To Guarantee We Are Informed About the Discussions
A code of ethics for the search marketing community has been a very controversial topic for over a decade. Organizations have struggled with if and how to address this topic; with numerous people voicing very strong objections and support.
Into this debate comes a proposal from Tony Wright, a board member of SEMPO, for the creation of a Search Congress β bringing together representatives of different North American organizations to discuss and potentially create an industry code of ethics.
In December 2014, the board of directors of DFWSEM discussed the idea of sending a delegate to this event.
While many viewpoints were expressed in the board meeting β both in favor and against participation β ultimately the decision was made to participate.
But the participation of DFWSEM at this event does not mean that DFWSEM supports or condones the idea of creating an industry wide code of ethics.
From a practical standpoint, our participation gives us the opportunity to listen and understand the issues being presented so that if any idea emerges from this Search Congress, the board can be better informed.
Based on this premise, the board has selected Sean Jackson from Copyblogger Media as their representative to the Search Congress. Christine Churchill of Key Relevance is the designated alternate.
DFWSEM appreciates the controversy on the creation of an industry code of ethics. Our participation is not meant to be an endorsement for or against the proposal but to ensure that we are informed as to what is discussed.

02m Independence Hall – Assembly Room – NRHP-66000683 (E) by Kansas Sebastian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.