• Search Engine Watch , Friday, April 11, 2008 1:15 PM

Chalk this up as one more log on the "SEOs are snake oil sellers" funeral pyre. Washington-based Internet Advancement has been barred from selling or advertising any SEO services to new customers by state Attorney General Rob McKenna. The firm fleeced customers out of a "set-up fee" (typically between $1,000-$3,000) and $150 monthly fees, all while guaranteeing them that their Web site would appear within the first 25 links on the major search engines.

Over the course of four years, some 82 small businesses filed complaints with the Attorney General's office over the firm's unfulfilled promises, with others making their claims to the FTC and the BBB. So McKenna handed Internet Advancement a smack down in the form of a nearly $120,000 civil penalty (not including almost $40,000 worth of legal fees), as well as forcing the company to give refunds to any previous clients that filed complaints.

Internet Advancement is also no longer allowed to recruit new SEO clients, though the company can offer Web design services (as long as they don't involve meta tags, keyword insertion or submission to the engines). But as Kevin Heisler notes, the firm's Web site is still online--and it still mentions organic search marketing. Doesn't that constitute advertising to new customers?

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