Search Engine News
The latest on update Austin at Google
Some of the websites that haven’t been hit too hard in Google’s Florida update (November 2003) got hit real hard on or around January 23. Google’s latest update is called Austin, and they are beginning to ‘sound’ like elections!
Depending on the industry you happen to be in, you could have been hit less, or harder- it depends on a whole number of factors and not one situation is usually the same. One of our clients that, up to recently had their site optimized by another SEO firm was completely devastated to realize his site was gone from the face of the earth.
Things such as FFA’s (Free for All) link farms, invisible text (!) and stuffed meta tags that are 20 screens long, filled with useless spam will have your site penalized, or even banned faster than you can blink an eye.
http://www.rankforsales.com/google-monthly-update-dances/latest-on-update-austin-january-2004.html
Google's competition preparing for battle
Google's dominant position under threat as rivals develop competing technology.
Ask Jeeves, the internet search engine, has come up with the best answer of all. Constantly asked by sceptics whether it would ever make money, the PG Wodehouse inspired business based in Emeryville, California, produced the clearest result this week.
Steve Berkowitz, the chief executive, announced that 2003 income was $22m compared with a $5.4m loss in 2002. Sales at the company were $107.3m compared with $65m the year before and in the fourth quarter alone Ask Jeeves sales were up 58 per cent to $31.8m. "Quarter four was another great quarter capping off a great year," said Mr Berkowitz.
But if you thought the Ask Jeeves results were impressive you should adjust your search criteria and ask the question about profits of Yahoo!, the rival quoted search engine that announced results two weeks ago.
http://www.rankforsales.com/n-al/417-seo-jan-30-04.html
Source:
Serge Thibodeau of
Rank for $ales
Google hesitating for an IPO for now
Google is reported to be having second thoughts about its $16bn flotation in the spring because of concerns that market conditions are not yet right.
If true, the delay or even postponement of the hotly anticipated initial public offering (IPO) will be a blow to the tech industry, which is pinning its hopes on the Google flotation signalling a turnaround in fortunes.
Internet search giant Google has never formally announced its plans to float but the rumoured springtime IPO has been the worst kept secret on Wall Street.
But, according to a report in The Times, Google chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt is prepared to wait until the right moment to go public. In a round of private meetings with business leaders in London, Schmidt said Google is in no rush to float because its cash position is so strong.
http://www.rankforsales.com/n-al/416-seo-jan-29-04.html
A second office in Europe to be opened by Google
The US-based Internet search specialist Google will soon open a research and development centre in Switzerland to tap into European knowhow, company vice-president Urs Hoelzle said.
The European centre will be Google's second base outside the United States. A similar research and development centre in India is due to open in March.
"Zurich must be seen as a European location and we will bring the best computer specialists in Europe to Zurich," Hoelzle said in an interview published Wednesday in the Swiss newspaper Neue Zurcher Zeitung.
http://www.rankforsales.com/n-al/415-seo-jan-28-04.html
The 10 Do's and Don'ts of SEO
Here's something that is fast to read and does the job! Rank for $ales is pleased to present "The 10 do's and don'ts of SEO". Five techniques you should always do to push your site at the top of the search engine results pages (SERP's) and keep it there, and five things which you should always avoid doing, to protect your site from a possible penalty or risk it from being banned altogether.
List of the 5 Do's
Do Number One:
Take all the time that it takes to do a careful research of all your keywords and key phrases for your site, on the products or services you are trying to sell. Proper keyword research can only be done using WordTracker, the industry standard when it comes to professional keyword research.
Trying to optimize a site without knowing your real keywords is like driving a car at night with no headlights! Some will tell you they use Overture's free suggestion tool. Although that tool can help you to a limited degree, you should always use WordTracker for the best results.
http://www.rankforsales.com/10-dos-and-donts-of-search-engine-optimization.html
I just found a low-cost web hosting provider for Monica's website and spoke to one of the technicians and they seem really knowledgeable.
I will be opening up a new account tomorrow for the small business plan.
On top of having the lowest-cost I've seen so far, they also have MySQL database support that Monica's site needs so desperately.
