------------How It All Started-------------

First off, I was genuinely interested in SEO PowerSuite when I heard one SEO guy rave about it in some search marketing conference.

So off I went to test their free version - and you know what - I was blown away! Their Rank Tracker is a massive keyword research and rank checking machine, intuitive in use and fast.

SEO SpyGlass is their backlink checker, and once again, it far exceeded my expectations in trial, so much so that I actually decided to buy it, reasoning that, yes, Majestic SEO service is a better alternative to SEO SpyGlass, but, oh, so pricey.

As for other desktop SEO tools I was initially looking at, the likes of WebCEO, Advanced Web Ranking and IBP (naming those that I actually tested), I saw in practice that SEO SpyGlass went above and beyond in terms of retrieved backlink quality and quantity.

------------ What SEO PowerSuite Reviews Say-------------

Good consumer that I am, I've done some homework before shelling out my money, namely $99,75, which is the price tag for SEO SpyGlass Professional version, "for website owners and webmasters".

Product reviews led me to a number of riled up customers portraying SEO PowerSuite and its maker, Link-Assistant.Com, in a bad light, to put it mildly, all because of the allegedly "hidden" monthly charges, which are called - you've guessed it - Live!Plan. (Found next to no complaints on the software quality, I have to admit that much.)

------------"Link-Assistant.Com, Tell Me, What's Live!Plan?"-------------

To be honest, I got so freaked out about such alarming reports that I decided to confront Link-Assistant.Com directly about it. So I wrote to their customer support asking a simple question:

"Trialing your SEO SpyGlass software and thinking of buying it. Is $99,75 a one-time charge or are there any recurring fees?"

And got this in response:

"Yes, we do charge customers for weekly and sometimes even daily search-engine-related updates, which we call Live!Plan", with links to Live!Plan prices and all*, adding that "without Live! Plan subscription, the software is not getting any algo updates and will not gather any relevant search data".

Ok, I got it.

------------ SEO PowerSuite - "Hidden Charges"?...-------------

Remembering about the "hidden charges" complaints, I did some more digging. I was curious, will Google search results for "seopowersuite liveplan" actually led me to the Live!Plan page? Surely they did - first page, first result.

Hmm, I wondered. Pretty upfront if you ask me, and went ahead with the purchase.

Why on earth? you may ask. Because after I got that support reply, followed the links and did my shopping around, the "hidden charges" claim became a non-issue - I knew exactly what I was getting into.

------------ You'd Think That Other SEO Software Providers Don't Charge For Algo Updates -------------

Before the purchase, I found that other SEO software providers I was looking into have the same exact Live!Plan charges, simply naming them differently:

- WebCEO calls them "Knowledge Base Updates"

- IBP calls them "Search Tehcnology Updates"

- Advanced Web Ranking calls them "Maintenance Plan"

------------ So Which One Is It?-------------

Are all major SEO software providers scammers or is there a bunch of choleric customers grumbling on the Web about the allegedly unjustified charges that had actually been there from day one?

Let the buyer beware.

P.S. Sorry, I had to vent this one out.