Network neutrality?
Posted by admin on October 21st, 2009
Different data formats on the web may or may not be distributed equally in the future.
Many ISP’s would prefer a hierarchal model, where data such as videos pass through at a reduced speed. The US Federal Communications Commission doesn’t want this and wants to maintain an Internet where all data is handled in the same way. Google, ebay, Facebook and other major business users support this. They make the point that this impartiality towards all types of data helps businesses compete on the basis of content only, where users can make independent choices without the added complication of differentiating one type of data from another.
Others feel that a hierarchal model is the best option in order to maintain the smoothness of the net as traffic inevitably grows in the future.
Should this happen there may well be an impact on SEO. It could mean that a website without any video data, or perhaps even Flash, may have an advantage over a website that does. This might add another level of complexity to the application of search engine optimisation to a website.
Early days, but worth keeping an eye on.
Harpreet Seehra
Search Engine Optimisation Engineer
Studio 2 Online – Search Engine Optimisation, Midlands
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