I'm sure that many of you will have seen the flurry of posts announcing the winners of Search Engine Journal's Search Industry Award (SEOmoz got an honourable mention in the Best SEO Blog category, which it won last year).

Whilst this is obviously great news for all those named, it also raises a curious questions; is Loren Baker a secret football (or soccer, as many of you would call it) fan? Why? Because the logo of the awards clearly uses the FIFA World Cup, which is given to the winner of the World Cup, the tournament founded by Frenchman Jules Rimet. Have a look if you don't believe me:

The logo is above, whilst you can see the real thing here.

So, why do you think Loren has chosen the trophy of the world's biggest football/soccer tournament for his awards?

1. He's actually a huge footie fan; being an SEO, and therefore determined to outwit the big guns, he considers Manchester United to be the Google of football, and has a secret soft spot for Accrington Stanley. Who are they? Exactly.
2. He's planning on getting sued by FIFA and then using it as linkbait. If FIFA are anything like the people in charge of the Olympics, they'd be only too happy to start chucking lawsuits. I'm sure that Sarah could help them out if they did.

Of course, there is one more possibility; most of those involved in the SEO sites nominated are based in the US, and as the World Cup is a football competition, rather than an American Football competition, no one in the US will know what the trophy looks like!

Ciarán is the SEO & Social Media Director at online marketing agency Altogether Digital & had his tongue firmly in his cheek when he wrote this. He really doesn't know what he's going to do this summer now that England aren't going to Euro 2008.