In his bestselling book The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Friedman analyzes how globalization has leveled the competitive playing field between industrial and emerging market countries. A key contributor to this “flattening” is technology, primarily the Internet.

In a section of the book focusing on search engines, Friedman highlights how technological innovation has made information more accessible to a wider group of people than ever before. Further, not only is information more accessible, but the pace that information is being distributed is increasing!

“Never before in the history of the planet have so many people, on their own, had the ability to find so much information about so many things and about so many other people,” writes Friedman. Friedman points out that the growth of search engine searches is tremendous. Using Google as an example, Friedman states that the company (at the time of the book’s publishing in 2006) “now processes roughly one billion searches per day, up from 150 million just three years ago.”

So you are probably wondering, “Why are you bringing up Friedman’s book The World Is Flat and what does it have to do with Lead Generation?”

Well if you think about it, more and more consumers are turning to the Internet (as well as other digital channels) to receive information on products and services. In just a short period of time, Search Engine Marketing has grown to become an essential form of advertising by providing an advertising method that is targeted, efficient, and measurable.

While widespread Internet adoption within the US has only been around for a short period of time, Internet advertising within certain product sectors has already become quite competitive. To reach consumers in these areas often requires spending heavily to maintain a website and manage sophisticated search engine marketing campaigns.

A key value of lead generation is that it “again” levels the playing field by enabling every business to take advantage of the targeted advantages provided by Internet advertising without the hassles of creating, managing, and optimizing one’s own website and SEM campaigns.

Within lead generation, LeadPoint further levels the playing field. Unlike some competitors which require significant minimum purchases and long-term commitments, LeadPoint offers an easy to use online account which provides all customers within our market equal access to high quality leads created by top Internet advertisers. By improving the exchange through the addition of greater transparency and increased quality, LeadPoint continues to level the competitive playing field so that regardless of the size and maturity of one’s company each customer has equal access to the benefits of the Internet’s vast reach that Friedman asserts is “flattening” the world from a global perspective.