Google Offers Text Only Cache View
Lots of people getting in a tiz over Google's introduction of a new "text only" cache snapshot. Andy Beal
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Did Google Steal Orkut Code? Wired News reports that Affinity Engines is suing Google, claiming that much of the source code behind Orkut.com, the search engine's popular social service, was stolen from them by Orkut Buyukkokten.
"In its initial investigation, AEI (Affinity Engines) uncovered a total of nine unique software bugs ... in AEI's inCircle product that were also present in Orkut.com," according to the lawsuit. "The presence of these bugs in both products is highly indicative of a common source code…. Orkut.com contains software and source code copied, developed or derived from AEI's inCircle software or source code."
Google fired back...
Affinity Engines has not provided any evidence to Google that their source code was used in the development of Orkut.com," wrote David Krane, the company's director of corporate communications, in a statement to Wired News. "We have repeatedly offered to allow a neutral expert to compare the codes in the two programs and evaluate Affinity's claims, but Affinity has rejected that offer. We have investigated the claims ... thoroughly and concluded that the allegations are without merit."
Affinity should have at least waited until Google actually made a profit with Orkut, as it stands now, Orkut is going nowhere. Andy Beal
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Is Microsoft Ready to Drop Yahoo Paid Inclusions?
The guys at WebmasterWorld are chatting about the rumors that MSN is about to drop Yahoo/Inktomi paid inclusions.
We'll have the full story, once it becomes public knowledge. Check back soon! ;-) Andy Beal
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Ad Agencies Hate Search Engine Marketing
So I read this new article on Mediapost.com, about how much Ad agencies hate dealing with search engine marketing. As I moved down thru the piece, I started thinking to myself, "this is starting to sound like a pitch to ad agencies to forget about doing it themselves and hire a SEM company".
Then I read the final paragraph...
With all this being said, some agencies have decided to partner with SEM firms and are letting the SEM firms have direct client contact. Why? Because there is too much education required for the agency to deliver the work required and yet the agency wants to successfully meet the demands of its clients.
Yep, pretty sure this is just a self-promotion piece. So why don't I jump in too! Ad Agencies? SEM is too hard, let us do the work for you! Andy Beal
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AOL Will Let Advertising.com Run Itself
AOL chief executive Jonathan F. Miller has told The Washington Post that he does not intend to interfere with the way Advertising.com is run.
"We are interested in what they are doing because it was working, not because we thought we could do it better or liked the technology," Miller said. "I understand how to manage a business that is part of something but operates stand-alone from my own history with [former employer] USA Interactive. It is a good model." Andy Beal
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A Rare Opportunity to Have Your Own Search Engines
In case the latest email offer from the Nigerian Prince, is not enough to tempt you, how about this offer...
It is rare Search Engines are for sale, joint venture, or lease.
A quantity have just become available. The explicit Search Engines cover over 200 Countries with an average of 50 Categories each, and all based around the very memorable and unforgettable words Everything About, followed by the Topic.
The first 2 working Search Engines, just commenced, are "The World's Adventure Search Engine", www.Everything-About-Adventure.com & "The World's Tourism Search Engine", www.Everything-About-Tourism.com
If the spinning globes and expertly-crafted Frontpage coding doesn't get you, maybe the bargain price will...
The asking price for all 150 Search Engines, which cover every major Business, Leisure Activity and Sport in the World, is only US$2.35 million.
Please make checks payable to Ima Sucka. Andy Beal
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Ask Jeeves a Sick Dog?
When you Ask Jeeves for help with a sick puppy, you're not really expecting this response.
p.s. can you tell it's a light news day, so far? ;-) Andy Beal
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June 29, 2004
Building Your Business with Google Book Now Available Brad Hill's new book is finally available and is selling like hot-cakes! Brad was kind enough to ask me for some quotes, so I'm returning the favor with a link.
More SEMPO Comments
Ok, everyone at SEMPO take a deep breath, this is a nice post (well, it's not cynical at least).
Dana Todd stopped by and added her comments about the progress SEMPO has made over the past year. We like to play nicely with the other kids in the neighborhood, so we're linking back to her comments.
Everyone go and read them. She must have spent all morning typing them, so let's not ignore them!
