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Blog archives:
Sep. 2003
Oct. 2003

Blog archives for October 2003

October 31, 2003 - 1.47 PM EST

Now it's the New York Times reporting it

Microsoft's Bill Gates wants to merge with Google in a deal worth £10bn or more. The marriage between the world's biggest computer software manufacturer and the world's biggest search engine could create a massive new operation which would cement Gates's domination of the computer business. Read this story here.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

October 31, 2003 - 11.14 AM EST

The gossip and speculation never ends!

Just when you'd think you've read it all, here's more.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

October 31, 2003 - 8.41 AM EST

From 3 down to 2... Is that a good thing?

Some people still refer to the search engine industry as "the Big Three", but since Yahoo bought Overture for $ 1.3 Billion not so long ago, that really leaves only two real contenders: Google and Yahoo. Is this a good thing? With Google now almost certain to become public in early 2004, with a record IPO, does this mean the average searcher will have less choice in the search engine he or she prefers?

The next six months will in deed be very interesting to see, as real history, Part II, is starting to unfold. Will Microsoft buy Google before it even becomes public? Will Google "succomb" to the big software giant or will it prefer to go ahead with its plans to become public?

I wonder what would be an appropriate stock symbol for Google... "GOO", or "GGG" or "GOG". On this Halloween day, this story is also good reading.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

October 30, 2003 - 3.17 PM EST

Overture Tops Google in Paid Listings Study

Andy Beal of Search Engine Lowdown writes that, according to Web Advantage, Jupiter Research today announced the results of its latest Jupiter Research Constellation ranking. The results show that Overture outpaced Google with the best solution for paid listings, based on a strong feature set and the best management interface. Read it all here.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

October 30, 2003 - 10.46 AM EST

Things are getting more secure on the 'Net

A year after surviving a massive distributed denial-of-service (DoS) attack, the Internet's root servers are better fortified against hacker activity, thanks to behind-the-scenes deployment of a routing technique known as Anycast, experts say. Read it here.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

October 30, 2003 - 8.34 AM EST

Espotting moving back up?

Espotting just announced their advertiser base is now up to 20,000. Is the company coming around? Will these new numbers be enough for FindWhat to move ahead with the acquisition? Read it here.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

October 30, 2003 - 8.13 AM EST

Wanna know how much Google is worth?

You don't need a search engine to find opinions about this topic: How much Google would command if it were to go through with a much-anticipated, first-time sale of stock to the public -- which many believe could happen as early as the first quarter of 2004. The fascination with Google's initial public offering is a no-brainer since it could prove the most lucrative and successful IPO since the dot-com crash. Read it here.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

October 30, 2003 - 8.06 AM EST

The search industry is as hot as ever

Good article today in the Guardian.co.uk about how the landscape might look like after Google becomes public. Get it here.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

October 29, 2003 - 7.19 PM EST

Microsoft said it will split it's MSN portal into two units

Microsoft will divide it's MSN portal into one unit focusing on information and another unit focusing on communications. The information unit will oversee the MSN Web portal, the company's search technology initiative and its other media and e-commerce-related services. The unit will be headed by Yusuf Mehdi, who up till now ran all of MSN.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

October 29, 2003 - 3.32 PM EST

Survey- Web services increase ROI for most companies

eMarketer just conducted a survey in which more than 87% of companies surveyed said that Web services and applications increased their ROI in a rather consistent fashion. Read it here.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

October 29, 2003 - 11.55 AM EST

An update on search engine LookSmart

LookSmart's future hangs in the air, particularly since its key competitors are Overture, which is now owned by Yahoo giving it access to massive resources, and Google, which is reported to be planning an IPO next March that could value it at anywhere between $15bn and $25bn. Read this update on the company.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

October 29, 2003 - 9.34 AM EST

Ask Jeeves's comeback from the dead

There's a good article this morning from Red Herring on how Ask Jeeves managed to rise from the dead. Read it all here.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

October 28, 2003 - 8.26 PM EST

Geotargeting in the news again

As Danny Sullivan and I just wrote, the subject of "Geotargeting" is becoming more and more popular. Geotargeting is the process of serving search results that are relevant only to a certain geo-location, such as a city, state or province, effectively improving local search results by a large factor.

