Once upon a time optimizing once for all search engines was acceptable. Google reigned supreme across the search fields and others like MSN and Yahoo! held up the rear, Google was everyones main target. Landing your site on a Google SERP was the ultimate, landing on MSN and Yahoo! was good but not as pleasing. Times shift, algorithms evolve, old practices die hard.

High ranking in Google became a hobby or a full time job depending on who you worked for and your job title. SEOs were forced to tweak campaigns, change pages, clean up content and code, and build links as quickly as possible to shorten the Google Sandbox time for newer sites. Of course, this all lead to the dismissal of rankings in MSN and Yahoo! Those SERPs were extra, a leverage, a bouncing off point to decide if what you were doing worked for the Google algorithm.

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you view it, these algorithms are no longer what they were. Google hasnt maintained its algorithm, MSNs and Yahoo!s algorithms no longer fall by the wayside of Googles. Lucky SEO is a prize of the past. Now all search engine algorithms are more sophisticated. Each search engine weighs heavier different techniques. No search engine webmaster guide will tell you straight forward what those techniques may be.

No one algorithm works any longer. That strategy died as search has evolved. While MSN and Yahoo! remain similar in their SEO strategies, or so it seems from results, they are not identical. Focusing on either of these will not necessarily get you top placement in Google. Google has changed its algorithm numerous times, while SEOs fight to stay abreast of the changes focusing on Google will not grant you the same types of results it once did in MSN and Yahoo! As search has become more profitable it has also become more difficult to pinpoint what precise SEO works for whom.

What makes a search engine algorithm a fraud is not the algorithm itself. Nor is it the search engine that employs said algorithm. No, the fraud comes when webmasters believe one formula is the magic formula. One algorithm across all others, one algorithm for placement everywhere they believe to be important. The fraud is simple, mistaken knowledge. Or rather, lack of knowledge.

Speaking with other marketing consultants it becomes clear that what once was is no longer. Certain tactics remain string, others have become obsolete. Changes continue within search engine algorithms to deliver relevance. Relevant sites appear high on SERPs because they are relevant, not because theres a magic formula. Those on top contain elements necessary to fit that ranking.

Mainly, search engine algorithms are all separate entities. They like different things more; they look for different aspects of web design and layout. They deliver different SERPs, in different order, for the same query. In order to remain in position it is important to evolve with these search engine algorithms. Unfortunately many webmasters and SEOs stick only to tried and true methods. While old methods may reveal results failing to evolve into a stronger, vaster knowledge base will not prove successful in the long run.

Knowledge is power; the old clich stands true in the search marketing world. Continue working with search engines as if they all have one algorithm shared amongst themselves and find yourself slowly (if not immediately) becoming obsolete. The myth of one search engine algorithm is a strong one, many believe it to be true. There are sightings every once in a while posted on message boards or blogs. Believe what you will about search engines themselves, but act on what actually produces results.