Garrett French Joins Search Engine Marketing Company, WebSourced, Inc
Not quite sure how good of a job we did in keeping this a secret, but in case you didn't know, Garrett French (yes the very same cool guy who worked for WebProNews) has now joined WebSourced and KeywordRanking.com.
Needless to say, we are absolutely thrilled to have Garrett join our company. Not only does Garrett have an insight to the growing search engine industry, that few can match, but he also has a phenomenal thirst to learn every facet of SEM.
We have great plans for Garrett. We're going to put him thru a rigorous herbal detoxification process before placing the biggest and whitest SEO hat, we can find, on his head. You'll also see Garret popping up on this site now and then, until we're able to find a more permanent location for his excellent insights.
So we've added to Garrett to the already impressive line-up, that includes Jason Dowdell, Ben Wills and some English-bloke who's name escapes me. ;-)
Apple Beats Microsoft to Desktop Search
Looks like Apple is going to give us Longhorn before Microsoft does. Their new "Spotlight" technology lets users create "smart folders" based on a query against a metadata index, reports eWeek. Andy Beal
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Spyware Targeting Search Engines
Lengthy article about how Spyware makers are targeting the search engines' traffic. Andy Beal
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Google's Value Soars
Allan Sloan helps us calculate how much Google has grown in the past couple of years.
The company valued its private shares at 49 cents back in the first quarter of 2003. The IPO is expected to value them at around $88!
Google IPO Not Lucrative Enough For Wall Street
Those poor guys on Wall Street, they hope for a nice big "Google Steak" and instead they get served a "Google Burger". It seems they are not entirely happy with Google's decision to hold a dutch auction IPO, simply because they wont make as much money.
While the firms are not commenting on the work or the expenses involved, sources speaking on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press the costs far outstrip those of a traditional IPO, while the fees and investment returns will be far less. Andy Beal
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Google Execs Reveal Their Worth
Thanks to Gary for listing those Google executives who have filed their stock ownership with the SEC.
There's going to be some wealthy people at Google. Andy Beal
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June 28, 2004
The Slow Demise of LookSmart?
And you think I'm brutal. Take a look at Fool.com's "nail in the coffin" story about the slow demise of LookSmart. Andy Beal
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Why Can t Google Read My Mind - A Look at Personalized Search Brittany Thompson looks at how personalization may impact future search engine marketing efforts. Andy Beal
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Andy Beal on Search Engine Radio Talk Show
I've been asked to chat with Brad Fallon, of Search Engine Radio, tomorrow at 9 AM Pacific, Noon Eastern.
I'm waiting to hear what topics Brad would like to discuss, but I am sure it will be fun. Please tune in. Andy Beal
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Microsoft Prepares Its Search Engine
Microsoft plans to kick off a series of improvements to its search capabilities from July as it looks to compete with heavyweights Google and Yahoo, Microsoft chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates said, according to ZDNet.
Gates told a media briefing in Sydney the company had "several milestones with its search site" on the way.
"In July, the format of the site will change -- and so will the quality of what you get -- and the way it'll look is dramatically improved," Gates said.
"It'll be later this year that we actually roll out what's entirely our own back end driving the search". Andy Beal
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The long-awaited product allows advertisers to target by radius -- from as little as a half mile to as much as 100 miles.
Publishers carrying Local Match ads will have the option of several techniques for determining what ads to display. When users don't explicitly indicate a location by typing in a city or region, sites can use the site visitor's IP address, Zip code from registration data, or designated market area (DMA). The user interface can also be set up to ask users to specify the area about which they want information if a search appears to be local in nature.
At launch, locally-targeted Overture ads will appear on Yahoo!, MSN, ESPN.com, MyCity.com and certain sites within the InfoSpace network.
P.S. Has anyone else noticed that if you search "Overture" at Google, the number 1 listing is for www.goto.com, now owned by Ask Jeeves (which, by the way, is almost identical to www.myway.com). To add insult to injury, the only way Overture is able to show-up for the search, is by bidding on its own name via Google's AdWords. Tell me that isn't a clever ploy by Google? Andy Beal
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Can Google and Microsoft Compete in the Enterprise Search Space?
According to TechWeb (via ISEDB)...
"People see Google and think that's what they need for their Web site and intranet, but is that really the case?" asks IDC analyst Sue Feldman. "On the Web, you have homogenous HTML. On an intranet, you have all kinds of files." Although Microsoft and Google could purchase file format conversion software, for reliable search across a large organization, an enterprise search engine is still best because of its fuller feature set, whereas the Google and Microsoft alternatives are/will be fine for simple keyword searches.
