Well guys (gals too) – how does that sound? Weird? Unreasonable, so on…. Search Engines like Google and Yahoo has just figured out that it is possible too. And why not? It is web 2.0 and everything is so easy.

I recently put my name on google.com “sarang brahme” and was surprised to see my name in their sponsored listing section. For people who do not know what is sponsored listing in Google (popularly called ADWORDS in SEO language) – these are the paid listings which have been purchased by the advertising site against specific keywords. These keywords then go through bidding process to decide the rank they apprear.

Just to simplify – my company sell baloons. Hence, I bought the “baloon” keyword for x amount. Their is my competitor who has done the same. Now, when someone puts baloon in search – my special listing will appear in right hand side of search results page. It has special place, listings and visibility; hence more chances of getting clicks and me selling more baloons. Depending on who paid more for that keyword – rankings will decide. If I paid more than my competitor, my listing will be the first one and then my competitor. I end up paying that amount for every click that user makes to Google. This makes sure that my product gets more visibility and exclusivity while Google adds up few dollars in his kitty.

Normally, very generic or product related keywords are on the bidding list as they get more hits. BTW – there is keyword suggestion tools available online like

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal.

This shows the list of most searched keywords and variations which helps advertiser to bid. Now, why the heck I am telling all these things in Sourcing blog? How does sourcing and SEO goes hand in hand? Here you go….

Imagine you are searching for a guy called Sarang Brahme on internet. Facebook / Myspace has purchased his name and put in the sponsored listings. One of the primary reasons these social networking websites has listed the name against their website is either you are a celebrity OR you have a good internet presence and you are well-searched guy. This means, this name drives more traffic to Facebook – which gets more unique visitors which inturn might give them additional subscriptions. For that person – it means without any efforts or spending any money, he is getting more visibility. For users (in this case sourcers/recruiters) – easy way of finding that person. Hence, it’s WIN-WIN situation!!!!

Social Networking meets Search Engine meets Sourcing!!!!

I am not claiming that this is a path-breaking change or something like that. But how do you feel if someone has put a price-tag on your name on internet to advertise your own profile? It made me thinking for sure though. As a sourcer – I felt great to have ease in sourcing; some may argue about the privacy/confidentiality or even copyright issue. I don’t know – what you guys feel??

One thing for sure – Social Networking and Search Engines are changing a way we see sourcing…. Evolution take off about to happen…..