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My 2 featured articles for the week ending February 18:

Archived blogs for the week of Feb. 14, 2005

752 - February 18, 2005 - 1.43 PM EST

Majority of shoppers search on generic terms

According to a survey performed by DoubleClick in conjunction with comScore Networks, about 50 percent of online shoppers conduct research on a search engine before making an online purchase.

The study, "Search Before the Purchase," analyzes prepurchase search activity across four categories: apparel; computer hardware; sports and fitness; and travel, based on comScore's panel of 1.5 million U.S. Internet users.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, the study finds most users complete product-related searches weeks ahead of their actual purchases, with a greater reliance on general searches than is usually presumed by marketers, said Stuart Larkins, VP of partner services at Performics, a DoubleClick division.

"A number of clients see a high ROI [return on investment] from branded terms and think that's almost exclusively where they should put their focus," Larkins said.

"This study shows the opportunity posed by generic terms to influence potential buyers much earlier in the buying cycle."

According to the report, approximately 77 percent of keyword searches conducted by buyers across all four categories are generic, compared to 23 percent that are brand-only or a branded word plus another item.

Posted on Businessblog™

751 - February 17, 2005 - 8.06 AM EST

Google and VNU in joint ad deal

Ads that are part of Google's AdWords program can now be seen on the websites of VNU-owned publications in Europe and the United States, the two companies said yesterday.

As part of the deal, Google's targeted, text-based ads are appearing on the sites of publications including Adweek, Billboard, Hollywood Reporter, National Jeweler, Progressive Grocer and Successful Meetings. European titles covered in the deal include Accountancy Age, Computable, Computing and IT Week, the companies said.

Posted on Businessblog™

750 - February 16, 2005 - 8.14 PM EST

Google in the news again...

Google releases version 3.0 of its search toolbar, with three new features.

Available free in beta at toolbar.google.com, the downloadable software lets people search the Web from a static box on the Internet Explorer Web browser and block annoying pop-up ads.

Version 3 of the software also lets people automatically check their spelling in Web forms; translate words in English into several languages; and add Web links to certain plain text.

Posted on Businessblog™

749 - February 16, 2005 - 12.47 PM EST

Annodex takes video search to the next level

Yahoo, SingingFish and Blinkx almost wrote the book on video search, but now its being taken to the next level with CSIRO’s development of the new Annodex Video Search, an interactive plugin for browsing through many files of video.

The Annodex plugin for Mozilla Firefox gives users the ability to use text queries to search for video clips, watch a selection, then seamlessly hyperlink to further video, audio or web content.

When used with a Web search engine, video search now works just like users expect.

Posted on Businessblog™

748 - February 16, 2005 - 11.16 AM EST

Will IE 7.0 really deliver what Microsoft promises?

A while back, Microsoft promised that version 7.0 of its Internet Explorer would plug holes in its security vulnarability. But, some say there's a bigger hole in its search and marketing strategy.

Yesterday, Bill Gates promised a full version update of the aging Internet Explorer browser. The announcement by Microsoft's chief software architect came at the RSA Security show in San Francisco, so it was appropriate that Gates focused on security issues that still plague IE users. IE 7.0 will boost defenses against phishing, viruses and spyware.

"This is a realization that they continue to need to address security issues related to browsing on the Internet," said Directions on Microsoft analyst Michael Cherry.

Posted on Businessblog™

SEO Help Forum

747 - February 16, 2005 - 9.33 AM EST

The Cypress Semiconductor search engine

Looking for a good network search engine? Take a look at this:

Cypress Semiconductor just announced the availability of the Sahasra 50000 Network Search Engine (NSE), a single-chip algorithmic search engine.

This new device offers a suitable price-performance-ratio for longest prefix match (LPM) and exact match packet classification applications, and is especially effective for high-capacity forwarding applications (one-million entries and above) where traditional solutions may not be cost effective.

The adoption of IPv6 and other new protocols, combined with increasing line rates and the need to support advanced network services such as virtual private networks and virtual router forwarding, puts tremendous strain on packet classification subsystems.

Posted on Businessblog™

746 - February 15, 2005 - 7.59 PM EST

Google doing better than Yahoo in U.R.

Google is ahead of Yahoo in user reach, according to a Nielsen//NetRatings study on fifteen of the top search destinations in December 2004.

In the end, the two search engines had a total reach of 76.9% of Web users. However, the numbers do not add up to 100%, since many Internet surfers turn to different search engines, for different searches.

Posted on Businessblog™

745 - February 15, 2005 - 8.38 AM EST

Ask Jeeves to develop its own browser?

Ask Jeeves and the Mozilla Open Source Foundation are discussing on the two possibilities of a Firefox-based Ask Jeeves browser, and of donating Jeeves' desktop search technology to the group.

The discussions come as relations between Mozilla and search king Google become cozier. Key Mozilla volunteers now also work for Google, and the browser showcases Google search in its interface.

Ask Jeeves, which made its name as a "natural language" Web search engine, has recently expanded into areas including blog aggregation and desktop search.

Posted on Businessblog™

744 - February 14, 2005 - 1.31 PM EST

Wikipedia receives assistance from Google

Google will assist Wikipedia, by providing much needed storage and hosting services.

The deal is still in very early stages. Wikipedia has made it public that Google has not asked for any favors in returns, which includes any ad placement on Wikipedia pages.

Analysts have linked this move to Microsoft’s re-entry into the search engine market with MSN Encarta integrated into the search results.

Posted on Businessblog™

Copyright © Serge Thibodeau 2005. All rights reserved.

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