Mel Strocen on ExactSeek Relaunch and the ISEDN Second Tier Search Engine Network
I know the Jayde Online family of companies because I used to work for WebProNews and the Jayde/iEntry family of companies. Mel Strocen is the owner of the Jayde Online family of companies, which includes ExactSeek and the ISEDN. His name was verboten when I worked at iEntry, so it's with some latent trepidation that I offer you his words here in SEL today.

Scott Buresh has an excellent Mel Strocen interview, which briefly details his two year involvement with "a [certain] newsletter publisher in Kentucky."

ExactSeek's Joe Holcomb contacted me recently about ExactSeek's relaunch with "new crawling and indexing technology."

I started my line of questioning with their technology, but what interested me more was the second tier search engine network that Strocen pieced together with the ISEDN, and the (as low as $3) per-month keyword rental model they use.

Neat!

I know I'm way late to the game on covering the ISEDN, but it's interesting to note that at the time of Buresh's interview (published 8-23-05) they had 48 search engines in the network and are now up to more than 225.

What other search-related networks are out there like this one? Why haven't other traffic networks tapped into this concept before?

Note to Strocen and the ExactSeek team: I've added a few more questions, offset by "+++". I invite you to respond in comments or just send me another email.

-describe the team who developed your new index and crawling capacity (how many people, what are their professional backgrounds and names)
The technology was collaborative effort between ExactSeek in-house technical team and an expert with a long history in development of massively scalable databases and search technology.

+++what are their names and where have they worked?+++

-how did they spend their 12 months - describe the stages of the project and the amount of time spent?
ExactSeek team spent considerable time and money examining a number of new and different search technologies over the last 12 months and determined to implement the current technology because of its scalability, speed, relevancy and unique feature sets.

+++am I understanding you correctly in that you have not actually created but *bought* a new search technology? Whose is it?+++

-how was the team funded?
ExactSeek is part of Jayde Online, Inc., which is a long standing web marketing and online resource. All of the funding for the development of the new engine was handled in house.

-how do you determine "the web's best sources of information"?
By gathering data from authority sites in their respective industries and/or markets users can be assured that the sites they view via ExactSeek's search results are of high quality.

-how do you project that these changes will affect ExactSeek's profitability?
A more scaleable, relevant and feature rich search engine will allow us to hopefully attract and retain searchers which will lead to greater opportunities for advertisers through our Featured Listings program. (For more information see: http://www.exactseek.com/featured_listings.html)

-are you still using Alexa data to determine relevance?
Alexa popularity rankings is still being used as one of the factors in determining search result relevance in the new ExactSeek technology other ranking factors include link popularity, keyword density and positioning and meta data.

-what are the advantages and disadvantages of using Alexa data?
Alexa data is useful if not taken as the only source of traffic and popularity information. We find that Alexa is more accurate in determining B2B traffic patterns than B2C.

-do you consider ExactSeek to be a second tier search engine?
We think of ExactSeek as an alternative information resource. We're not concerned with our market placement in the traditional sense. Our users will determine that for us in the long run. If we provide information that is relevant and useful to users, then they will ultimately determine our success and where we rank among the myriad of search providers.

-talk about the second-tier search space. Who are your key competitors? What kinds of *users* find their way to the second tier?
ExactSeek establishment of relationships and partnerships with over 225+ search engines through the ISEDN.org, which it founded, sets it uniquely apart to other second tier search providers. So instead of having true competition we focus on building beneficial partnerships with other search engines and directories. For us, competition isn't an issue because we have been able to garner cooperation with other engines instead.

ExactSeek advertisers can reach an entire network of search engine and directory sites through the ISEDN. There are over 150 million impressions per month on this network and it continues to grow at a rate of about two to five new members companies each week. That's ad placement that is not cost per click based but rather a small flat fee per month. In fact, our ads cost as little as $3.00 per keyword each month. ExactSeek advertisers don't have the headache of constant bid management, rising bid costs, or exposure to pay per click fraud.

People find their way to the middle market and third tier engines through other search providers, networks, toolbars, content, and a myriad of other sources. Getting users to return is the hard part and for that you need a good technology. With the beta release of our new search engine technology and data base, we believe that ExactSeek is on the path to acquiring more market share.

-is a search engine second-tier because it lacks users or because it lacks strong search technology?
The answer to that is both however marketing and branding are also important factors in acquiring market share. Amassing users must be coupled with good technology for growth.

