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Blog archives for January 2004

091 - January 31, 2004 - 2.29 PM EST

The latest news on "Update Austin"

If you think the ride's been rough for the past 5 days, buckle up your seats belts! It ain't over yet.

For the SEO community, the next two to three months should be interesting, both as close observers (which most of us are) and from a ranking standpoint. Additionally, more speculation and “conspiracy theories” have been rampant in many SEO forums, which, for the most part, are unfounded in my opinion.

Read it all here.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

090 - January 30, 2004 - 8.29 AM EST

Search engine market heating up

As if we needed to be reminded about this news: Google's dominant position is 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.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

089 - January 29, 2004 - 5.41 PM EST

Reciprocal link exchange invitation to SEO's

I've wanted to do this for quite some time and this is the day I am writing this post! After update Florida and now the last one Friday, unofficially called "Austin", I've decided to send out this invitation. In fact, one of my new year's resolutions is to get both this blog and the Rank for $ales website at PR 8 and I won't stop until I get it!

In order for RLEP's to be efficient, first, you need inbound links to your web site that are already at the PR 5 level or higher. If a web site with a PR of 1 links to your site, in the long run, it might cause you more harm than good. As a general rule, Google will only take into consideration links with a PR of 4 or higher in order to pass the "benefit" along to your site. Please consult this link if you need more info on the subject.

So here's the deal: if you are an SEO, or are directly involved in keyword research, or the professional optimization of sites for the search engines, then I am interested in exchanging links with you. To be eligible, you need a site (or search engine blog similar to this one) with a PR (Page Rank™) of 5 or higher.

You then place a link from your homepage to my homepage (or blog) and I will do the same. That way, we will both help to increase our link popularity and attract more targeted traffic to each of our sites! It's a win-win situation.

To prove you how serious I am about this, just drop me a line and give me your URL, with a line of anchor text and I will place it on my site (or blog) even before you had the chance to place mine on your's. This offer stands until this blog and my Rank for $ales website reach a PR of 8, which could take me all year! In case you are wondering, the leap from PR 5 to 8 is a big one, but it's not impossible to do with hard work.

Just before Sunday (Jan. 26), the Rank for $ales site had a PR of 6 and had it for quite some time. We all know by now that Google has changed the way it calculates some incoming links, but we still need to do it. In fact, link popularity is even more important now than ever. See you at the "PR 8 Club". Life must be beautiful at the top!

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

088 - January 29, 2004 - 12.24 PM EST

Google not in a rush for an IPO

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.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

087 - January 28, 2004 - 7.04 PM EST

Google opens a second office in Europe

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.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

086 - January 28, 2004 - 2.54 PM EST

This is exactly what I tought would happen and it did

This just in from the Search Engine Lowdown blog:- WebProWorld just obtained a copy of the email Google sent to Booble.com

Google lawyers have sent a cease and desist email to Booble.com. They claim trademark violation and dispute Booble's claims that the site is simply a parody... which under law is protected free speech.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

085 - January 28, 2004 - 12.54 PM EST

Two great sources for search engine industry news

Edited by Andy Beal, Search Engine Lowdown is one of my favorites blogs. Additionally, run by Loren Baker, Search Engine Journal is also one of my favorites blogs to get the latest news on what's happening in this fast-paced world. Congratulations to Loren and Andy for two great search engine news resources.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

084 - January 28, 2004 - 11.01 PM EST

Google loses access to NetSol's Whois database

Network Solutions has blocked Google's service allowing visitors to look up data on domain name owners. Domain name registrar Network Solutions has a message for Google: don't mess with our Whois.

The issue cropped up about two weeks ago, when Google quietly launched a service allowing visitors to look up data on domain name owners from public databases -- collectively known as Whois -- run by registrars worldwide. Although largely unpromoted, the service generated enough traffic to surpass Network Solutions' (NSI's) daily Whois use limits, which aim to stop spammers and other undesirables from harvesting information about its customers.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

083 - January 28, 2004 - 00.14 AM EST

Next 5 years to see large growth in e-commerce

If your'e still wondering if it's really worth it to have your site professionally optimized for the search engines, this might convince you:

According to escalate.ca and e-Commerce Guide, U.S. online retail sales are expected to reach $65 billion in 2004, and will continue to grow by a compound annual growth rate of 17 percent through 2008 to top $117 billion. As consumers' level of comfort with online functions such as e-mail and research continues to increase, so too will their level of participation in e-commerce.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

082 - January 27, 2004 - 8.18 PM EST

Nasty email viruses making a comeback

A bit off-topic, but if your'e like me, you always keep an eye open for those darn viruses that some nasty people send thru emails, either as attachments or otherwise.