So maybe Google's not quite up to speed with Enterprise search or maybe they are doing very nice thank you! And doesn't Microsoft pretty much own every application we run on our computers? Andy Beal
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Google Launches New Chinese Search Engine
Google has announced the launch of Chinese search services designed to capture a portion of China's web market. Andy Beal
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Company IPOs May Wait for Google
Reuters is reporting there are almost 200 IPOs waiting in the wings this year. It seems they are all lining-up behind Google.
And IPOs are expected to feel the heat from the 800-pound gorilla on the horizon -- the highly anticipated initial public offering of Google. Analysts said companies could rush to get their deals out ahead of the offering or else delay until Google-mania has passed.
"The summer is best described as all Google, all the time," Menlow said.
I bet if someone did a documentary movie on Google, it would be the biggest hit of the year. I wonder how Michael Moore's schedule is looking? ;-) Andy Beal
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June 25, 2004
Yahoo! Search Results Showing Suggested Searches Gary Price noticed that Yahoo has started showing suggested searches below the search box (after you have entered your search). You can even ask it to show you all suggestions.
The "Show All Suggestions" option is a little too busy. Andy Beal
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A site with a 4/10 PageRank can still generate thousands of unique visitors a day. A site with a 8/10 PageRank can still stink!
The only time I ever consider PageRank is if an established site, all of a sudden ,drops to 0/10, that often indicates a problem. Apart from that, why bother?
I can understand where these people are coming from, I am a reformed PageRank obsessor. Up until a year ago, I too would check datacenters and obsess about a PageRank increase. But you know what, I simply learned that it has no bearing on how much search engine traffic you get. Andy Beal
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SEMPO Outlines First Year Progress Barbara Coll, President and Chair of the Board for SEMPO, Inc., was kind enough to provide Search Engine Lowdown with an update on SEMPO's progress over the first year, here is her (unedited) letter.
"Andy - thanks for posting a comment about SEMPO in your well read blog. I wanted to drop you a line and let you know what the significant accomplishments for SEMPO have been over the past year.
SEMPO started in August 2003 officially. The first goal was to get enough members to have a voice in the industry and to attract a few key sponsors who wanted to listen to our members. You know the mission is to get the word out about SEM. Once we had enough members we were able to move to the next important steps: education about the value of SEM, visibility of the membership with sponsors, and visibility of SEM in the online marketing world. We now have 230+ members worldwide (http://www.sempo.org/sempo-membership-directory.php) and 4 key sponsors (http://www.sempo.org/sempo-sponsors.php).
The education material we have developed in conjunction with our members is significant. You can see all the material on the sempo website at http://www.sempo.org/resources.php. This central point for case studies and articles that focus on the value of SEM, and not the tactics, is central to the SEMPO mission of providing our members and the public with material to take back to potential clients or current clients to sell SEM. We will add primary research about the SEM industry shortly.
Sponsors wanted access to our members - members wanted to influence the sponsors. The larger our membership, the more likely the industry players will listen to us. There have been numerous opportunities both publicly and one-on-one, for members to meet with sponsors. From those meetings we have influenced client service models, product specifications, and industry activities. With the diversity of business models and size of companies, sponsors like Google, Overture, Verizon SuperPages get a broad look at their buyers and the buyer's clients.
Visibility of SEM and our members within the online marketing community is just as important. This is an area to crack that takes much longer. While we are very visible at the SES shows, thanks primarily to arrangements with JupiterMedia and the Search Engine Strategies team, we are just starting to crack the shows that don't focus on SEM. I am moderating a talk at Ad-Tech now: Branding and SEM (http://www.ad-tech.com/sessions_byDay.asp?SubEvent=13#S1213). The agenda shows me as President of SEMPO, not as the CEO of Webmama.com. This is only the third conference that this has happened at but more are on the way. This is a very important step to show the online marketing world that SEM marketers are worth taking notice of and that we know more about Search Marketing that they do - therefore they should work with us! That we are a force to be noticed. And you pointed out the new European-based Board member. One of the powers of having a trade association for our industry is to reach worldwide and band together to show we are an even more powerful force to be reckoned with, to be listened to. Mike Grehan is very involved in the organization. I'll let him comment further for himself.
