The Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) has been rocked by serious allegations of mis-management.

SEMPO is a search engine marketing industry association which claims to be a non-profit organisation and for the promotion of "ethical" search engine marketing. However, a scathing article by Mike Grehan - who is a member of SEMPO - has deeply criticised the organisation for it's lack of achievements and made some serious allegations concerning SEMPO's director - Barbara Coll.

"SEMPO has approved a $1,500 per week stipend to Ms Coll. This amounts to a salary of $78,000, to fund a part time effort from someone who already has a full time job running a SEM business. Some might ask whether this attractive salary such could have been used to bring on board an executive experienced in building trade associations"

Ouch.

To join SEMPO in the lower ranks costs around $299 a year rising to a whopping $5,000 to become a "Sempo Circle" member. But what exactly is that money giving you? What are the achievements of SEMPO so far? Why have we seen no offline information or promotion in the mainstream media of this organisation?

Sure, they bang the drum at the big search engine conferences but that's not spreading the word to people who have no idea what SEMPO actually does or stands for.

Could SEMPO be nothing more than a marketing pyramid scheme?

Mike's SEMPO Article

Comment #1