Stefanie Olsen of C-Net News writes about Geotargeting and how companies such as Google and Yahoo need to develop better technology that takes into account the needs of a local market.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

October 28, 2003 - 5.18 PM EST

LookSmart Reports Third Quarter 2003 Results

Financial Highlights:- Revenue Grows 70% - LookSmart reported third quarter 2003 revenue of $40.3 million, representing a 70% increase from $23.8 million in the third quarter 2002 and a 5% increase from the second quarter 2003. Read all the details.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

October 28, 2003 - 4.55 PM EST

Local search for improved sales

Danny Sullivan today continues his third part on Local Search and how it can impact your site. Last week, I also wrote an article on the subject of local search and how to optimize your website for local prospects.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

October 28, 2003 - 3.40 PM EST

Google News Refusing Blogs?

In this world of information, blogs and speed are both important and constitute the backbone of timely and unbiased information. This article seems to be in opposition to these ideals.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

October 28, 2003 - 2.28 PM EST

Google continuing to experiment its PageRank algo

More proof here that Google is fine-tuning it's Page Rank algorithm again today. Since this morning, PR is fluctuating quite a bit from hour to hour.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

October 28, 2003 - 9.48 AM EST

Another Cool Google Tool

Google has recently added a cool new definition tool. Just put "define:" in front of a word or phrase and Google brings up a definition. No definition was available for "Online forum," but it did have one for "discussion group."

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

October 28, 2003 - 9.29 AM EST

More on Google API's

I get more and more questions on Google API's. For subscribers to my weekly newsletter, I will provide more details this coming Saturday about this important subject.

In a nutshell, a Google API (Application Programmable Interface) is a program that is only available on the Web and is provided by Google. In its most basic form, a Google API lets developers easily find and process information on the Web. Their API allows certain of their scripts to get access to Google’s database in a similar manner that a human navigates through a Web browser. A Google API thus makes possible to build Internet applications that, to a certain degree, can query the Google database. Please note that all Google API's are only currently available in their beta versions.

Subscribe to the free Rank for $ales Weekly Newsletter and stay in touch with what is happening in the world of search and SEO.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

October 27, 2003 - 9.48 PM EST

Microsoft making progress on its search engine? I think so...

Checking many of my client's server logs over the past 7 days, I can't help but noticing how the msn.bot is active. Certain client's sites have been spidered by the experimental Microsoft search engine a lot since about a week. Such actions certainly give credibility to the fact that Microsoft is definitely building it's search engine and is probably doing it from scratch.

I know there are some people that will say Microsoft has little or no experience in the development of search engines. However, let's not forget the financial powerhouse that is Microsoft today. Also, with all the engineers and programmers on Microsoft's payroll, and the increased activity I am seeing in the many server logs I analyze daily, I am tempted to think that Microsoft might be 'ahead of the curve' sooner rather than later. The next 2 months will be very interesting in deed.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

October 27, 2003 - 4.49 PM EST

Google just started dancing!

I just noticed that the number of backlinks at Yahoo just dropped to 759,000 from 892,000 which is usually indicative that Google has started it's monthly update cycle, commonly called the "Google Dance". I also just noticed that many of the sites I have optimized in the last 30 days have moved up, both in Page Rank and in their rankings. For more information on how the Google dance works and how it can impact your site's rankings, simply click here. For information on Google's PageRank algorithm, click here.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

October 27, 2003 - 4.30 PM EST

Ask Jeeves shares fall after Barron's report

Shares of Ask Jeeves Inc. (ASKJ.O) fell 5 percent after a weekend report in Barron's said the Web search provider's stock, which has risen around 660 percent this year, may be overvalued. Read it all here.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

October 27, 2003 - 11.45 AM EST

Important new features to my blog

As Businessblog™ promised to all its customers early last week, they would come out with version 2.0 of Businessblog™, which represents a number of important new features, among them the ability to include a permanent link to each news story posted on a blog. This feature enables easy retrieval of any news story at a future date. To access an older news story, all you need to do is to click on the "Permanent link" at the end of each news story. This will also greatly facilitate linking among other blogger site.

