Search Google for "chicken", the result is "duck"

Holding the throne of Internet search in Vietnam.

Google is also the search engine most frequently accessed by Vietnamese people and most search queries refer to suggestions from this tool.

With hundreds of millions of searches every day, search keywords are naturally the focus of both users and the media and businesses.

Optimizing keywords, algorithms and websites to make users aware of the brand.

My service page is called SEO (search engine optimization) – which is currently growing in popularity.

A business owner said: “Since I learned about SEO, I have focused on everything from system alignment to paid SEO services so that more users know my brand.

On a monthly basis, SEO costs approximately 50% in media costs.”

And from here, the war between businesses on search engines begins.

Mr. Ngo Thanh Hai, director of a company specializing in SEO, shared: "Imagine, you pay and optimize the system for 'hot' keywords to direct customers searching on Google to your website, but your competitors do the same with a higher level of 'willingness to spend', so it will be a war."

The most popular on Google search system is Google Adwords service with the method of paying for each keyword searched and of course the "hotter" the keyword.

Pay more and the relevant business website will appear on the first results page.

In the most visible position.

However, in this keyword race, not every business is "clean" when buying specific keywords related to themselves, and even keywords... of their competitors.

For example, when a user searches for the keyword “Tiger Airways” – a low-cost airline from Singapore – the first result is not this brand but a competing airline from… Malaysia.

To “turn black into white” the results like that, Mr. Ngo Thanh Hai said: “For each keyword like this, most businesses compete with… money, that is, accept to pay a high fee for the keyword to ‘shut up’ competitors in the same field. Google Adwords does not have a specific price, but the service fee for keywords like this is certainly not cheap, even tens of millions per month.”

Not only the big guys "play with each other" with SEO, small and medium-sized Vietnamese businesses are also gradually showing their willingness to play in the brand war on the Internet with similar tricks.

A business owner revealed: “There are companies that even hire hackers to edit the content on the homepage of the other company’s website with the title of keywords that are beneficial to them so that when Google or search engines scan the HTML code, the results will be about their website. This is basically illegal and can be prosecuted, but it is often very difficult to detect or before it is detected, the hacker has changed the parameters back to the original, after successful SEO.”

In addition, paying for keywords to compete on search rankings like Air Asia is doing is also quite common with Vietnamese businesses that are “magical” about technology. Currently, a famous maternity dress brand in Vietnam is also using Google Adwords as a competition on the Internet “battlefield”. When trying to type in the keyword “maternity dress A” or “A maternity dress” with A being the competitor brand, all priority results point to brand B – which participates in paying for Google Adwords.

These are classic cases of keywords and brand recognition.

In other hidden “SEO wars”, many businesses even hire SEO workers, participate in forums, content websites that allow feedback from competitors to…spam articles with signatures that are keywords related to their website.

Breaking the law but not yet… punished

According to Article 40 of the Competition Law on Misleading Indications, it is stipulated that:

1. Enterprises are prohibited from using instructions containing misleading information about trade names, business slogans, business symbols, packaging, geographical indications and other elements as prescribed by the Government to distort customers' perception of goods and services for competitive purposes.
2. It is prohibited to trade in goods and services that use misleading instructions as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article.

However, in terms of e-commerce, this law does not clearly regulate the forms of competition using keywords.

Mr. Luong Khac Toan, a lawyer at a commercial law office, said: “In fact, it is very difficult to bring competition on Google or search engines under the provisions of the Competition Law because there are no clear regulations and specific sanctions to punish this type of behavior.

In addition, Google or other search business organizations are considered a type of service.

Since it is a service, of course anyone who pays a high fee and does not violate the contract signed with the service provider can use it.

So, the SEO war is getting hotter than ever.

As commerce and knowledge use of IT increasingly improve.

Online traffic is a potential source of revenue.

Ms. Bich Hang, manager of an e-commerce website, said: "We do business honestly and cannot use 'magic tricks' like other companies to compete in SEO.

It's better to build your own brand honestly, not haphazardly.

"Unhealthy things certainly don't last long."

Of course, besides businesses that build their brands transparently, there are still those who "live for the moment".

Use SEO skills and search engines to your advantage.