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.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

081 - January 27, 2004 - 8.56 AM EST

Audit at Google

Google moved closer to an initial public offering on Monday, as a company-paid audit certified its compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley law.

Google's board has been awaiting the report before giving the final go-ahead for the company to file a formal stock registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the New York Times said, citing executives involved with the process.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

080 - January 27, 2004 - 7.58 AM EST

Update on Austin

As I wrote in post 078, Google started dancing Friday night, and, according to some checks I have made this morning, I think it has pretty much finished jumping up and down. This update, unofficially called "Austin", has been almost as wild as Update Florida in November.

First, when it all started, I immediately saw some drastic changes in the way Google behaved on certain keywords. Yesterday, we received an unusually high amount of phone calls and emails at Rank for $ales, from people all over the US and Canada, asking what happened since Friday and why some of their sites have disappeared from Google.

This update was quite brutal, reminding us of Florida, which is still very fresh in the memory of a lot of business owners, site operators and webmasters. Hang on to your hats folks:- rumour has it that the next update in February could be even worse. I had a lot of nasty comments today directed at Google. Some small businesses have started laying off some of their employees since Monday. Some had already laid off part of their personnel back in November...

As some people have started to ask lately: "Is Google getting to be too powerful?" The answer (or lack thereof) could be in the SERP's.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

079 - January 26, 2004 - 2.59 PM EST

Microsoft will introduce a new Web search feature

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.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

078 - January 24, 2004 - 00.23 AM EST

I just noticed some wild girations again in Google

Late this evening Google was doing some important changes again to its algo. Many sites that I watch closely had their rankings move up and down in a wild fashion, then they all seemed to have become stable around 11.45 PM EST. Some of my client's sites that, for years had always enjoyed first-page rankings suddenly moved down to page two, with one of the sites moving to the third page. An hour later, all was back to normal as if nothing had happened!

This week, at least three of my clients in the US said that their rankings have improved since the past 2 days. It is clear again that Google is doing some more changes to its algorithm. My feeling is that things will probably get better in the next 2 to 3 weeks, then the February update is expected sometime in mid-February (my guess).

It will be interesting to see things develop at Google in the next 2 to 3 months, in light of their long-expected IPO and all. If you see anything in the results pages that I have missed, or if you happen to see some unusual movements in your part of the world, please drop me a line. As always, your comments or questions are always appreciated.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

077 - January 24, 2004 - 00.15 AM EST

The 10 things you should do, and don't do...

Here's something that is fast to read and does the job! I just finished writing "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.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

076 - January 23, 2004 - 10.51 AM EST

Increase your rankings in Google

GoRank.com just analyzed over 20,000 top 10 ranking sites in Google for single word queries.

There is a great wealth of information contained in this data.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

075 - January 23, 2004 - 00.41 AM EST

Google now involved in social networking

If you think Google only wants to concentrate on search and selling ads to advertisers, you might want to read this.

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?

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

074 - January 22, 2004 - 10.37 AM EST

Google bombing is still popular

Google bombing is now turning the Web's leading search engine 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".

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

073 - January 22, 2004 - 00.21 AM EST

I guess someone will be sued in the next few days...

Wow, I really fell off my chair when I read this!

"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."

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

072 - January 21, 2004 - 6.01 PM EST

LookSmart loses its CEO

This news was highly expected: Troubled internet search firm LookSmart revealed that its CEO has stepped down, as it continues to restructure its operations in the wake of losing its key partner MSN last year.

The company, which said last month that it planned to lay off half its global workforce, announced that Jason Kellerman has stepped down as CEO and board member and that a board-directed search for a successor is now underway.

Does anybody need a new job?

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

071 - January 21, 2004 - 10.44 AM EST

Google sells advertising to shopping site Kelkoo

Google will provide "contextual" ads to shopping site Kelkoo, so that small text ads are automatically generated to match the product or service a user is looking for.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

070 - January 21, 2004 - 00.08 AM EST

I would have expected the opposite on these numbers!

Shop.org / BizRate just finished a survey that really stunned me! They say email campaigns (read 'spam' and junk mail) have been a staggering 28% better than search engine marketing. This is really NOT what I would have expected at all.

Like me, do you sometimes wonder just how accurate those surveys can be? Could they be biased? Hummm...

Your comments or questions are always appreciated and, with your permission, will be posted on this blog.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

069 - January 20, 2004 - 9.35 AM EST

Marketers increasing their ad spending on the Web

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.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

068 - January 19, 2004 - 1.23 PM EST

Looksmart hit with more problems

Quote: "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".

