SEM is a term that can be commonly used alongside SEO and stands for Search Engine Marketing. SEM emerged in response to sites such as Google offering fees to be included or featured at the top of page listings and the appearance of Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns. Paying for exposure has changed the basic methods of Internet marketing because instead of simply using SEO to generate high rankings, websites can now pay to be listed above the "free listings" on Search Engines, increasing traffic to their sites through money and not necessarily by just utilizing natural techniques.