-what have been the biggest shifts in the second tier space in your tenure?
The most significant shift has been the rapid growth of search as an advertising medium.

The other significant change is the growth and prevalence of click fraud in pay per click advertising which continues to take a toll on the second tier engines as they try to gain traction on Google, MSN, and Yahoo.

ExactSeek created an alternative flat fee ad system in early 2003 and then went on to develop an alternative channel and organization, The Independent Search Engine & Directory Network (ISEDN.org). Today there are over 225 members.

The ISEDN is an alternative to the big three engines with no pay per click and the best search engine marketing value available today. Our program is not pay per click based so there is no incentive in our network for committing click fraud. For $3.00 or less per keyword each month an advertiser can receive 10 or 10,000 clicks at the same price. This in turn creates a higher ROI. Plus, our advertisers do not have to worry about the threat of fraudulent clicks so the ROI figures are even more accurate.

-what are your overall aspirations for ExactSeek?
To be a high quality resource of information and provide added value to searchers who need help finding what they want.

-what in your current offering is a step in that direction?
The crawling and indexing technologies we've developed are a definite step in the right direction. However other features such as being able to search within a site from our results pages and locate forms on a web site directly from our search results are key differentiators that separate us from others. Giving more weight to specific areas of interest by category and personalization features will also play a large role in the near future.

-what has been the biggest problem with ExactSeek in the past three years?
ExactSeek has always been a great resource for web site owners and businesses to list their web sites. However, the limits of our old technology necessitated that we go in a new direction and build a more robust and scaleable system that could deliver a greater depth of higher quality results and a better overall experience for end users. With the beta launch we're addressing that need and over the long term addressing the needs of our users as well.

-what is ExactSeek's relationship to ISEDN.org?
ISEDN.org was founded in June 2005 as an extension of ExactSeek's own Featured Listings advertising program. As interest in ExactSeek's Featured Listings grew we realized that the program would be better served by an active and independent association of search engines and directories instead of a single company. We saw the opportunity to create a network of cooperation where members could help each other grow with a revenue generation system that was relatively immune from constant bid management, exorbitantly expensive bid prices, and rampant click fraud.

-isn't ExactSeek essentially competition for the other members of the ISEDN (which is owned by the same company to my understanding)?
No. Each member company has its own advertisers and eyeballs that they can sell their Featured Listings program to. Many member companies offer a number of different advertising services on their own. The ISEDN is simply another great alternative for advertisers.

The ISEDN member companies market and interact with each other to create a better program for our advertisers. It is a philosophy of strength in numbers. Each member company of the ISEDN works with their own advertisers to create long term relationships. There is little to no overlap because advertisers understand that the ISEDN is a network oriented service available from a number of sources. They can simply choose which member company they are comfortable working with.

-how do you find new SEs? do they find you?
For the most part potential Members have approach us to be part of the ISEDN in addition members have been recruited as a result of by press releases, news articles, word of mouth.

-is it difficult to convince SEs to join the ISEDN? Why or why not?
No it has been remarkably easy; in fact the growth of the ISEDN has been an unparalleled success. Most members see the benefit of joining and share the same vision of creating an alternative advertising model for the smaller engines and directories to collaborate on. By working together we all benefit financially and generate more traffic and awareness for all member sites. We believe this is the only way most of the smaller engines and directories will be able to compete and stay in business against the likes of Google, MSN, and Yahoo.

-what characterizes a good SE entry for the ISEDN?
We have a set of criteria that a company must meet in order to become a member. For search engines, the overall quality of the site and its search results are examined. For directories, the depth of their own directory and database is looked into. We also take into account the amount of traffic a potential member has and how long they have been online. We will reject any engine or directory that just is a redirect or redisplay of some other search engine's result pages.

-what types of companies are major purchasers of ISEDN's advertising?
Our clients range from advertising agencies to small and medium sized online businesses. We target the businesses that have tried PPC or do not have the budget to bid against large companies, which often dominate the ad space on Google and Yahoo.

-is ExactSeek's advertising offering different in any way from ISEDN's?
No. The system is exactly the same for us as it is for every ISEDN member. However, every ISEDN member may have their own paid and free advertising or submission product specific to their own site.

another new question:
+++how would you characterize the demographic in the ISEDN network?+++
Garrett French - MarketSmart Interactive | permalink | +marktd |