It has become more and more apparent recently that google has become over reliant on inbound links for determining its natural search engine listings. Analysing the websites which appear in the top positions for some of the most competitive keywords around (notably car insurance) will see that the one thing they have in common is an abundance of inbound links.
Through working with a companies trying to break into this elite it has pretty much become a case of, if you cant beat them join them. After trying every which way to do it through effective on page work it has become obvious this isnt enough. Without spending a small fortune on inbound links it just isnt going to be achieved.
Surely this cannot be the best way for a search engine to provide the most relevant results for a user query? Obviously within this the sites will be ordered by the traditional on page factors, but by placing so much emphasis on the links google is creating tiers within the search results:
Tier 1: those with a substantial link building programme (and large budgets)
Tier 2: those with less budget but well optimised sites
Tier 3: the remainder
Without a change in strategy or finances a company will find it extremely difficult, if not impossible to break into the top tier.