Friday, December 30, 2005
Cash pours in for student with $1 million Web idea - Yahoo! News: "LONDON (Reuters) - If you have an envious streak, you probably shouldn't read this.
ADVERTISEMENT
Because chances are, Alex Tew, a 21-year-old student from a small town in England, is cleverer than you. And he is proving it by earning a cool million dollars in four months on the Internet.
Selling porn? Dealing prescription drugs? Nope. All he sells are pixels, the tiny dots on the screen that appear when you call up his home page.
He had the brainstorm for his million dollar home page, called, logically enough, www.milliondollarhomepage.com, while lying in bed thinking out how he would pay for university..."
ADVERTISEMENT
Because chances are, Alex Tew, a 21-year-old student from a small town in England, is cleverer than you. And he is proving it by earning a cool million dollars in four months on the Internet.
Selling porn? Dealing prescription drugs? Nope. All he sells are pixels, the tiny dots on the screen that appear when you call up his home page.
He had the brainstorm for his million dollar home page, called, logically enough, www.milliondollarhomepage.com, while lying in bed thinking out how he would pay for university..."
Thursday, December 29, 2005
Peer-to-peer coming to Firefox?:
"A new website is boldly proclaiming that they are close to providing 'The best thing to happen to Firefox... since Firefox.' Allpeers is a peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing application that is apparently integrated directly into the popular web browser as a downloadable plugin.
No source code or downloadable files are available yet, but several screenshots have been posted on the Allpeers site. The application adds a new icon to the Firefox toolbar which opens a new side panel. From there, the user can share and trade files in a separate tab while still browsing in other tabs that have already been opened..."
"A new website is boldly proclaiming that they are close to providing 'The best thing to happen to Firefox... since Firefox.' Allpeers is a peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing application that is apparently integrated directly into the popular web browser as a downloadable plugin.
No source code or downloadable files are available yet, but several screenshots have been posted on the Allpeers site. The application adds a new icon to the Firefox toolbar which opens a new side panel. From there, the user can share and trade files in a separate tab while still browsing in other tabs that have already been opened..."
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Federated Media:
"Federated Media helps leading independent authors turn their publications into sole-proprietor media businesses,
at the same time providing media buyers with a scalable mechanism by which they can tap the audience loyalty and engagement that are fostered by the best blogs.
FM works by 'federating' authors into topic clusters. Our first federation focuses on digital business and culture, and includes sites such as Boing Boing, Matt Haughey's Metafilter and PVRblog, Merlin Mann's 43 Folders, Om Malik's Broadband Blog, Glenn Fleishman's Wi-Fi Networking News, John Battelle's Searchblog, Michael Arrington's TechCrunch, and many more. We plan to roll out new federations in the coming months..."
"Federated Media helps leading independent authors turn their publications into sole-proprietor media businesses,
at the same time providing media buyers with a scalable mechanism by which they can tap the audience loyalty and engagement that are fostered by the best blogs.
FM works by 'federating' authors into topic clusters. Our first federation focuses on digital business and culture, and includes sites such as Boing Boing, Matt Haughey's Metafilter and PVRblog, Merlin Mann's 43 Folders, Om Malik's Broadband Blog, Glenn Fleishman's Wi-Fi Networking News, John Battelle's Searchblog, Michael Arrington's TechCrunch, and many more. We plan to roll out new federations in the coming months..."
John Battelle's Searchblog: Predictions 2006:
"2. Google will stumble, some might say badly, but it will be significant. How? My money is on its second or third major deal - something on the order of the recent AOL deal. It may well be a loss (perceived or otherwise) in the Google Book Search case. Or it might be the privacy issue. This is not to say the company is going to fail, or the stock, for that matter. Just that it will face a major test in 2006 that it won't pass with flying colors.
3. Speaking of privacy, there will be a major court case involving the database of intentions that gets legislators talking about 'protecting the common citizen' (or somesuch) from 'the perils of unprotected Internet data mining' (or somesuch).
5. Microsoft will gain five points of search share, at least. But...
6. Vista will launch, and its much anticipated and feared desktop search integration will be viewed as anemic. The whisper as to why? Fear of the DOJ....