Bottom Price Web Hosting is at
http://www.bottompricewebhosting.com/
One in 12 e-mails infected by MyDoom virus
A sneaky e-mail worm continued to clog Internet traffic Tuesday, spreading faster than previous Web bugs by appearing as an innocuous error message. The worm -- dubbed "MyDoom," "Novarg" or "WORM_MIMAIL.R" -- was copying itself at a fierce pace, so fast that some companies were having to shut down their mail servers to stop it. And a new clue was emerging as to the source of the infection.
Virus experts suggested MyDoom's author was a fan of the Linux open source community, because the bug, which targets computers running Microsoft Windows, launched a Denial of Service Attack on SCO's site. Utah-based SCO Group, owner of the UNIX operating system, claims some versions of the Linux operating system use its proprietary code.
http://www.internet-security.ca/internet-security-news-004/one-in-twelve-emails-infected-by-mydoom-virus.html
Microsoft will have its own toolbar
Microsoft today will introduce a new Web search feature as the software maker plays catch-up with Google, in a critical area of Internet commerce, Monday's Wall Street Journal reported.
Microsoft will begin offering customers of its MSN online service a software " toolbar" for Internet browsers that has a window for searching the Web using keywords and phrases. The toolbar, which sits below the control panel on a browser, includes shortcut buttons to other Microsoft services such as Hotmail e-mail and its MSN Messenger product.
The software mimics similar offerings from rival Yahoo, as well as from Google, and is a critical part of Microsoft's plan to launch its own Internet search service later this year. With the toolbar, Microsoft hopes to pull millions of Internet users to its search technology, and in turn to other Microsoft services and online advertisers.
http://www.rankforsales.com/n-al/411-seo-jan-26-04.html
Orkut, or how to make it big in social networking
Google will shortly unveil its social networking site, Orkut. The Friendster clone is the work of Google employee and former Stanford graduate Orkut Buyukkokten.
Undettered by the feeding frenzy around the social networking bubble, and rebuffed by Friendster Inc, which it attempted to buy, Google has decided build one better.
Given Friendster's well documented problems with coping with a large number of users, and Google's world class expertise in scalability, it ought to be more than up to the technical challange. But will it pay?
A tsunami of VC money poured into social networking start-ups last year, although how the companies themselves monetize the users is far from clear.
http://www.rankforsales.com/n-al/408-seo-jan-23-04.html
Google bombing is turning the Web into a platform for political commentary
The New York Times reports:
Unlike Web politicking by other means, like hacking into sites to deface or alter their message, Google bombing is a group sport, taking advantage of the Web-indexing innovation that led Google to search-engine supremacy.
The perpetrators succeed by recruiting a small group of accomplices to link from their Web sites to a target site using specific anchor text (the clickable words in a link).
The more high-traffic sites that link a Web page to a particular phrase, the more Google tends to associate that page with the phrase - even if, as in the case of the president's official biography, the term does not occur on the destination site...
http://www.rankforsales.com/n-al/407-seo-jan-22-04.html
Booble: An adult search engine parodying Google
"Booble" is a new adult Website parodying Google and has hit the Net running, allowing Net surfers with a thing for porn to filter over six thousand hand-selected adult Internet content listings.
Booble is said to be the brainchild of a former Net executive, whose identity isn't yet known but who is based in New York and is putting his own money into the project, described as a "light-hearted parody of the world's largest and best-known search engine."
http://www.rankforsales.com/n-al/406-seo-jan-22-04.html
Marketers investing more in Web marketing
Nearly two thirds of marketers now see digital marketing as having a very high or high level of strategic importance within their organizations, and over 75 percent of respondents plan to increase spending on digital marketing as a percentage of their marketing budget this year, according to a survey of marketing executives released today.
The online poll, entitled the Digital Marketing Dialog, was commissioned by Responsys, Inc., a premier provider of email marketing solutions, and sponsored by the CMO Council, BtoB Magazine and USA TODAY in the fourth quarter of 2003.
