What do you call the act of obtaining these search listings?
SEO has been the term used for gaining natural listings and also for people or companies who do such work. The letters stands for Search Engine Optimization (and here�s some history on how we got that term). No, SEO is not about spamming the search engines. It�s an acceptable practice that search engines actively encourage. In the search world, SEO is equal to PR in the �real� world. Good SEO can�t guarantee good search engine �coverage,� any more than good PR can guarantee a favorable newspaper article. But it can increase the odds, if done within acceptable boundaries.
SEM: This has been the term I�ve used for gaining both types of listings, and for people or companies who focus on both. PPC / CPC / Paid Search: How about a term for just getting paid listings? As you can see, there are multiple terms that can be used. Unlike SEO and SEM, none of those terms works to both define the act of getting listings and the people or companies that do it. This awkwardness is why I think SEM has been coopted more and more over the years to cover paid listings. ajmalseotipsandtricks.blogspot.com