Dallas/Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing Association Questions Closing of Google...

Dallas/Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing Association Questions Closing of Google Dallas Office

Group Cites Strength of Search Marketing and over $100 Million
Search Marketing Spend in Dallas/Fort Worth
DALLAS--(Business Wire)--
The board of the Dallas/Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing
Association (DFWSEM) is perplexed at the recent announcement that
Google would soon close its Dallas sales location.

"Bottom line, North Texas is a great place to do search engine
marketing. We believe it's the best place in the country to do search
marketing," said Tony Wright, Vice-President and spokesman for DFWSEM.
"According to our internal survey at DFWSEM, our members represent
more than $100 million spent annually in search engine advertising,
and much of that money goes to Google. And while our membership is
large, it's only a fraction of the actual amount being spent or
allocated from the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I just don't think the guys
in Mountain View have ever been to Dallas and don't know what they are
missing."

DFWSEM is currently the largest local search organization of its
kind in the world, with close to 300 members and a four year history
of providing networking and education for some of the brightest minds
in the search engine marketing industry. According to a 2007 members
survey, the group is responsible for the allocation of more than $100
million in search media dollars annually. DFWSEM considers this a very
conservative estimate of the North Texas search engine advertising
spend, and reflects a selected number of local corporate and agency
spends, and does not take into account the vast number of small to
medium sized businesses with substantial search budgets.

"In Dallas we have more industry leading search engine marketers
than any market outside of New York City," said Wright. "With all of
the brand power, brain power and money that is controlled in Dallas,
it is absolutely a mystery to me why Google would choose to close this
office. Not to mention that Dallas is the absolute best choice for a
Southern office because of the ease and cost-effectiveness of
traveling anywhere in the country in less than 4 hours."

DFWSEM members are proud to have worked with the competent and
friendly team of Google sales professionals that will soon be forced
to make the decision to either leave Dallas or leave Google.

"Our association members have worked with many different vertical
Google sales offices across the country, and the general consensus is
that the Dallas Google office was one of the best, if not the best
team to work with," said Rob Garner, DFW SEM president. "The Dallas
Google office has supported the association and the North Texas search
industry from the beginning, and their presence will be greatly
missed."

In order to show our appreciation, all current Google members are
invited to attend the DFWSEM's quarterly meeting on July 16 at the
Renaissance Hotel in Richardson, Texas for a night of networking and
education. There will be many search engine marketers present that are
sure to have opportunities for those Googlers that choose to stay in
Dallas.

About the DFW Search Engine Marketing Association (DFWSEM)

The Dallas/Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing Organization
(DFWSEM) is dedicated to education and promotion of the Dallas/Fort
Worth search engine marketing industry, conversing various topics
related to search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click search
(PPC), as well as other emerging media. The group meets quarterly at
the Renaissance Hotel in Richardson, Texas, and is open to anyone
interested in search engine marketing, including in-house marketers,
independent consultants, and agencies. Initially founded in 2003,
DFWSEM is the oldest and longest running local search engine marketing
group/meetup in the country. Member agencies include DexterityMedia,
Vizion Interactive, iCrossing, Range Online Media, Key Relevance,
MarketNet, AffGoo, Creative Support, Did-it, SearchDex, WrightIMC, and
Bridgepose.

Past presenters to the DFWSEM Association include Google, MSN,
Idearc Superpages.com, ClickTracks, MIVA, Business.com, The Dallas
Morning News, Dan Thies, AffGoo, Stephen Malouf, WebTrends, Catherine
Seda / Seda Communications, Shari Thurow / Grantastic Designs, Vizion
Interactive, Agency.com, ClickAssurance, iMediaConnection, and many
others. The DFW SEM Association welcomes requests to speak to the
group at info@dfwsem.org.

Sponsorships

DFWSEM is sponsored by LeadMaverick (www.leadmaverick). For
additional sponsorship opportunities, see below.

DFWSEM on LinkedIn

You're invited to join our group on LinkedIn. Open to members and
non-members. Click the link below to join. (open to all DFW area
professionals interested in SEM). http://www.linkedin.com/
groupInvitation?groupID=51948&sharedKey=5251E65726B4. (Due to its
length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet
browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)

Joining DFWSEM

Corporate memberships are $175 for the first year and include
three seats to monthly DFWSEM meetings, and individual DFWSEM
memberships are $75 for the first year. Additional seats for a
Corporate membership are $50/year. For more information, visit
http://blog.dfwsem.org.

The DFWSEM Association also maintains a blog to keep members and
non-members informed of upcoming events. Visit http://blog.dfwsem.org
for more information.

Sponsoring DFWSEM

DFWSEM Association members cumulatively represent over
$100,000,000 in annual search engine ad spend, and sponsorship is a
great way to get your message in front of this group of decision
makers and key influencers. To find out how to sponsor a monthly
meeting or other opportunity, contact Tony Wright at
tony.wright@wrightimc.com.

DFWSEM Association Board of Directors

President, Rob Garner, iCrossing; Vice President, Tony Wright,
WrightIMC; Chairperson, Christine Churchill, KeyRelevance; Vice
Chairman, Web, Bill Hartzer, Vizion Interactive; Secretary, Jeff
Martin, CardsDirect.com;; Vice Chairman, Mark Jackson, Vizion
Interactive; Vice Chairman, Dan Sturdivant, The Leadstream; Vice
Chairman, John Bagwell, Bagwell Marketing.

DFWSEM Speakers Bureau

Many members of DFWSEM are actively speaking at various
interactive marketing conferences, including SMX, Search Engine
Strategies, ad:tech, and WebmasterWorld, among many others. If you are
looking for someone to speak about search engine marketing related
topics, or would like to interview a member, feel free to contact the
group for more information at 214.210.6793.

WrightIMC for DFWSEM
Tony Wright, 972-516-3853
tony.wright@wrightimc.com
www.dfwsem.org

Copyright Business Wire 2008