One more thing, analysts care about what SEMPO members are doing and what SEMPO is doing. Many of us are asked for our opinions often. Much of what SEMPO's Board and members have influenced is behind the scenes: with sponsors, analysts, press, and other associations. Members are enjoying many of the benefits of the single voice and single focus. I hope you will join us and use your substantial influence for the good of the industry.
Barbara 'webmama' Coll
President and Chair of the Board
SEMPO, Inc."
Ok, me again. Most of you in the industry already know my thoughts about SEMPO, so they don't need re-stating. But let me ask both members and non-members this question. By my calculations, SEMPO has collected around $250,000 in membership dues and sponsorships. Do you think that they have put this to good use? Are you getting value as a member? If you are not a member, why haven't you joined. On your marks, get set, discuss! Andy Beal
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Who Wants Google to Cease and Decist?
Gary Price has a list of recent "Cease and Decist" notices sent to Google. Andy Beal
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Who are Google's Financial Backers?
David Vise of the Washington Post recaps the people who placed their faith in Google, when it was a start-up.
Initial investors in the company included Jeffrey P. Bezos, chief executive of Amazon.com Inc.; Andy Bechtolsheim, co-founder of Sun Microsystems Inc.; and Wilson Sonsini, the prestigious Silicon Valley law firm that is advising Google on its upcoming initial public offering, according to company filings. Andy Beal
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Google Spammer Faces Federal Extortion Charges The idiot who thought it would be a good idea to threaten Google with click-thru fraud, unless the company paid him $150,000, now faces charges of federal extortion and wire fraud.
A federal grand jury in San Jose, California, returned an indictment on Wednesday against Michael Anthony Bradley of Oak Park, California, charging him with one count of interfering with commerce by threats and 10 counts of wire fraud over a scheme for a software program he claimed to have developed.
The program reputedly created fraudulent "clicks" on Google's "cost-per-click" advertisements on Web sites, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California.
Terry Semel Outlines Yahoo's Battle Plans
Kevin Delaney of the WSJ, interviewed Yahoo CEO, Terry Semel about the changes he has made to the company and what plans he has for search.
Lots of interesting stuff including:
WSJ: What is the future of search?
Mr. Semel: We've probably just finished phase one as an industry. Initially, the great need was to amass all of the information and to provide it in the most efficient and effective way so that users could access that information. What we are going to see, in phase two, will be much more specific. The same information could be presented taking into account your location, so that if you are looking for a plumber or a pizza parlor it doesn't turn out to be 3,000 miles away from where you are searching but rather several miles from your house. In our case, it is also about integrating the very large communities and groups who represent millions of people who have very specific interests and spend a lot of time on Yahoo expressing those interests through chats and through groups and communities. The advantage that Yahoo has is that we are providing a lot of those services outside of search today.
WSJ: When you hear Google executives saying their company aims to "do no evil," what do you think?
Mr. Semel: I never thought about that before. I don't pay a lot attention to all of that stuff. At the end of the day it will come down to consumer satisfaction over a long period of time. And that's something Yahoo has been in focus on for many years. I think about what's good for our consumers. I don't know about any evil. Andy Beal
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Google Tops List of Best Online Brands
According to eMarketer, a new EquiTrends Brand Study, puts Google at the top of the list of best online brands. Here's the top ten:
BlowSearch Launches Job Search Site
BlowSearch has launched a job search site through an agreement with Artemis HR. Artemis provides search results for some of the country’s largest national sites like 4Jobs.com, along with regional sites like PhillyJobs.com and industry specific sites like LookTech.com.
“The addition of AHR to our roster of partners will give our users another tool to help them find exactly what they’re searching for online,” said Richard Kahn, CEO, BlowSearch Andy Beal
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Yahoo's Overture Considering Pay-for-Performance Search Advertising?
DMNews has a report from LinkShare Symposium 2004, where Buy.com's CEO, Scott Blum, trashed the PPC model and suggested that Google and Yahoo should look at pay-for-performance instead.
This is something that a lot of people believe will be the next evolution of search advertising, but according to Blum, it maybe closer than we think.
Google is not doing pay-per-performance deals, he said, but Yahoo is starting to.