The study received over 400 responses from top marketing decision makers regarding the impact, role, value, and uptake of digital marketing technologies and programs across all industry sectors.
http://www.escalate.ca/news-003/marketers-investing-more-web-marketing.html
Looksmart being dropped by MSN
Although the LookSmart database does include listings from the volunteer based Zeal directory, most of the results are now pay-per-click text ads.
Microsoft's MSN.com portal has for a long time added LookSmart's directory listings to its search engine results.
Obviously someone at MSN realized that the LookSmart results reduced the quality of the overall search results. Moreover, it became hard to distinguish between paid entries and regular search result.
http://www.rankforsales.com/n-al/402-seo-jan-19-04.html
Google always facing more and more competition on its turf
Google Inc., which dominates the market for Web search, is developing a service that could dramatically extend the reach of its lucrative keyword-based advertising by linking such ads to e-mail, people familiar with the matter said Friday.
Privately held Google, which is expected to go public later this year, faces rising competition in its core search business from e-mail providers including Yahoo Inc. and MSN, Microsoft Corp.'s Internet unit.
Adding an e-mail service would provide a potential boost to Google as its technology lead in the search market seems destined to narrow and it prepares to answer to growth-hungry shareholders, analysts said.
http://www.rankforsales.com/n-al/400-seo-jan-19-04.html
Legal case jeopardizes search engines' use of trademarks
Playboy Enterprises will have its day in court over accusations that search engines sold its trademark as advertising without permission.
Dealing a potential setback to the Web search advertising market, a federal appeals court has reopened a lawsuit challenging the unauthorised use of trademarks in ads linked to search-engine keywords.
The Ninth Circuit US Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Wednesday found that Playboy Enterprises can pursue charges that Excite and Netscape Communications violated its trademark by selling banner advertisements triggered by the terms "playboy" and "playmate." The decision reverses a district court ruling that dismissed the suit without a trial in 2000.
http://www.techblog.org/news-02/01-029-jan-16-2004.html
There are billions and billions of Web pages out there
As Carl Sagan might have put it, there are billions and billions of Web pages out there. So it comes as no surprise that the results lists from search sites are getting longer.
That's given rise to a new breed of solutions to help manage the information overload. One of the most ambitious recent entries is a major update of Groxis' Grokker, a program that is now a useful adjunct to any major search engine.
Grokker 2.0 converts text lists of search results into a map of floating spheres and other graphical representations (see the photo, which shows a Grokker window after searching for "Wi-Fi"). You can drill down on each object individually, and each is labeled according to organizing principles, including date and context, so you get what amounts to a visual relational database that includes Web pages, documents, and pictures.
http://www.rankforsales.com/n-al/398-seo-jan-16-04.html
Yahoo confirms that it is dropping Google
Yahoo on Wednesday said it will drop search partner Google during the first quarter of 2004 in favor of its own technology, opening a new phase in the battle for Web search dominance.
The announcement from Yahoo CEO Terry Semel caps more than a year of speculation over the move, which has been widely expected since Yahoo announced plans to acquire search provider Inktomi for $235 million in December 2002. Inktomi has developed so-called algorithmic search technology similar to Google's that indexes Web pages and ranks them based on search terms.
"We've been hard at work with the assets that we've acquired to develop our (own) algorithmic search engine," Yahoo Chief Financial Officer Susan Decker said in a phone interview. "We'll be swapping that out in Q1."
Although expected, the announcement highlights the changing market for Web-based search, which has been transformed in the past two years thanks to fast-growing and profitable advertising programs.
http://www.rankforsales.com/n-ak/396-seo-jan-15-04.html
Reasons why e-Commerce shoppers abandon carts
Still puzzled as to why e-Commerce shoppers abandon their shopping carts without buying anything on your site, as they move on to your competitor's site? NetIQ’s WebTrends reports that 35% of US adults who have researched or purchased a product online say that surprise costs would lead them to abandon a purchase online.
