There was a time when search execution had to be in house; there simply were no firms specialized in the service. Over the past ten years, search engine marketing agencies carved a niche to fulfill on this need, just in time for the explosion in pay-per-click advertising. Of course, there were a few firms that scoffed at yet another agency's fees and went it alone. At the time, there was limited education on search engine marketing, and most efforts were less than brilliant. Ultimately, experts would be brought in and the search agency of record relationship was born.