Where, who, when??? Anyone have any insight on PPP with Yahoo? I'm assuming it's for something other than Overture ads.
UPDATE: Overture's Dan Boberg confirmed "Not aware of any testing on any other models. We're very happy with the ppc model, and we've always considered ppc to be a pay-for-performance model, i.e. you only pay when a targeted visitor is delivered to your website." Andy Beal
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Behind the Scenes at Yahoo Labs
Search Engine Watch re-prints Gary Price's interview with Yahoo's Gary Flake.
I was just thinking to myself, "gosh, Gary is on SEW a lot these days", when I saw this sentence at the bottom of the article.
Gary Price is News Editor of SearchEngineWatch.com.
Time Warner's America Online to Buy Advertising.com AOL announced that they intend to acquire Advertising.com in a $435 million all-cash deal.
Advertising.com operates the industry's largest third-party advertising network, reaching more than 110 million visitors monthly and over 70 percent of all U.S. Web visitors, according to comScore Media Metrix in May 2004. The company's revenues increased almost 80 percent in 2003 to reach $132 million, and 2003 income from operations was $12.1 million.
Advertising.com works with more than 800 advertisers to optimize the performance of their online marketing campaigns through proprietary ad delivery and optimization tools. Andy Beal
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Ask Jeeves Announces 2-Gigabyte Email Accounts
They may only have a fraction of Google's or Yahoo's market share, but Ask Jeeves is not letting that stop them.
Ask Jeeves will offer users 125 megabytes of free email storage on its three portal brands: My Way, Excite, and iWon. In addition, Excite Gold users will get 2-gigabytes of storage, allowing Ask to compete with Yahoo Mail and Google's Gmail. Andy Beal
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Ask Jeeves Withdraws Paid Inclusion, Will Yahoo Follow?
Ask Jeeves is certainly making a lot of noise just recently (capitalizing on Google's "quiet period"). Today they announced the withdrawal of their paid inclusion service (we knew this was coming).
Jim Lanzone, Ask Jeeves' senior vice president of search products, said that the company decided to end its paid inclusion because Teoma--a unit of Ask Jeeves and the engine that powers its search results--has gotten sophisticated enough to find all necessary sites on the Web and refresh them as often as needed. Paid inclusion, he said, poses a conflict for a search engine that promotes the most comprehensive, freshest index to consumers while taking fees from marketers to deliver on that promise.
"Whether it's pay-per-click or a flat fee, it doesn't make sense to draw a distinction of a site in the index--if it's good, it's good. We have to have it anyway; why would we make them pay anything?" said Lanzone, adding that the move will not have a material effect on the company's earnings.
What is also interesting is that Yahoo insiders say that execs there are considering changing their paid inclusion model. While they plan to keep the service, they are reportedly considering removing the per-click fee they charge for Site Match.
Too Much Google a Bad Thing?
David Radin is surprised by the influx of Google publicity and suggests that we should be careful not to drink the Google Kool-Aid.
Love this...
Suddenly, Google news is everywhere -- from its unusual initial public offering to its creation of its G-mail free e-mail service. Not all the news is flattering. But it's omnipresent. If Yahoo! sneezes, the press writes about how Google might catch its cold. Andy Beal
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Did you know SEMPO is about to celebrate its first birthday? Congratulations to all involved. Let's call the first year the "honeymoon period". Now that you have the membership dues of 230 companies, what are you going to do to improve awareness of the industry. If anyone at SEMPO would like to email me with an update, I'd be happy to publish it. Andy Beal
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June 23, 2004
The Google Way
Most news stories have a point. To be honest, I am not sure what this one's is. Andy Beal
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Business Execs Not Happy with Search
According to a survey released by FIND/SVP, 84% of business executives feel that Web searches -- using the generally consumer-centric search engines now available --take longer than they should due to poor results. It is estimated that the loss of productive time using search engines to conduct online research cost businesses $31 billion last year. From eMarketer.
I wonder what the definition of "business executive" is and how would these results compare to the average person. Maybe business executives aren't as smart as Joe Average. ;-) Andy Beal
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Internet Advertising Spending to Increase by 15.8% in 2004
According to research done by TNS Media Intelligence/CMR, Internet advertising is set to grow by nearly 16% this year, beating TV and Radio's expected growth. Andy Beal
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Search Engine Lowdown Launches Mobile Headlines for your Pocket PC and Palm
Just when you thought Search Engine Lowdown couldn't get any more useful, we decided to launch our new Search Engine Lowdown Mobile.