Another 30% say they would not like it when a site asks for too much information in order for them to make a purchase. WebTrends surveyed 1,000 US adults between 3 and 7 December 2003, 632 of whom had researched or purchased a product online.
http://www.escalate.ca/news-003/reasons-why-ecommerce-shoppers-abandon-shopping-carts.html
Verisign will manage RFID 'root' server
VeriSign Inc. has been awarded a contract to manage a key component of a coming global distribution network that uses electronic product code (EPC) technology, according to a joint announcement by VeriSign and EPCglobal Inc., a non-profit organization.
The contract, for an undisclosed amount, assigns VeriSign the job of designing and operating the Object Naming Service (ONS) root directory, which will link RFID tags attached to shipping palates or individual products to stored data about the tagged items, said Sue Hutchinson, product manager at EPCglobal.
EPCGlobal and Verisign made the announcement at the National Retail Federation Annual Convention and Expo in New York City.
http://www.mywebservices.ca/n-ad/04-145-jan-13.html
VeriSign planning more changes to the DNS system
VeriSign Inc. is planning changes to a Domain Name System (DNS) component responsible for coordinating updates to the .com and .net domains throughout the DNS system, according to a company spokesperson.
The changes are intended to prepare .com and .net for more frequent daily updates of information such as new subdomains, address changes and the culling out of obsolete subdomains. Internet users and organizations managing Web sites on .com and .net will not notice the change, VeriSign said.
However, some networking experts worry that the change, which is scheduled for Feb. 9, may have unanticipated consequences that could interrupt traffic to some .com and .net Web sites and other online services.
The modifications will change the way part of a DNS component called the Start of Authority (SOA) Record is generated for .com and .net domains, according to information posted to the Nanog networking discussion group by Matt Larson, of VeriSign Naming and Directory Services and confirmed by Pat Burns, a VeriSign spokesperson.
http://www.rankforsales.com/n-ak/394-seo-jan-13-04.html
Google and your park domains
Google DomainPark allows domain name registrars and large domain name holders to unlock the value in their parked page inventory.
DomainPark delivers targeted, conceptually related keywords and advertisements to parked domain name pages by using Google's semantic technology to "understand" the meaning of each domain name.
DomainPark currently powers over 1 million domain names.
http://www.rankforsales.com/n-ak/393-seo-jan-12-04.html
Yahoo & Google trying to outdo each other
Yahoo and Google are offering new search tricks for Web surfers, with the ongoing goal of becoming indispensable.
Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo on Friday started offering visitors the ability to search for flight information directly from the search box, matching a similarly new capability from rival Google's search engine. Google, in turn, embedded a technology shortcut for visitors to find information on domain names and their owners, helping people circumvent the WhoIs database of domain names.
Mountain View, Calif.-based Google also started displaying shopping-related listings from Froogle.com, its e-commerce reference site, at the top of general search results when it associates a query term as commercial. That development signals the growing importance of shopping search to visitors and, likely, to Google's future.
http://www.rankforsales.com/n-ak/392-seo-jan-12-04.html
Forrester: e-commerce investments will grow by 1.9%
Forrester Research reports that customer e-commerce spending will lead the IT spending charge in 2004, growing by 4.8% this year. Buy-side e-commerce spending will grow by 1.9%, projects Forrester. In fact, Forrester estimates that three-fourths of companies will maintain or increase their IT spending for e-commerce initiatives. Forrester bases its estimates on the survey of 212 e-commerce decision-makers.
In-Stat/MDR estimated last month that small business IT spending totaled $161 billion last year and would reach $215 billion by the end of 2008.
http://www.escalate.ca/news-003/e-commerce-investments-will-grow-by-2-percent.html
Yahoo CEO Terry Semel: We woke up just in time
Yahoo CEO Terry Semel said Monday that the company has "only just begun" with its grand plans to grow its Web search business, highlighting 2004 as a year when search will become omnipresent throughout its family of sites.
Semel's comments, made during a question-and-answer session at Smith Barney Citigroup's Entertainment, Media & Telecommunications Conference, come after a year marked by high-profile acquisitions in the search arena. The Web giant acquired algorithmic search provider Inktomi for $235 million and then closed a $1.6 billion purchase of Overture Services to add the lucrative paid-search business.
