A simple search online for website design firms will result in thousands of ads by firms that offer high search engine rankings. These firms offer services ranging from top ten placements to expedited submissions. What is changing is the manner that these firms achieve their results through.

Search engines are simply online yellow pages which match sites with searches conducted by users. The search engines will then display their results, or site listings, according to the relevancy between the site, or the page on the site, and the search term searched for by the user.

While search engines keep their selection process a closely held secret, many search engine ranking firms spend thousands of dollars and countless hours trying to crack the code.

Some search engine ranking firms will place hidden text on their customers