• by Ross Fadner , December 12, 2004

Search engine technology vendor SLI Systems this morning brings to market a product it says will help companies receive a high placement on Google's natural search results.

Only companies that are already using SLI Systems to power their Web sites' search engines will be able to use the company's new optimization technology.

The new product, dubbed "Site Champion," relies on a technology that generates results based on user search behavior; at the bottom of each product or content landing page, Site Champion places links to related search terms entered by other users.

For example, a search for the "Sony T3" camera on Etronics.com, an IT products vendor whose search engine is powered by SLI, brings up results for several Sony T3 cameras. When users click through to a product page, a list of related search term links appears at the bottom. These links represent other consumer searches on Etronics that brought other users to the same product page.

By linking to the same page several times, a publisher's Google PageRank is inadvertently augmented. The number of times a page is linked to is the primary criteria by which Google's search technology determines results. SLI is essentially using its own user search behavior to help its publishers achieve high-ranking spots on Google.

Shaun Ryan, SLI's CEO, said that Site Champion not only improves natural ranking, but also delivers highly targeted landing pages, since the listing already comes from an artificial intelligence-powered search engine.

Google has long said there is no way to buy better natural placement on its search engine, which it continuously updates each month, altering the results for every query. It has adopted guidelines for guarding against certain search optimization techniques it has deemed off limits, and kicked several well-known Web publishers off its search index for utilizing them--including, briefly, adware company WhenU. At the time, WhenU's CEO said an outside search optimization firm was responsible; WhenU was later reinstated.

Ryan said he is aware of Google's policies for search optimization, and he believes Site Champion does not violate any of them. As yet, SLI has not discussed the matter with Google. Google did not respond to interview requests by press time.

Some SLI clients say the New Zealand-based company's new search optimization tool consistently delivers number one rankings on Google for related search terms. "We have literally seen search listings pages from our NRSweb.com site appear at the very top of Google search engine results," said Rett Clevenger, e-commerce Manager for SLI client Northwest River Supplies, an outdoor sports retailer. He said Northwest River Supplies is now the first listing for related search terms like "paddling gloves," for example. "We didn't have to do a thing to achieve this phenomenal result," Clevenger said.

New Zealand-based SLI Systems provides search technology for corporate Internet sites, e-commerce destinations, and Web portals. The company--which also powers Eurekster, a social networking search engine--said its patented technology continuously "learns" from visitor behavior. SLI customers include NBC, Veritas, The Excite Network, Comet Systems, and Etronics. Its Site Champion customers include Etronics, NRS, and Holiday Houses.