Additionally, version 2.0 of Businessblog™ automatically stamps the time and date the blog was posted. For more information on Businessblog™ software and blogging solutions, please click here.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

October 27, 2003 - 11.29 AM EST

There is no such thing as an SEO RFP

I fully agree with an article just written from Fredrick Marckini at iProspect that states why a SEM (Search Engine Marketing) RFP (Request for Proposal) is not a good idea. SEM and SEO is too much of a specialized field and furthermore it is too critical to try to put it in the tens of thousands of RFP's that are sent on any typical day.

Here is a quote from Fredrick Marckini's article:

" Consider that most companies issuing RFPs for search engine marketing services are selecting their first, maybe their second, vendor. They don't have the experience or expertise to develop specifications, nor the sophistication to evaluate responses. The process won't help them select the best vendor. There's a better way. " Please click here to read the full article.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

October 24, 2003 - 2.41 PM EST

"Movable Type" blogs manipulated by spammers?

QUOTE: "If you were trying to select for a group of people that have high page rank and have high traffic, Movable Type is a good place to start," said Cameron Marlow... Hummm. Well that is not so good then. Cameron's article suggests that "Movable Type" blogs can be manipulated by some spammers, in an attempt to spam the Internet community even more with their unwanted junk. If spammers can abuse Movable Type blogs, can they 'hijack' your blogs too?

In that case, I'm real happy that MY blog is running on the "Unmovable Type" platform, better known as Businessblog™. I'm real happy with the Businessblog™ platform and I can safely recommend it to anyone that is real serious about business blogging or just regular blogs for that matter.

Permanent link to this news story   |   Posted on Businessblog™

October 24, 2003

Another search distribution deal

Primedia Inc. announced today that it has reached a search and contextual advertising agreement with Google Inc. The deal includes a four-year distribution and revenue sharing agreement for Primedia's About.com as well as the sale of its Sprinks unit to Google. Sprinks is the pay per click advertising network, which serves About.com and numerous third party distribution partners. Financial terms were not disclosed. Read this news announcement here.

October 24, 2003

We are hearing a lot again about Google going public

Just when you think it's slowly going away, the Wall Street rumour mill is at it again, full-steam this time with the idea of a Google IPO. Some think it could be as early as February or March of 2004. However, this time, sources think the IPO could be conducted as an auction rather than offered on an allocation basis, as it normally is. Read it all here.

October 23, 2003

Search engine news from Australia

Mooter is a new Australian search engine that is to be launched later this year. You may, however, test a beta version of the service right now.

Unlike other search engines, the goal of Mooter is apparently not to serve as many search results as possible. Instead the company is working on fine tuning the search algorithm, giving users more targeted and relevant results. It will be interesting to see how this develops over the next few months. I have tried it and it is quite different than from what most people are used to see. Mooter has a graphical results page with icons. Try it here.

October 23, 2003

Ask Jeeves making a come back

Ask Jeeves (Nasdaq: ASKJ) reported revenue and earnings above expectations and raised its forecasts. For the third quarter ended Sept. 30, the Internet search firm reported revenue of $27.2 million, up from $15.9 million in the third quarter of 2002. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had forecast revenue of $25.5 million. Revenue, which the company had forecast to be modestly down from the second-quarter figure, was actually up 6%. Read the story here.

October 22, 2003

More success with Businessblogs

Evan Williams is the original founder of Pyra Labs and is the creator of Blogger.com that Google purchased in the first quarter of 2003. C-Net News just wrote a new article on how you can better understand Businessblogs. Note: Blogs are the abreviation for "Web Logs" and are gaining a lot in popularity, both in the world of business and elsewhere. Read the article here.

If you need to get more info on the subject and how to better utilize blogs to increase your search rankings, you can also read this article I wrote not long ago.