In the future MSN.com will deliver search results from the Inktomi search engine, and add text ads (predominantly from Overture) marked as "sponsored" and "featured" sites.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

067 - January 19, 2004 - 11.24 AM EST

Yahoo follows in Google's footsteps

For years, Google has had its research labs. Now Yahoo does the same with its Yahoo Research Labs.

Yahoo has announced the formation of Yahoo Research Labs, a research organization focused on inventing new technologies and solutions relevant to strategic Yahoo businesses.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

066 - January 19, 2004 - 00.15 AM EST

Google faces rising competition in its core business

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.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

065 - January 16, 2004 - 9.42 PM EST

Some reasons in the behaviour of the "new Google"

Need help in knowing why Google isn't behaving as it was before November 16? Based on Atul Gupta’s great article he recently wrote on the Google Hilltop algorithm, I did a bit of research on my own and came up with this extended article of the Google Hilltop algorithm.

Atul Gupta is the founder of SEO Rank Ltd. and, as he explained it in his article, the Google Hilltop algorithm played a fairly large role in Google’s November 16 update, dubbed Update Florida.

Read all about it here.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

064 - January 16, 2004 - 1.15 PM EST

Google AdSense program now available in Japan

Google, Inc. is now offering their Google AdSense program for content web pages in Japan. The first Japanese partners using Google AdSense are Nifty Corp., Impress Corp., and Recruit About.com Japan.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

063 - January 16, 2004 - 9.10 AM EST

Legal case risks search engines' use of brandnames

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.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

062 - January 16, 2004 - 00.06 AM EST

The Web is exploding with more and more pages

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.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

061 - January 15, 2004 - 3.45 PM EST

Espotting announces deal with Emap

Espotting Media today announces a deal to provide paid listings to the internet properties of Emap PLC and publishers of titles including FHM, Smash Hits and New Woman.

Emap is the UK's largest consumer publisher, and Emap Interactive represent a suite of 15 Internet properties that generate over 60 million page impressions each month, from 2.5 million unique users.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

060 - January 15, 2004 - 11.15 AM EST

Yahoo just confirmed that it's dropping Google

Well now Yahoo just confirmed what all of us were expecting: Yahoo has dropped Google as it's main search results provider.

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.

Thanks to Andy Beal at Search Engine Lowdown for the tip.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

059 - January 15, 2004 - 00.04 AM EST

What online shoppers don't like

If you have an online ecommerce site and if your'e still wondering why your would-be buyers and visitors still abandon their shopping carts, this eMarketer / NetIQ-WebTrends survey should shed some light for you. Some of the reasons are pretty straightforward.

Quote: "Indeed security has been an issue for online shoppers in the US for quite a while. Over 60% of respondents told Ipsos and the BSA that they are concerned their information will be stolen or sold to a third party if supplied online".

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

058 - January 14, 2004 - 10.31 AM EST

The PPC industry needs some adjustments

Hans Riemer writes a brillant article on how the PPC industry needs to change if all its players are to win in the long-term.

Quote: "There are precious few fish to be harvested from today's troubled economic waters, and it would be a shame to see another medium sink in the swirl of uncontrolled controversy. But, left unchecked, advertisers will, at a point, abandon PPC if they lose their trust in the process and begin to feel like victims in waiting. And if that happens, the first to go down will be those too shortsighted and obsessed with immediate gain to play the game fairly".

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

057 - January 13, 2004 - 4.10 PM EST

When I tell you that Verisign has too much power...

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.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

056 - January 13, 2004 - 2.01 PM EST

Search engine spam, again?

Dave Jung over at B2Blog and myself are wondering how it is that some sites apparently still get away with some sneaky "SEO Tricks" such as either invisible text or Java-enabled text that most search engines frown upon.

To protect the identity of that site, I won't give away it's URL, but Dave sure has it. The site in question is involved in sports betting. You'd think that after all of what went on after the Florida update they would learn, but apparently not!

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

055 - January 13, 2004 - 11.58 AM EST

Wanna know how much this blog is worth?

Not so bad... According to Blogshare, Serge Thibodeau, Live is worth $ 13,706! That's pretty good. Any buyers? I might consider an offer, maybe...

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

054 - January 12, 2004 - 11.29 AM EST

A good idea from Google

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.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

053 - January 12, 2004 - 12.03 AM EST

Google and Yahoo trying to add more value

In a never-ending race to increase their popularity and appeal, Google and Yahoo seem to be in a race to offer the most search for the 'buck'.

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.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

052 - January 9, 2004 - 9.32 AM EST

Now we have one more reason to build it!

According to this news story from Net Imperative, Overture is upsetting its clients in the U.K. by asking them a minimum monthly fee of £20 and by raising the minimum bid price to 10 cents per click.

