I’m no prophet, but the credibility of Google’s Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) might just experience a fall of Biblical proportions. Forgive the allusion, but if Google is Goliath and David is SEO, then paid links might just be the stone that fells the giant.

Impossible, you say? Let’s begin at Google’s problematic foundation.

This day in age, Google tries to rank results based on the relevance, authority and quality of a site. They do this by, among other things, weighing the number and reputation of links that “point to” a given site. So, if 1,000,000 different reputable pages link to CNN.com, then, theoretically, CNN.com would rank well in a Google search. (Please pardon the overly simplistic breakdown.)

However, for a number of years now people have been able to circumvent the arduous process of building a genuine backlink profile by purchasing (rather than cultivating) their links. Through a number of different methods, any average Joe can go out and buy links that would normally take years of hard work and dedication to acquire. So when Google notoriously declared war on paid links, it was because people were employing them to achieve what Google would consider “artificial relevance.” Since decrying this practice, Google has devalued the paid links they’ve found and even set up a system to encourage individuals to report the paid links of others. Even if it is, as Cutts says, merely to “test out some new techniques” on paid links, it suggests the Google giant is concerned.

And guess what? That concern is certainly warranted. Despite its best efforts, Google will never be able to identify, track and eliminate all forms of paid links. I don’t care how smart their algorithms get; people will always be able to buy links. (And why shouldn’t they? asks randfish)

So here’s the kicker: As long as people can artificially influence the SERPs with paid links, the Google system will be flawed, and its authority will be compromised. Though I am certainly not the first individual to recognize Google’s Achilles Heel, I would like to make a stab at the consequences of its weakness.

Though it will take years (don’t worry, SEO folk), people will eventually begin to recognize that Google’s algorithms can be gamed, and its rankings can be artificially influenced. This will herald the eventual demise of Google’s supposed first-page credibility. This transformation will result in a paradigm shift of epic proportions. People will begin to recognize that paying for links is only evil in Google world, not in the real world. In the real world, visibility has been and always will be, ruled by the mighty dollar, not by a mighty algorithm. So as paid links effectively nullify the credibility of Google’s first page, the SERPs will be owned by the advertisers and businesses with the deepest pockets.

Sound depressing? It shouldn’t. It’s the same capitalistic principle that governs radio, print and television prominence as well. The good news for internet marketers is that web savvy individuals will still be needed to manage the millions of dollars that are pumped into SERP advertising.

So while Google valiantly tries to identify quality sites and combat artificial interference, it’s fighting a losing battle. Though quality sites will always exist, I’m suggesting that Google SERPs won’t last forever as a standard by which they are measured. The stone, it seems, is bound the fell the giant.