One more reason why I think outsourced search engine marketing services will be one of the growth spots this year: more and more companies are moving to the in-house SEO model. Danny Sullivan hit it right on the head:

The first question from the audience was whether or not Danny saw SEO agencies dying out in favor of in-house SEO’s. Danny answered that the SEO was not dead yet, and would not be anytime soon. In-house SEO was moving towards taking over the management of SEO, then outsourcing some of the specific functions.

In-house management, outsourced production. The benefits of moving labor and time-intensive SEO tasks such as copywriting, on-page optimization and link building, far outweigh the cost of maintaining an in-house SEO agency. With the low costs, relevant SEO skills and English proficiency of Filipinos, it should only be a matter of time before the Philippines gets discovered as the next SEM outsourcing hub.

Via Ian McAnerin.