Yes, now you never have to be without the latest search engine news headlines. Simply point your PDA, Pocket PC or Palm to http://www.searchenginelowdown.com/pda.htm and you'll get a bite-sized version of our homepage, perfect for your PDA!
Our mobile site has the 10 most recent entries (updated every 2 hours) and snippets of the text. Clicking on the links, still take you to the full version news page, but hey, it's a start.
We hope you enjoy getting the latest news on your PDA, please feel free to leave your comments or suggestions. Andy Beal
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Kim Krause Launches UsabilityEffect.com
Congratulations and the best of luck to Kim as she launches her new web site usability company, UsabilityEffect.com. I've seen Kim's work, and she is bound to have great success. Andy Beal
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June 22, 2004
Google Looking at July for IPO
According to Dow Jones, Google is gearing-up for a mid-July IPO auction.
Google is trying to have all testing completed by July 16 for a new computer system set up by the underwriters to allow them to take orders for shares in the IPO.
Final fixes in any glitches from the test have to be completed by July 11, since there will be a system-wide test from July 12 through July 16. After that, Google wants to begin the process of formally marketing its IPO. At or just before then, the search-engine company would set the number of shares it plans to sell and reveal its expected price range.
I'm not sure how quickly the IPO auction process can be completed, but you would think that Google would want to have the "quite period" out of the way, in time for Search Engine Strategies in August. Andy Beal
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Drunken Style SEO
There's actually a lot of sense to this...
"I say the best rule of thumb is to optimize like a drunk guy would. Don't leave a pattern."
Terra Lycos Has Four Offers for Lycos.com
Spanish Internet company Terra Lycos has received four offers for its U.S. portal Lycos, company insiders said, according to Reuters.
"We are weighing the sale of Lycos. No decision has been taken yet but Terra has four offers and we expect a decision will be taken in the short term," the source told Reuters without giving further details.
Welcome Slashdot readers
Please say "hello" to our special guests today, Slashdot readers. The last time they visited, I had to increase my bandwidth, hopefully this time I am better prepared! No, that is not a challenge!! ;-) Andy Beal
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Don't forget to sign up for our Newsletter!
Just a reminder to sign up for our weekly newsletter containing the hottest search engine news! Andy Beal
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Google Plans to Reveal Some of its Code
According to Australia's The Age, Google plans to reveal some of the code it uses to great success.
The time has come for Google to "give something back", Wayne Rosing, the company's vice-president of engineering, told students while on a recruiting drive in Melbourne last week.
"There have been a lot of conversations in the company in the past two months about (how) . . . it's time for us to give something back. So our technical director, Craig Silverstein, has started a project to look at all the Google code and start figuring out what parts of it we want to give back," Rosing said.
They'll probably reveal that PageRank is just a figment of our imaginations and that it has nothing to do with how a website ranks in Google. Oh, wait...we already figured that out. Andy Beal
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Google's Revenue Sharing Flavored Search Not New
Bambi Francisco, takes a trip back in time to highlight why Google's new revenue-sharing search service is not the first of it's kind.
Back in November 1999, I wrote about a company called VStore, which allowed people to make their own Web site stores. Vstore facilitated the order process and delivered the goods but the personal Web sites were the salesmen of sorts.
Ah yes, VStore. How much I loved having a VStore and dreaming of the immense wealth it would bring me. Yeah, right. Andy Beal
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Google Gives IPO Warnings
David Vise of The Washington Post reports on Google's new SEC filing, where the search engine warns investors not to buy Google stock if they plan to sell it quickly.
"Therefore, the price of our Class A common stock could decline following the offering, and investors should not expect to be able to sell their shares for a profit shortly after trading begins," the company warned. "You should consider whether to modify or withdraw your bid as a result of developments during the auction process."
Google also disclosed yesterday that Merrill Lynch & Co. is no longer among the more than two dozen brokerage houses that will participate in the IPO. The company offered no explanation for Merrill's removal from the list.
Finally, Google outlines the hassles it faces over the privacy of Gmail.
Expect details soon on when and how to bid. Andy Beal
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June 21, 2004
Ask Jeeves Testing Report for Binoculars Preview
Ask Jeeves fully tested its new Preview Tool before rolling it out. The actual test conducted by Veritest, makes for interesting reading...