The acquisition spree highlights the rivalry with Google, which competes with Yahoo despite powering a significant volume of Yahoo's algorithmic search results. The competition will only increase now that Google has named bankers to manage its initial public offering, according to reports Monday. Google has supplanted Yahoo as a name synonymous with Web search and has created a lucrative paid search business that mirrors Overture's.
http://www.techblog.org/news-01/01-027-jan-06-2004.html
Google almost 100% certain to go public
Google Inc. hired Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to arrange its initial public offering, a sale that may raise as much as $4 billion, a banker involved in the transaction said.
The sale by Google, the world's most used Internet search engine, would be the biggest IPO since CIT Group Inc.'s $4.87 billion deal in July 2002. It ``will certainly be the deal of the year,'' said Sanford Robertson, who founded investment bank Robertson, Stephens & Co. before starting private-equity firm Francisco Partners LP.
Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs will lead a group of underwriters that includes Citigroup Inc., Credit Suisse First Boston, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Thomas Weisel Partners LLC and WR Hambrecht + Co., two bankers in the sale said. They spoke on the condition they not be named.
Mountain View, California-based Google may sell a stake of about one-third in the IPO, giving the company a market value of about $12 billion, the bankers said. The company will probably register the shares for sale with the Securities and Exchange Commission this month and sell them by April, they said.
http://www.rankforsales.com/n-ak/388-seo-jan-06-04.html
Google almost 100% certain to go public
Google Inc. hired Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to arrange its initial public offering, a sale that may raise as much as $4 billion, a banker involved in the transaction said.
The sale by Google, the world's most used Internet search engine, would be the biggest IPO since CIT Group Inc.'s $4.87 billion deal in July 2002. It ``will certainly be the deal of the year,'' said Sanford Robertson, who founded investment bank Robertson, Stephens & Co. before starting private-equity firm Francisco Partners LP.
Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs will lead a group of underwriters that includes Citigroup Inc., Credit Suisse First Boston, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Thomas Weisel Partners LLC and WR Hambrecht + Co., two bankers in the sale said. They spoke on the condition they not be named.
Mountain View, California-based Google may sell a stake of about one-third in the IPO, giving the company a market value of about $12 billion, the bankers said. The company will probably register the shares for sale with the Securities and Exchange Commission this month and sell them by April, they said.
http://www.rankforsales.com/n-ak/388-seo-jan-06-04.html
Online retail experienced significant growth in 2003
The online retail sector experienced significant growth during 2003 due to record holiday sales, a strong travel market and increased consumer confidence, according to a new report. Revenue for online retailers in 2003 reached $93 billion, a 27 percent increase over the same period last year, research firm ComScore Networks reported on Monday.
The growth in sales was spurred by a record fourth quarter holiday buying season, typically the largest sales period for both online and brick-and-mortar vendors. ComScore said that online retail spending during the 2003 holiday season totaled $12.5 billion, a 29.5 percent gain over the same period last year.
The online travel segment continued to outperform the rest of the e-tail market, with ComScore counting $41 billion in sales for 2003, a 35 percent gain over travel revenue recorded in 2002.
The firm reported that for several weeks during June and July, the peak vacation season, travel spending exceeded all other e-commerce product categories combined.
ComScore analyst Graham Mudd said the fastest growing areas of the e-tail market beyond travel included sales of big-ticket items such as furniture, appliances and jewelry, indicating increased confidence among consumers.
http://www.escalate.ca/news-003/online-retail-experienced-significant-growth-in-2003.html
Search engine predictions for 2004
The year 2003 was, generally speaking, a good year for the search engine industry. While for some that may have got hit hard with the Florida update in November, the balance of the year was good. I predict 2004 will be even better, albeit you should expect some major changes. 2004 will be a year of consolidation, if there is such a thing in this rapidly changing industry.
While in the year 2003, some search companies such as Looksmart and Espotting had more than their share of problems, especially in the case of Looksmart, I predict there will be a few newcomers.
2004 will be a year where you can expect news to hit this industry on a daily basis. In 2003, hardly a day went by that there wasn't something happening at one company or another. Expect 2004 to be even busier.
http://www.rankforsales.com/special/predictions-for-2004-search-engines-and-seo.html
