The FREE Internet!  Like FREE Tibet, it’s been a battle cry as well as the subject of a decade of discussion as competing forces promote the polar opposite concepts of a global free and open exchange of information vs. how to monetize the web.

As dazzled as any of us have been by the immense power of Google and its core service — search — we are about to pay an ever increasing price.

I call it the Google Tax.

If your business has become dependent on being found on the Internet, paid search (PPC/Adwords) have become the price of admission.   However, paid search is not an area where you can expect dramatic increases in results.  In fact, you end up in a pool with all your direct competitors bidding up the price of a known set of key search words.  Your search terms, once refined, can only be tweaked at best.  Your PPC prices will only go up, thanks to you and your top five competitors.  Welcome to being at the mercy of Google’s (and others’) pricing structure.  They have no incentive to help you spend less.

I say all this to lead into a discussion of The Social Media channels which we are finding can provide dramatic increases in overall exposure and efficiency of your organic search.  There is equity value in organic search as it does not shut itself off and go away like a PPC campaign does when your daily budget is reached!

In addition, the Social Media channels offer you two-way brand discussions, the ability to form relationships, as well as have third parties speak on your behalf.

Right now my partners are I are on a mission.  We want to give all our Google using friends a TAX CUT and a path to search results that are dramatic, not just incremental.

What has been your experience in the Social Media space?  We’d love to hear from you, so leave us a comment.