* Participants using the binocular version were consistently more efficient with their mouse clicks averaging 50% to 100% fewer mouse clicks than the control group.
* Participants using the binocular version consistently viewed one-fourth to more than half fewer Web pages completing the tasks than the control group.
Although, it appears it takes some getting used to:
* Participants using the binocular version in the first three tasks were slower completing the tasks than the control group. In tasks four through five participants using the binocular version were faster completing the tasks than the control group" Andy Beal
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Ask Jeeves Observation
I won't be the only person to notice this, but if the new Ask Jeeves Binoculars Preview Tool makes searching so efficient, why don't they offer the service for their sponsored web results? :-)
Ok, so I know that comment will ruffle some feathers over at Ask, but someone has to point out that while Ask Jeeves is willing to help reduce clicks with the "free" results, it's not the case for those clicks they get paid on.
Yahoo Launches Chinese Search Engine Named Yisou "Anything you can do, I can do better"...and so just days after Google invests heavily in Baidu.com, Yahoo announces the launch of its new Chinese search engine.
They named it "Yisou", which translates as "No.1 Search". Those goofy marketing people must have spent all night on that one. I heard their original selection was "Gosiogle" which means "Better than Google, honest". Andy Beal
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Microsoft Discusses Plans for its New Search Engine
Chris Gaither of the LA Times, sat down with Yusuf Mehdi, the Microsoft vice president who runs MSN. This is one of those interviews where you determine their plans by what is NOT said. Andy Beal
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Can Search Engines Replace The Library?
The New York Times again, this time they look at the downsides of relying on Google for all of your research needs (something I know Gary Price will attest to).
"Google searches an index at the first layers of any Web site it goes to, and as you delve beneath the surface, it starts to miss stuff," said Mr. Duguid, co-author of "The Social Life of Information." "When you go deeper, the number of pages just becomes absolutely mind-boggling."
Mind-boggling? Sure, did you know that an estimated 500 billion pages are not being indexed by the search engines?
If you could use Google to just look across digital libraries, into any digital library collection, now that would be cool," said Daniel Greenstein, university librarian of the California Digital Library, the digital branch of the University of California library system.
"It would help libraries achieve something that we haven't yet been able to achieve by ourselves," Dr. Greenstein said, "which is to place all of our publicly accessible digital library collections in a common pool." Andy Beal
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Search Ads in Your Google Email
The New York Times looks at the type of ads you may see popping up in your Google Gmail account.
Google will not display ads on e-mail messages with words related to sex, guns, drugs and other topics it considers off limits. "We want the ads to be family friendly," said Susan Wojcicki, Google's director of product management. "There are some topics for ads we have decided that are not appropriate to be shown on e-mail."
Google will not show any ads on Gmail for dating sites, one of the most lucrative categories for other Web-based e-mail services. And it will not even show ads related to squirt guns.
It also tries not to display ads next to messages that contain disparaging language about the products of its advertisers. So if your mother complains that her digital camera is a dud, the recipient is not likely to see a camera ad on that message. Andy Beal
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AskJeeves / Teoma Site Submit Closing Paid Inclusion in 101 Days
Got an email this morning from ineedhits.com saying:
"We have just received news from Ask Jeeves that they will be closing down the Ask Jeeves Site Submit program. The good news for all search engine marketers is that there is a window of opportunity - from now until September 30 - to purchase or renew your Ask Jeeves Site Submit subscription. If you don't act before September 30, we fear that you will be unable to secure this low cost paid inclusion offering. The countdown has begun - there are only 101 days to go!"
They offered no explanation as to why they are doing this, but one has to assume that they may now see paid inclusions too much as encouraging spammers, and therefore must close it down to maintain the quality of their search result listings.
Ask, having strong natural language search capabilities, has been discussed as being a great potential candidate for Microsoft to acquire since Microsoft's goals in search seem to revolve heavily around similar technologies. If they were in talks with Microsoft as a potential acquisition candidate, it wouldn't necessarily make sense to close a revenue stream, so that makes me think that a Microsoft acquisition of Ask Jeeves would be leaning closer to not happening. That's just my opinion, though ;) Ben Wills
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June 19, 2004
Ask Jeeves Announces Launch of Binoculars Site Preview Tool So it wasn't a figment of our imagination, at Search Engine Lowdown we really did get the scoop by uncovering a new offering by Ask Jeeves, and today the search engine is set to announce the official launch of its Binoculars Site Preview.