7. 'Web 2.0' will make the cover of Time Magazine, and thus its moment in the sun will have passed. However, the story that drives 'Web 2.0' will only strengthen, and folks will cast about for the next best name for the phenomenon.
10. The pace of Internet startup acquisitions will not be as torrid as most entrepreneurs and VCs had hoped.
11. There will be one major new IPO that briefly gets the press talking about "the Next Google." But it won't live up to the hype.
12. It will be a long year of head scratching and simmering disputes in the "content creation" business as the major platforms shift strategy on RSS, in particular, and blogging, broadly. In other words, we won't get nearly as much accomplished as we hoped. At issue is how content creators export their business model through RSS aggregation platforms. Near the end of the year, though, there will be a breakthrough deal that clarifies business model standards in the RSS space.
13. Mobile. I repeat my mobile prediction from last year, in the hope that it will come true this year: Mobile will finally be plugged into the web in a way that makes sense for the average user and a major mobile innovation - the kind that makes us all say - Jeez that was obvious - will occur. At the core of this innovation will be the concept of search. The outlines of such an innovation: it'll be a way for mobile users to gather the unstructured data they leverage every day while talking on the phone and make it useful to their personal web (including email and RSS, in particular). And it will be a business that looks and feels like a Web 2.0 business - leveraging iterative web development practices, open APIs, and innovation in assembly - that makes the leap.
14. The China Internet Bubble will begin to deflate..."
"2. Google will stumble, some might say badly, but it will be significant. How? My money is on its second or third major deal - something on the order of the recent AOL deal. It may well be a loss (perceived or otherwise) in the Google Book Search case. Or it might be the privacy issue. This is not to say the company is going to fail, or the stock, for that matter. Just that it will face a major test in 2006 that it won't pass with flying colors.
3. Speaking of privacy, there will be a major court case involving the database of intentions that gets legislators talking about 'protecting the common citizen' (or somesuch) from 'the perils of unprotected Internet data mining' (or somesuch).
5. Microsoft will gain five points of search share, at least. But...
6. Vista will launch, and its much anticipated and feared desktop search integration will be viewed as anemic. The whisper as to why? Fear of the DOJ....
7. 'Web 2.0' will make the cover of Time Magazine, and thus its moment in the sun will have passed. However, the story that drives 'Web 2.0' will only strengthen, and folks will cast about for the next best name for the phenomenon.
10. The pace of Internet startup acquisitions will not be as torrid as most entrepreneurs and VCs had hoped.
11. There will be one major new IPO that briefly gets the press talking about "the Next Google." But it won't live up to the hype.
12. It will be a long year of head scratching and simmering disputes in the "content creation" business as the major platforms shift strategy on RSS, in particular, and blogging, broadly. In other words, we won't get nearly as much accomplished as we hoped. At issue is how content creators export their business model through RSS aggregation platforms. Near the end of the year, though, there will be a breakthrough deal that clarifies business model standards in the RSS space.
13. Mobile. I repeat my mobile prediction from last year, in the hope that it will come true this year: Mobile will finally be plugged into the web in a way that makes sense for the average user and a major mobile innovation - the kind that makes us all say - Jeez that was obvious - will occur. At the core of this innovation will be the concept of search. The outlines of such an innovation: it'll be a way for mobile users to gather the unstructured data they leverage every day while talking on the phone and make it useful to their personal web (including email and RSS, in particular). And it will be a business that looks and feels like a Web 2.0 business - leveraging iterative web development practices, open APIs, and innovation in assembly - that makes the leap.
14. The China Internet Bubble will begin to deflate..."
A Pair of Web Pathfinding Gems: "By Mary Ellen Bates, Guest Writer
December 20, 2005
Though we rely heavily on search engines these days, sometimes a good 'old fashioned' human edited directory is a better choice for helping us locate high quality information on the web.
I'm currently working on a book about how to conduct research on the web, (to be published by O'Reilly next year) and I had a chance to really look closely at a couple of librarian-built web directories that I've used for years. Looking at them in a new light reminded me of how valuable these resources are..."
December 20, 2005
Though we rely heavily on search engines these days, sometimes a good 'old fashioned' human edited directory is a better choice for helping us locate high quality information on the web.
