering taking the course, which somewhat dilutes it’s value, I think.

That’s not to say I think this (or any other SEO certification program) is utterly without merit – but I suspect that the best that ANY certification program can hope for at the moment is to produce students who require less background traing before you start turning them into SEOs.

I see this kind of thing as a necessary step in the industries evolution, but it’s a bit early for any backslapping, methinks

I’ll take a look at your “reference search” post.

For the module I’ll be doing on Search Engine Basics, I will do my best to provide the most up to date and accurate information I can. I am getting information directly from several of the 4 major search engines on this so it should be good. (I hope)

The focus audience for the program is in-house marketers and agencies, so I don’t think it’s something too many SEO-SEM only individuals/companies would be involved with. We’ll see.

Hopefully it will be a step in the right direction at creating some structure and order to the often chaotic world of search marketing.

apologies for my overt cynicism. I guess I still see that part of the charm of the SEO world is its frontier mentality.

I train people to use SEO and PPC. Its the certification that smells of regulation.

By the way, nice blog. I really must tidy mine up.

Being able to achieve great results with search marketing is one thing, being able to communicate that process to a wide audience is another.

I know many top notch SEO and SEM practitioners, many of them very well known in the industry and would not put them in front of an audience for any amount of money. And there are some speakers at industry conferences that are very charismatic but couldn’t SEO their way out of a wet paper bag that I would never hire.

What the DMA is doing has not been done for search marketing by a major association. Companies are looking for a structured source of information about search marketing and the DMA aspires to offer a resource for that just like they offer certificatation for other disciplines.

We’ll see how the program goes next month. There will be ups and downs but I think it’s a good move for the industry.

Since no SEM can legitimately give meaningful ROI guarantees, and there is no real protection for the SEO client against the possibility of “sandboxing” or “banning”, even with the most honorable and well intentioned, certified SEM, I am hoping that the SEM client gives himself, and is given, enough upfront and ongoing education to have his expectations set REALISTICALLY. The client’s ignorance could even cause him to complain due to his misunderstanding.

That said, congrats, Lee, on teaching the “Search Engine Basics – Lee Odden of TopRank Online Marketing”. I’m sure you’ll do a great job (as long as you don’t have too many students in one class – big smiley face).

For SEO, I like Todd Malicoat’s bullet #4 in his SEW Forum post that says: “Ask for referrals from folks with top rankings – My new personal favorite – Do some searches for some medium level competition searches (2 word phrases not HIGHLY sought after). Call up the companies in the top spot and ask them about their SEO company. Don