According to Ask, the beta launch of Binoculars, a patent-pending site preview tool, is now available for those accessing Ask Jeeves through broadband connections (that explains why some of our readers coudn't find the binoculars). The Binoculars tool enables users to quickly and easily preview their search results before clicking-through to visit the end pages themselves. According to an independent user study conducted by VeriTest, "binoculars" reduced the number of clicks required to find relevant results by 50-70% per search.
"Ask Jeeves' goal continues to be helping users find what they need in a smarter and more intuitive way, and these new features do just that," said Jim Lanzone, Senior Vice-President of Search Properties for Ask Jeeves. "Our users can meet the important needs of their everyday lives all in the same place. They can confidently find the perfect wedding gift, track that important package, or catch up on their favorite sports team. At the same time, the Binoculars feature allows users to say good-bye to pogo-sticking; that time-consuming process of repeatedly returning to the results page. Whatever information searchers need, Ask Jeeves will find it."
How does the new Binoculars preview tool work, I hear you ask? According to Ask exec's, a small binoculars icon appears next to most Ask Jeeves search results. When a user's cursor is moved over the icon, a small window instantly appears above or below the result, featuring an image of the end site. By scrolling through a series of Binoculars images, a user can evaluate the quality of a search results set without "pogo-sticking" between the Ask Jeeves results page and the results themselves. When a desired result is found, a user can directly click-through.
Just in case that isn't enough for you, Ask also expanded its Smart Search features, which enable users to conduct more effective searches by helping narrow, broaden or more directly answer user queries. SmartSearch utilizes Ask Jeeves' proprietary combination of Teoma search, natural language, and structured-data search technologies to deliver this more intuitive search experience. We've already reported on most of these new Smart Searches, but now Ask Jeeves makes it official.
Ask Jeeves Salutes All Fathers Andy Beal
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June 18, 2004
Former Yahoo Employee Launches Paid Search Tool
Want some idea as to what all those newly created Google millionaires might do once they cash-in?
Clues might come from Yahoo. According to CNet, former Yahoo executive Ellen Siminoff has re-emerged as CEO of Efficient Frontier, which produces a paid-search management service that was launched Friday. The service lets paid search advertisers predict the performance of their keyword purchases on paid search networks such as Google's AdWords and Yahoo's Overture Services subsidiary. Andy Beal
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New Google WebSearch Program Pays Publishers For Searches
Danny Sullivan provides more details of Google's new WebSearch offering.
Google WebSearch allows publishers to add a Google web search box to their web sites. Searches generated then show both Google's paid and unpaid listings. The publisher receives a share of all revenue generated from clicks on the paid listings. Andy Beal
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Former About.com Search Guide Assumes Editorial Post at Search Engine Guide
Congrats to Jennifer and Robert (no, they didn't get married, at least not in that sense!) Andy Beal
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Is Google Spying on You?
It's not really new news that by installing the Google Toolbar, you give permission for Google to track your every move. However, with privacy advocates taking a closer look at the world's best search engine, it's not surprising that a WebProNews forum user makes this post.
When I browse my site (even into password protected areas) then look at my stats, I notice that Googlebot has "followed me" ! Is this because I have a google toolbar??? How else would googlebot happen to drift exactly where I have just visited? Has any one else experienced this?
Ja think that Google uses this method to follow toolbar users around sites and maybe to index or rank pages???? hmmmmm interesting!
Google Extends Adsense to the Masses
Netimperative reports that Google has today extended Adsense program to smaller businesses, and is also testing a new "site-flavoured" search tool that provides web publishers with a customised search to reflect the content of the website. Andy Beal
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Business Search Engine Find.com Launches According to ClickZ, Find.com, a search engine designed for business professionals, was launched in beta this week by partners FIND/SVP, Empire Media and TripleHop Technologies.
The site delivers search results from three different types of sources. Results from business sites that charge for their content, such as Gallup and Frost & Sullivan, appear at the top of the search results pages. Users can then buy the content. Results from a list of 3,000 business sites appear in the free organic listings, along with results from a variety of search engines.
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