I'm currently working on a book about how to conduct research on the web, (to be published by O'Reilly next year) and I had a chance to really look closely at a couple of librarian-built web directories that I've used for years. Looking at them in a new light reminded me of how valuable these resources are..."
Search Engine Journal » Google Book Search & TextRank:
"Although the technology Google uses for ranking the results and indexing of the books in the Google Book Search project is still a bit unknown, Bill Slawski has put together some interesting research that points to TextRank, which was co-invented by Professor Rada Mihalcea.
Professor Mihalcea received a grant of $107,112 from Google which helped her with research involving “automatic extraction methods to retrieve significant information in books stored in electronic format.” Mihalcea is also listed as a co-inventor of the ‘TextRank’ patent.
Bill continues with his search engine detective work “If you are familiar with pagerank and Kleinberg’s Hyperlinked Induced Topic Search (HITS), and Wordnet, you might find the patent application’s description of how textrank would work interesting.“
My first tormenting thought after reading this is whether or not Google Book Search and TextRank is going to result in publishers and copy editors taking SEO into consideration before putting works into print and granting Google Print access to scan and index their works. Will it come to this?"
"Although the technology Google uses for ranking the results and indexing of the books in the Google Book Search project is still a bit unknown, Bill Slawski has put together some interesting research that points to TextRank, which was co-invented by Professor Rada Mihalcea.
Professor Mihalcea received a grant of $107,112 from Google which helped her with research involving “automatic extraction methods to retrieve significant information in books stored in electronic format.” Mihalcea is also listed as a co-inventor of the ‘TextRank’ patent.
Bill continues with his search engine detective work “If you are familiar with pagerank and Kleinberg’s Hyperlinked Induced Topic Search (HITS), and Wordnet, you might find the patent application’s description of how textrank would work interesting.“
My first tormenting thought after reading this is whether or not Google Book Search and TextRank is going to result in publishers and copy editors taking SEO into consideration before putting works into print and granting Google Print access to scan and index their works. Will it come to this?"
About Us:
"The Gravee.com AdShare program fundamentally changes the economic model for search advertising. Instead of search engines reaping all the profit from advertising (which is made possible by the existence of natural search results), Gravee.com shares ad revenue with natural search results that appeared on the same page - and with the affiliates who drive search traffic that is monetized."
"The Gravee.com AdShare program fundamentally changes the economic model for search advertising. Instead of search engines reaping all the profit from advertising (which is made possible by the existence of natural search results), Gravee.com shares ad revenue with natural search results that appeared on the same page - and with the affiliates who drive search traffic that is monetized."
John Battelle's Searchblog: Icahn: Beware Google "Disaster":
"Yow. Though I have no idea if, honestly, anyone is listening to Icahn, it's still quite a quote. From the SF Chronicle:
In a letter to the board Monday, Icahn told directors they 'may be on the verge of making a disastrous decision.' Any agreement with Google that precludes a future merger or transaction with another company would be a breach of their duty, he said."
"Yow. Though I have no idea if, honestly, anyone is listening to Icahn, it's still quite a quote. From the SF Chronicle:
In a letter to the board Monday, Icahn told directors they 'may be on the verge of making a disastrous decision.' Any agreement with Google that precludes a future merger or transaction with another company would be a breach of their duty, he said."
The Lone Ronin: Banned by Google:
"Let us suppose, for a moment, you are a small company (like kozoru) and you've figured out a way to take results from another search engine (like, say, Google) and run them through your own statistical approach and do the following:
1. Keyword search their system
2. Grab 100-200 results
3. Parse the pages (all of them) from the results in #2
4. Provide 1-3 "answers" to your results
Now, let us suppose these results are more authoritative, more relevant and better (according to 120 random people who test the system) than the results from the search engine.
Now, let us suppose that you have shown those results to the search engine and they were mostly excited about what you were doing, but couldn't decide how or if your results were able to be monetized -- after all, less results means less space for ads and so forth.
Then, out of nowhere, you were suddenly banned from using their system to show them how you make search better.
