A Search Engine Optimization Expert Witness, or “SEO Expert Witness”, needs to have a number of characteristics in order to be considered qualified to work as a testifying expert in litigation. I have been asked a number of times about what it takes to be an SEO Expert Witness, so I thought it would be helpful to people who are developing their careers if I provided some information.

The first time I served as a type of expert witness whas in about the 2008 timeframe when I was approached by an attorney working for the U.S. Department of Justice. There was a review going on to assess both the Microhoo deal (a proposed search engine service syndication deal between Microsoft and Yahoo! that also included advertising), as well as the Google-Yahoo! advertising deal that was happening in the same timeframe. The D.O.J. apparently approached a number of thought-leaders within the search engine marketing industry to explore how those cooperative agreements between the major search competitors might play out in terms of impact to both consumers and advertisers. The attorneys were trying to decide whether there might need to be anti-trust action taken. There was some widespread concerns about the obvious reduction in marketplace competition as these deals were emerging. I agreed to testify in an informal hearing among the D.O.J. attorneys, and I answered their questions to the best of my abilities. As a result of the D.O.J.’s determinations and communications with Google and Yahoo!, the two companies abandoned their plans for the cooperative agreement. (The outcome does not necessarily reveal my testimony nor recommendations.)

While that very limited intro into the role of expert witness was my first work in this niche, it was not until a couple more years later when I really whet my teeth at an intensive expert witness project.