Now we have another incentive to start building our new PPC search engine. As I reported in October of 2003, Net Globe Media will be a PPC search engine similar to Overture, but with NO minimum bid per click, and NO monthly minimum in the amount you spend on your ad campaign.

Last year, our parent company successfully developed and deployed Global Business Listing, a powerful and flexible paid inclusion search engine, where companies and advertisers can have a customized page uniquely developed for their own campaign, complete with their company logo, trademark or brand name.

Net Globe Media is slated to go live in the third quarter of 2004. Contact me for further details.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

051 - January 8, 2004 - 4.25 PM EST

Advertise on Serge Thibodeau, Live

I'm looking for a few advertisers related to SEO or in the search engine industry to advertise on this blog, and also a few other websites, namely:

GCIS
Sun Hosting
Rank for $ales
My Web Services™

Our advertising rates are low and most of the above sites get anywhere from 20,000 to over 100,000 visits a week. All sites are related to either SEO, Internet technology or Web hosting. What's more, all these sites have a PR of 5, which will transfer to your site (s) as an added bonus.

Just drop me a line for more information. Serge     ;-)

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

050 - January 8, 2004 - 2.45 PM EST

AOL Europe acquisition being considered by Wanadoo

Rival Internet service providers (ISPs) keen to acquire the once-ailing European operations of Time Warner Inc.'s America Online (AOL) division may have to look elsewhere to expand their operations.

Speaking Tuesday at a Smith Barney investor conference in Phoenix, Time Warner Chief Executive Officer Richard Parsons called AOL Europe "a pretty interesting success story" and said rumours in late 2003 about him holding talks to sell the European business were off the mark, according to a report published Wednesday in the online edition of The Washington Post. Smith Barney is a division of Citigroup Global Markets Inc.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

049 - January 8, 2004 - 10.33 AM EST

Forrester sees e-commerce investments increasing

These news should please many of our clients that sell directly online:

"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".

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

048 - January 7, 2004 - 10.53 AM EST

Overture wants to help its clients

Yahoo's Overture Services will hand more control to advertisers later this month, letting them bid for contextual listings independently from search listings. Received wisdom in the industry contends that users are less likely to purchase goods or services after clicking on contextual ads, which appear on content pages, as compared to those that appear on search results pages.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

047 - January 7, 2004 - 9.56 AM EST

Google bombing and miserable failures

Once again, Danny Sullivan is right on the money with the Google bombing issue. Hopefully Google will take note.

"Google Bombing" like this has happened in the past, and in general, it has little impact on most people. Making a site come up tops for a relatively obscure query such as "miserable failure," which brings back less than 200,000 matches, is much different than exercising some super-control over Google for popular or commonly-performed searches.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

046 - January 6, 2004 - 9.50 AM EST

Yahoo saw search ever present in the entire network

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.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

045 - January 6, 2004 - 9.25 AM EST

Yahoo to drop Google as main search engine

Yahoo is expected to drop Google as the primary search technology on its site within a few months, the Wall Street Journal said on Tuesday. According to the paper, some marketing firms say they have been told Yahoo will switch from Google to its own technology as early as the first quarter.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

044 - January 6, 2004 - 9.05 AM EST

Google looks certain to go public soon

Well it's pretty much certain with this news story: 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.

These news should remove the clouds surrounding Google since the Florida update.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

043 - January 6, 2004 - 12.15 AM EST

Significant growth experienced in online sales for 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.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

042 - January 5, 2004 - 4.10 PM EST

FindWhat completes its acquisition of Miva

FindWhat.com today announced the completion of its acquisition of Miva Corporation. Under the terms of the agreement, announced September 3, 2003, FindWhat.com has acquired Miva for approximately $8.0 million. FindWhat.com is increasingly focused on the needs of small-to-medium sized businesses (SMEs), and with the completion of this acquisition, is poised to offer a more complete and comprehensive business solution to SMEs in the U.S.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

041 - January 5, 2004 - 10.58 AM EST

Vivisimo helps its searchers with more accurate results

Vivisimo tries to narrow down searches, in an effort to offer more accurate results. Some intriguing technologies are getting better at bringing order to all that chaos, and could revolutionize how people search the Web for information. As wonderful as Internet search engines are, they have a pretty big flaw. They often deliver too much information, and a lot of it isn't quite what we're looking for.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

040 - January 4th, 2004 - 9.12 PM EST

My search engine predictions for 2004

Happy New Year to all of you! Like me, I hope you all spent a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year party. Well, as all of you have been expecting, here are my search engine industry predictions for the year 2004.

As you might expect, and with the advent of the Google Florida update article I wrote in December, my predictions do take into account these important new developments. It's interesting reading that I strongly recommend.

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