Monday 28 April 2008

Court decides metatags are 'immaterial' for SEO

A court in the US has stated that metatagging does not have an impact on search engine optimisation (SEO).

The court decided that in a case brought by a firm called Standard Process against Dr Scott J Banks that metatags had an "immaterial" impact on search engine rankings.

During the case, Standard Process had claimed copyright infringements against Dr Banks because some of the firm's trademarks had been used as metatags on his website.

Writing on his Technology and Marketing Law Blog, Eric Goldman said that many internet marketers had long known that "most search engines ignore or give minimal acknowledgement to keyword metatags".

However, he explained that many lawyers had steadfastly claimed that metatags "single-handedly divert unwaveringly brand-loyal customers to piratical competitors".

As a result, Mr Goldman wrote that the decision was an important one for internet marketers.

"This new opinion appears to break important new ground," he added. "The court … rejects the argument that keyword metatags create initial interest confusion, in part because keyword metatags are immaterial.

"Hey all of you lawyers still citing to Brookfield for its description of search engine operations, I think you need to acknowledge this case now too."

Category: SEO

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