I used to read these type of reports. But, now I feel they should include the statement "Sponsored Message" with the title.
They read like an advertisement for those not familiar with search engine placement. As pointed out by fathom, "Since the data sources were not mentioned nor did they break it down two possibilities become apparent." These so called "experts" didn't even put any facts in the article to back up their claims.
While trying to build my own
SEO I tested a couple of these companies. They said to input a search term to see what my current unpaid position was. They came back with the same statement that my website wasn't in the first 500 results returned.
I then went to the search engines and typed in the same search term and my website came back in either the #1 or #2 positions of the Search Engines.
There went the credibility and integrity of such companies. We don't have time to check each one of them out to see who is honest and who is just another hidden advertisement. So, we will just continue on with our own
SEO program and not spend $xx,xxx,xxx.00 for click throughs we are already getting.
(Customer Testimonial)
I and my customers have also switched to a different internet search procedure. We now use Copernic Agent for 95% of all of our internet searches. This Meta-Search Engine accesses all of the search engines and directories at the same time and returns results in the same amount of time it takes to use just one search engine. Plus, we can search specific catagories for what we are searching for.
We only use individual search engines when necessary.