Latent Semantic Indexing ("LSI") is not a new invention, but it is being discussed more and more in internet marketing circles. Nobody really knows how Google works, and Google is not about to give this secret away. It is, however well known that Google is putting greater reliance on LSI for determining placement in searches.

The current best guess is that Googlebot's ability to use LSI is now highly refined and that LSI might be the main tool used to determine website placement in the search results. Even those who argue that backlinks are the most important factor agree that LSI is important. In most cases the webmaster obsession with Google PR seems to have been transferred to Google's use of LSI.

One benefit of having more importance placed on LSI is that new websites stand more chance of being seen because they don't have to wait in the sidelines while they build up enough links to convince Google they are worth a place in the search results. The old mantra of "content is king" is now truer than it ever was.

LSI has made a difference to affiliate article marketing; this difference is seen as a positive thing in many circles and gets a definite thumbs down in other places.

When writing articles your keywords are still important, but they need to be backed up with other related terms. This has a desirable effect in that most articles will have to contain more informative content; marketers will not be able to earn money from insubstantial articles spun mechanically and studded with keywords.

Many affiliate article marketers consider Google's use of LSI to be an annoyance because it makes it harder to obtain results using low quality "spun" articles. The article directories are tightening up on their quality control because they don't want to lose their high places in the search engines. The outcome is that affiliate marketers are going to have to improve the standard of their articles if they expect to beat the competition.