October 21, 2003

Google adds new glossary feature

Google has introduced a new glossary feature to troll the Web for definitions. The Mountain View, California company says its particularly well-suited for slang and newer terms such as "search engine," that are likely to appear online before they do in print. Read the article here.

October 21, 2003

Important new addition to my blog site

Many of you have suggested to me in the last few weeks it would be a good idea to include my two weekly featured articles on my blog. Well, the idea is great and, starting today, I am doing just that. The first 2 lines of the top section of my blog will be reserved just for that! It will be updated every Saturday of every week, to keep track of every new article I publish. Thanks to all of you who have suggested me this great idea. All of my past and current SEO articles are available here.

October 20, 2003

SEO is generating a lot of talk and enthusiasm

Discovering the great importance of obtaining better search visibility, a substantial number of Internet marketers are now choosing corporate web site search engine (SEO) optimization for the major search engines such as Google and such important directories like Yahoo and Global Business Listing as the main foundation structure of all their web marketing endavours.

As a result of this large, and suddenly increased recognition, many surveys and studies are currently being released that greatly underline the importance of Internet search. Read what the industry analysts are saying here.

October 20, 2003

" There's plenty of life left in human-powered directories "

Having built a business search engine and human-edited directory, as some of you would know, I am in full agreement with an article that Fredrick Marckini of iProspect just wrote about the power and relevancy of a good human-edited directory. Global Business Listing is a powerful and versatile search engine and directory that can help businesses and companies of all sizes get a prioritized, top listing in certain categories and industries without having to invest thousands in a professional search engine optimization program.

Here is a quote from his article: "There's plenty of life left in those old-fashioned, human-powered directories. Directory listings impact a site's visibility and qualified search traffic. Random inbound links have little, if any, impact. Read Fredrick Marckini's complete article here.

October 17, 2003

"SmartSort" online shopping tool

Yahoo just launched SmartSort, an interactive online shopping tool, which will enable consumers to quickly and easily find personalized product recommendations via an individual preference ranking technology. I think the idea sounds good and it will be interesting to see the developments of this as time goes. You can read this article here.

October 16, 2003

Finally: a "Spyware Remover" Program that really works!

If you're like me, you hate any form of so-called "Spy Ware" programs. You know those nasty Spy programs that install themselves without even you knowing about it... Some of those darn programs can creep up in your computer from downloaded music or from a downloaded program you may have tried months ago.

For about 2 years now, I have tried dozens of these "Spy Ware Removers" but have never found one that really works. Well I tought I had a "clean machine", free of any of that SpyWare! I must tell you I was shocked to discover I had over 162 such nasty programs that somehow installed themselves on my main workstation!

After I installed the registered version of "Spy Ware Nuker" on my computer, in less than a few minutes it completely removed all those nasty SpyWare programs that slowed down my machine. Now it runs faster and better. I truly recommend this program. You can download a free trial here. Note: I never recommend a third party software or application unless I am personnally using it and can safely recommend it to anybody.

October 16, 2003

Way to go Canada!

Rebecca Reid of IT World Canada just wrote this excellent article: "Canada is the second largest technology hub in North America". Not less than 68 Canadian technology companies ranked in Deloitte & Touche’s Fast 500 list of the quickest growing high-tech businesses on the continent, making Canada the second largest technology hub in North America. Read it here.

October 15, 2003

IBM WebFountain: taking Web search to the next level

Organisations have gained considerable business value from consolidating their structured data into data warehouses and extracting new insights from this data with advanced data analysis tools. The next stage in the quest for information is to extract meaning from the vast amount of information available on Web using Web analytics.

In simple terms, Web analytics tools teach computers to read for comprehension and to recognise patterns of meaning in the text of documents. These new tools make the Web a valuable new source for business decisions.

Read this great article from IT-Director.

October 14, 2003

Importance of local search

Once again, Danny Sullivan is right on the money and this is perfect timing for my upcoming newsletter article on Saturday, October 18, where I will give some important hints to better position your Web site for local commercial searches in the major search engines. Click here to read the article.

