I guess I shouldn't really be whinging about this, as I could get off my backside and do something myself I guess (although, in my defence, I would have to start sites from scratch for all my examples to do it myself), but unless I've reached that age where I say "it wasn't like this in my day" at random times I think the new generation of webmasters/seo's are missing a bit of creative thinking, or opportunistic marketing, as I prefer to call it.
For example - where are the ads against a search for Pippa Middleton. or specifically Pippa Middletons arse, which is trending right now. Shouldn't figleaves, or spanx, or some enterprising affiliate, be buying the ads at 2p each at the moment? To be honest if you featured a few shots of it I doubt it would take much effort to link build and rank organically for it looking at the uk results right now.
royal wedding dress, royal wedding designer, only a couple of ads on each. 'avoid royal wedding' didn't have any ads (where I am) over the weekend for things to do which didn't have a union jack or TV involved. I rarely see any really inspired ads or organic SEO at the moment, it just feels to me like people are doing SEM by following an instruction book and not thinking outside that at all :(
Good question. We sometimes too see some oppotunity, but somehow lack the initiative to actually get it done. Maybe due to laziness or fear of failing. Dunno?
Somebody did move on Pippas arse tho: http://pippa-middleton.co.uk/ :)
Internet ad buys have become big business now and that means corporate bureaucracy - got to get your idea approved by the ad manager first, then he takes all the credit if it succeeds and you get squat for coming up with the creative idea in the first place so you keep your mouth shut and keep the good ideas to yourself. That would be my theory.
I think there is still plenty of opportunity. Though, the signal to noise level is worse than ever. Probably one of the worse things that has happened in the last 10 years or so is that people have adopted a follow-the-leader mentality, almost like multi-level marketing, where people look to authority to find answers and then get spoon fed orthodoxy.