Know-How Exchange : SEO/SEM

Yes, there is California case law under the general topic of seo. Could you be a little more specific about the nature of litigation of are interested in?

Steve

Yes thank you Steve this is regarding a case where I am a SEO expert and the client has hired me to do some work for them and now they're not happy with the end results even though it's not the end yet but they are not satisfied so I'm trying to find a case similar to where a client took an SEO company or consultant to the court or something of that nature. thank you so much for your help...

Sounds like a professional services contract dispute that just happens to be for SEO services.

You didn’t mention how much money is in dispute, but I always recommend getting advice from legal counsel. You could find a paralegal who has access to Westlaw or Lexis case law databases (in your state?) and perhaps can advise you on how to develop a small claims court case strategy. Of course, it’s probably best to settle and cut your losses. Then review your process, payment schedules and contracts for new business to prevent problems in the future.

Hope this helps,

Steve

disclosure - I am not a lawyer

Thanks Steve, allow me to elaborate, perhaps I was not clear.

I am going to arbitration as an SEO consultant with a client that is not satisfied. This type of arbitration has no idea what SEO is, nor do they understand its concepts (long story, but trust me) --- that said, if I can reference to another real case then I can have something to show them.

Is there a way to find out without using Westlaw or Lexis case law databases?

Sounds like you have a client who has either too much time on his hands, or too much money, or both. Like jeeze, what can they sue you for regarding SEO? Its not like YOU control Google, Yahoo or Bing or how they rank a page.

Sure, your services of adding or combining words can increase or decrease positioning, but again, its not YOU doing the judging, its an outside party with which you have NO CONTROL or INFLUENCE. Any judge worth his salt should toss this case out the door for wasting his time (and hopefully chew out the litigant for being a court time waster).

I'd sure like to know what the charge is? Did the client drop a few points? And, what kind of damage did that cause? Hurt feelings? A little loss of pride? Oh my. Those kinds of clients should be given a smak on the diaper and put to bed without a bottle. Like WAH, grow up already.

Anyhow, if its a simple disagreement of your bill, cut your losses and walk away. If the client is suing to get their deposit or payment back, well, consider giving it to them and save yourself the court/lawyer costs. Sounds like that's all they want to do to you anyway is drive up your expenses to offset the money they paid you. Again, sounds like a client that is a PITA and should have been fired long ago.

My two cents.

And, no, I'm NOT a lawyer.

Darcy Moen
Customer Loyalty Network

AHAHHA Darcy, love that....

Well they were with me for about 9 months, and the keywords were positioned, but they did not make sales, so now they are sueing for LOSS OF BUSINESS and LACK OF PERFORMANCE ---- once again, i am going to an arbitration that DOES NOT UNDERSTAND SEO, that said I need to reference to a "CASE LAW" to help the judge/arbitrator make the right decision.

Any help is appreciated......

P.S. This is a great forum!!!!

More important than the case law is making sure the arbitration panel understands what SEO is and how it works. Once that is established you can show that what you did could reasonably be expected to improve search engine ranking over time.

The link between search engine rank and business success is tenuous at best. There are a lot of factors that come between getting a good ranking/lots of clicks and selling stuff. There's a whole area of "post-click marketing" where you can improve business results dramatically (e.g., 5x, 6x or even 10x) without any improvement in natural search engine ranking.

FWIW, there's a seminar in the MarketingProfs archives that I did with Anna Talerico several months ago that illustrates this very clearly and dramatically. Check out: https://www.marketingprofs.com/marketing/online-seminars/226 . The seminar is free.

Looking into the seminar, thanks..

Mr. Goodman, you make a very good point, and I agree with this. Though for the purpose of this question, i need to gather data such as "CASE LAW" in other words, was there ever a case that was CLIENT vs. SEO COmpany that there is a CASE LAW on? How in the world can i find it.

Tried Google Scholar but no luck