June 2002 Search Engine News

June 28, 2002 :: New SEO Consultants Directory
Search engine optimization has become an integral part of website marketing to such a degree that Californian SEO, Edward Lewis of PageOneResults has developed a Search Engine Optimization Consultants Directory, SEO Consultants. The directory displays a great deal of information about SEO firms that have passed Lewis' screening process. Currently, there are 126 organizations mentioned in the directory with an open invitation for more to join.

Focusing on "Quality, not quantity", Lewis hopes to create a directory that becomes a type of democratic Yellow Pages for this growing niche industry. Listings for SEO firms are rotated so there is no appearence of favouritism or bias. Though Lewis is himself a successful SEO, the development team that runs the directory are, for the most part, not directly employed in the SEO industry. Another feature of the website is the remarkably clean design and ease of use. If anyone out there is looking for ideas on how to build an excellent but simple website, the directory should be one of your working examples.

June 28, 2002 :: 1/2 of LookSmart Board Members Bail
You know there is trouble at a company when half its directors resign the board at the same time. That's what happened to LookSmart this week as board members, Robert Ryan, Mariann Byerwalter and James Tananbaum quit the board. According to departing CEO Evan Thornley the board was in conflict over company strategies and Thornley's refusal to step down as board chairman. Quoted in the July 25th edition of SFGate magazine, Thornley said, "During the past few weeks, serious and honest-held differences of opinion have emerged between members of our board. Unfortunately, they were not resolved."

LookSmart stock has been in free-fall on the markets, droping from a high of $72/share (March 2000) to $1.96/share (June28 2002), and has seen more than its share of controversy recently. Currently, LookSmart is seeking new directors to fill the vacant spaces. Here is a free reminder to the remaining LookSmart board members: Rats don't board sinking ships, ususally its the other way around.

June 14, 2002 :: Fast/All the Web Grows Larger Than Google
The Finnish search engine company FAST announced this week that its database of spidered sites has grown larger than Google's. Having the largest database is important to search engines as size offers a greater degree of choice and relevancy to searchers. If you can't find it on Google, check out the FAST database at www.alltheweb.com.

June 11, 2002 :: Google-Bot turns Global-Cop
Here's a funny story that could only originate in Canada. (If you are Canadian, you'll understand)
Canada is probably the safest nation in the world to live in. We rarely experience political violence, we have not been invaded since the Americans were sent packing back in 1812, and our national police force's unofficial motto is "We always get our man". After years of training and investigative innovation, Canadian police have finally clued into the practice of GOOGLING criminals.

Googling is the term used to describe the act of running someones name through Google to see if information about them comes up. It is commonly used to check out friends, coworkers and first dates. In early September 2001, Peel Region (near Toronto Ont.) used Google to find and capture Canada's only airplane hijacker, Patrick Critton, nearly 30 years after he successfully hijakced an Air Canada plane to Cuba. News of the event was muted as the arrest was announced on September 11, 2001.

Critton, now 54 was living and working in Winchester County, New York with an social services organization 100 Black Men. The reference from Google was from a newspaper article on the organization in which Critton's name was mentioned. Police used fairly traditional techniques to complete the arrest including; dialing a telephone, comparing fingerprints and confirming that the date of birth of the suspect and the hijacker were the same. Critton is to be sentenced on Wednesday.

June 7, 2002 :: A short note about Search Engine Changes 2001 - 2002
Search engine standards and alliances have changed radically in the past year. Here is a short synopsis of the changes and what they mean for clients of SEO firms.

Last year, webmasters and promoters had a wide range of free-submit options available and were generally able to avoid having to cover the cost of submission fees. 2002 has seen an almost total migration to paid-submission or bid-per-click business models. Of the top10 search tools, only Google allows for free-submission as a rule. While AltaVista and MSN still have free-submit options, we are finding the turn-around time from free-submission to Top20 placements can now range between 10 - 24(!) weeks. Last year we expected a 2 - 10 week turn around time.

Paid-submissions have become the standard for almost all search engines. Well-optimized sites generally produce results within 7 days and benefits from rapid and regular spider-crawls. As webmasters and SEO's now pay for inclusion, specific internal pages from massive database driven sites can be placed with a fair degree of accuracy, allowing for strategic placements and product driven campaigns. Unlike the bid-per-click search tool Overture (formerly GoTo), paid-inclusion search tools receive payment from webmasters before they allow the website into the database of sites to be spidered. Payment does not guarantee Top20 placements; it only covers entry into the database. Another major change is the virtual demise of LookSmart as a credible player in the industry. LookSmart recently introduced a new pricing structure that, when applied, became an act of fraud in the eyes of the SEO community. We have stopped recommending use of LookSmart until a clearer and less expensive placement fee is introduced. In place of LookSmart, we are recommending paid-inclusion in the Inktomi database which feeds data to AOL, MSN, HotBot and iWon, along with dozens of smaller search engines and corporate intranets. Not only does Inktomi serve a larger number of partners, their pricing structure is much less expensive.

The other type of paid-inclusion search tool follows the bid-per-click model. There are a number of start-ups moving into this field, however the dominant player is Overture (formerly GoTo). A Top3 placement on Overture guarantees massive visibility on most other search engines and a wide variety of industry specific search portals who funnel these listings into the "Sponsored Sites" listings found at the top of search results. Overture's market penetration continues to expand with Yahoo becoming their premier client.

Google has become the absolute search engine of choice in North America and is now driving over 50% of all search engine traffic on a daily basis. It is still the most sophisticated mainstream search engine using an increasing number of relevancy tests as well as their standard PAGERANK formula. A Top10 listing at Google is worth top listings on all the other search tools combined. When asked, each of our clients reports Google as their number 1 search referrer. StepForth's batting average is an amazing .950 on Google!

Watch for a newcomer, Teoma, to displace Google in the coming years. Teoma is owned by ASK JEEVES and is arguably the most sophisticated search tool out there. As soon as enough people know about it, it will become a dominant player in the industry. We are tending to do well on Teoma with three recent #1 placements.