Mahesh Murthy's Eight SEM Predictions at SearchCamp

Mahesh Murthy, one of India's greatest experts on digital media marketing, was at SearchCamp unconference in Chennnai this morning. The house full audience was all ears as Mahesh laid out his eight predictions for 2008. Mahesh's eight trends for 2008, as he forsees them:

1. It is not just about Search alone: As per Mahesh, companies would like one agency to handle all digital marketing handled by one agency, which could include SEO, SMS, online marketing etc. Right now companies go to different vendors for different initiatives within digital marketing.
   
2. It won't just be about Google: Mahesh feels, over time, a set of competitors would emerge to Google. Marketers would have to evaluate choices from others such as Yahoo, MSN, and local leaders such as Baidu in China, and others in Korea, Australia, Russia. It will require expertise to target specific markets, which is good news for SEO professionals.
3. SERP formula would be broken: It is now possible to create a site and guess about its treatment by the search engines even before it goes online. Almost. In due course people will decode the black box logic.
4. The World will move for Pay-per-performance(P4P): The current model where advertisers pay for so many impressions, or so many clicks will probably give way to a model where people will pay commission on the business brought in by various channels. The SEO/SEM agency would make money this way, which will be more challenging.
5. P4P will extend to other media: The above mentioned P4P model will see adoption in traditional marketing channels. Advertisers will become more aware.
6. It will all be Global: Companies spending dollars in digital marketing will start demanding a global reach, and more universal campaigns. ( Not sure I agree with this one)
7. It will be democratic advertising:(My phone rings at this point and I go out to take the call so no more details here!)
8. The Model will change, India will be in Control: Mahesh forees the emergence for companies that will adopt the IT model, where the marketing offices would be spread across the world, but the knowledge based work will be done in large centers in India.

Mahesh Murthy's talk was peppered with details and examples, and he made no bones about his thought that he does not consider Google to be infallible. In his own words, " The Google Killer is probably out there. We don't know who is it yet".

Mahesh, that was an interesting talk. Thanks for that and we remain all ears as we move towards 2008.

(Mahesh Murthy is the CEO of Pinstorm)