To clear up any misconceptions, Google released a video explaining once and for all that they do not use the "keywords" meta tag in their search results.

While they do have an application that can match meta tags, it's not part of the the public's everyday searches at Google.com, nor part of how they rank pages.

In the past, developers would fill up keyword meta tags with every imaginable word to draw traffic via search engines.

Google though recognized the abuse taking place and only focused on actual page content, not off-page factors like keywords or inbound links.

That's not to say they've abandoned meta tags. Google does still support a few instances where meta tags come into play.

Some developers view including the keywords meta tag as insurance for possible search engine recognition in the future.

Google’s focus however, is on those people worried they may be losing traffic over keywords used by their competition.