The headline suggests that I have no idea what I am talking about.  Apple App ads and Twitter feed advertising have nothing to do with SEM. Right?

But where SEM companies have strived and where they have created a market for themselves, the internet has seemingly become more and more accommodating and willing to carve out an even larger niche.  Twitter found a way to monetize their cool concept it open the doors for SEM-like performance based consultation and management.  Apple allowing ads to support Apps will allow SEM companies to apply their knowledge of demographic targeting .

What’s even more appealing and promising for the concept are the API’s developed by third parties that could increase competition for placement within each of the services.  So it is all unicorn-esque for SEM companies – here come markets for our exploitation…

… but both platforms can compel users to forgo traditional internet searches and shopping.  While Bing (and Yahoo! as well) are positioning themselves to compete against Google at its own game by inserting themselves as default browers to any new device capable of connecting to the internet, Apple and Twitter (and Facebook as well!) are realizing people spend an enormous amount of time using their platform’s unique capabilities to get things done that traditionally could only get done on a search engine.  And they’re realizing that the types of analytics that are generated by each user’s actions are extremely powerful and profitable to advertisers.  As Apps become more and more accepted as standalone features of the internet (think Apple’s refusal to allow Flash programs; games, etc that are now an App) people wont need to get onto IE, Safari, Chrome, or Firefox to use that functionality.  Similarly, as Twitter users make impulse purchases of information or product based upon highly targeted user tweets, people wont need to shop for the best deal for that item online because presumably someone already found it in their area.  And now being able to insert your product ad in stream means they can more easily get to the source and make a purchase.

So competition…real competition… paradigm-shifting competition will lead SEM companies to rethink the value in tradition search engine advertising.  You will see that the industry will become fragmented pitting one company’s assumed best-practice against another’s.  What’s the best way to spend your dollar?  These new platforms make that answer less and less like to be “Adwords” or one of the other engines’ sponsored programs.