My free Rank for $ales weekly newsletter is published every Saturday of every week and covers all subjects of search engine optimization, frequently asked questions and answers, search engines news and important "How To" articles. Just drop your email address in the small box and click the SEND button to subscribe!

October 14, 2003

Keyword and key phrase marketing is "IN" bigtime

Adage.com expects the keyword marketing industry to reach US 8 Billion by 2008. Another important industry that has taken notice is the car industry. Auto site Edmunds.com favors search for its precise targeting and ability to generate high-quality, qualified traffic. Read it all here.

October 10, 2003

Paid inclusion

Business Week Online just ran a good discussion on paid inclusion and its impact in the field of search. Paid inclusion search engines are a booming business, one expected to double this year, to $200 million, and to reach $600 million by 2007, says U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray. But unlike the clearly marked advertised links that show up next to search results, these paid inclusions are virtually invisible to average Web surfers. Click here for the whole story.

October 9, 2003

Just who is blogging, where and how?

Anybody that reads my newsletter knows that I'm a strong believer and I certainly encourage using blogs (Weblogs) as a powerful marketing vehicle, while at the same time it helps your site's rankings in Google and all the major search engines. Well now Perseus Development and eMarketer just wrote an interesting report on the subject of blogs. It is very interesting reading.

October 8, 2003

Interesting reading

According to Craig Nevill-Manning, Google's senior research scientist, the search engine firm stockpiles approximately 10,000 servers to keep its business running. They're cheap servers, Nevill-Manning said -- the kind of unlabelled, commodity-type computers that might be purchased by home users.

If, like me, you've always wondered about Google's hardware implementations for its efficient search engine, you will probably be interested in reading this article.

October 8, 2003

Overture-Yahoo merger now complete

This means that Yahoo! is now the proud owner not only of its own directory (Yahoo!) and search engine (Inktomi), but also of a pay-per-click text ad provider, Overture, and Overture's two regular search engines, AltaVista and AlltheWeb. Read it all here.

October 7, 2003

Blog Marketing: The importance of brand recognition

For companies and businesses that wish to increase their sales and have their brands in front of people, blog marketing can help. So can brand recognition. Marketing Sherpa interviews Paul Miller, VP eCommerce, Williams-Sonoma Inc. This is very good reading.

October 6, 2003

This is bad news for Looksmart

Looksmart is loosing its most important partner: its deal with Microsoft is not being renewed. LookSmart's deal to power the main web search results for MSN in the United States has been extended for just over a month to run through mid-January 2004. According to MSN, LookSmart listings will be dropped from its MSN Search UK site even sooner, by the middle of this month.

After I finished reading this excellent article by Danny Sullivan, I am tempted to think that Microsoft might soon be ready with its new 'secretive' search engine. Read it by clicking here.

October 6, 2003

VeriSign shuts down controversial Site Finder

The Internet community can finally relax, now that Verisign has decided to remove it's controversial Site Finder service, after ICANN threatened to sue on Friday. Read it by clicking here.

October 2, 2003

Search engine news department

The heat is on as always for the never-ending search war. San Francisco-based LookSmart is trying to sell a search index that bases its rankings on how much advertisers will pay for the top spots - an idea pioneered by Pasadena-based Overture Services and successfully copied by Google. The concept - known as "pay for performance" - has been a hit among advertisers and a boon for scores of Web sites that collect commissions when visitors click on the paid results displayed on their pages. Read it all here.

October 1st, 2003

This might interest a few of you out there

Online paid content grows over 300%
According to a recent report from the Online Publisher's Association (OPA) and comScore Networks, revenue from online paid content in the US grew from $246 million in 2001 to $748 million during the first two quarters of this year.
Read it here.

Copyright © Serge Thibodeau 2003. All rights reserved.

All views and opinions expressed on this blog are those of Serge Thibodeau only and are not representative of any company listed. All slogans, trademarks, text or logo representation used or referred to on this blog are the property of their respective owners.