Well, that exact scenario was my Christmas present from Google. It makes very little sense to me because other "meta search" systems (Brainboost, Dogpile, etc.) all do the same thing and for far more users.
Before you get too upset, remember that the only people who ever saw this system were Google, Yahoo, MSN and the other partners we were speaking with after the Web 2.0 conference. This wasn't a generally open (or available) system and there were less than 6 companies with access to the results, including kozoru. And remember, no one - other than Google - has ever banned us or even hinted at banning us for this limited-use, demo-only system.
This seems no different than 37 Signals "Making Google Better" web mash-up.
And, all I wanted was a a phone call..."
"Let us suppose, for a moment, you are a small company (like kozoru) and you've figured out a way to take results from another search engine (like, say, Google) and run them through your own statistical approach and do the following:
1. Keyword search their system
2. Grab 100-200 results
3. Parse the pages (all of them) from the results in #2
4. Provide 1-3 "answers" to your results
Now, let us suppose these results are more authoritative, more relevant and better (according to 120 random people who test the system) than the results from the search engine.
Now, let us suppose that you have shown those results to the search engine and they were mostly excited about what you were doing, but couldn't decide how or if your results were able to be monetized -- after all, less results means less space for ads and so forth.
Then, out of nowhere, you were suddenly banned from using their system to show them how you make search better.
Well, that exact scenario was my Christmas present from Google. It makes very little sense to me because other "meta search" systems (Brainboost, Dogpile, etc.) all do the same thing and for far more users.
Before you get too upset, remember that the only people who ever saw this system were Google, Yahoo, MSN and the other partners we were speaking with after the Web 2.0 conference. This wasn't a generally open (or available) system and there were less than 6 companies with access to the results, including kozoru. And remember, no one - other than Google - has ever banned us or even hinted at banning us for this limited-use, demo-only system.
This seems no different than 37 Signals "Making Google Better" web mash-up.
And, all I wanted was a a phone call..."
John Battelle's Searchblog: AOL and Google Make It Official:
"Journal reports (paid link):
Under the deal, Google would buy a 5% stake in AOL for $1 billion. AOL will continue to use Google's search technology and to share the revenue generated by ads appearing alongside search results. But importantly for AOL, it will now have the right to sell those ads directly to advertisers instead of directing advertisers to Google.
AOL will also sell some ads on behalf of Google and Web sites that outsource ad sales to Google. Meanwhile, Google will work to ensure that AOL's content appears among its search results, but says it won't compromise the integrity of its results. AOL will also receive advertising credit valued at about $300 million toward buying ads on Google.
AOL and Google will also make their instant-messaging software compatible. Google users will have to set up AOL Instant Messenger accounts to make the services work together.
The two are working together on video search and hinted that they may in the future collaborate on ways to digitize some of Time Warner's vast trove of movies, television and other content for the Web.
The Journal has a free link to a story on Omid, who gets credit as an "unsung hero."
I await clarification of how exactly this will effect paid results and inclusion of AOL content, but the counterspin from Google has been quite strong that results will not be affected. I buy that entirely as it relates to organic SERPS, but I have yet to confirm the same is true of the auction or the one box. More as I know more. "
"Journal reports (paid link):
Under the deal, Google would buy a 5% stake in AOL for $1 billion. AOL will continue to use Google's search technology and to share the revenue generated by ads appearing alongside search results. But importantly for AOL, it will now have the right to sell those ads directly to advertisers instead of directing advertisers to Google.
AOL will also sell some ads on behalf of Google and Web sites that outsource ad sales to Google. Meanwhile, Google will work to ensure that AOL's content appears among its search results, but says it won't compromise the integrity of its results. AOL will also receive advertising credit valued at about $300 million toward buying ads on Google.
AOL and Google will also make their instant-messaging software compatible. Google users will have to set up AOL Instant Messenger accounts to make the services work together.
The two are working together on video search and hinted that they may in the future collaborate on ways to digitize some of Time Warner's vast trove of movies, television and other content for the Web.
The Journal has a free link to a story on Omid, who gets credit as an "unsung hero."
I await clarification of how exactly this will effect paid results and inclusion of AOL content, but the counterspin from Google has been quite strong that results will not be affected. I buy that entirely as it relates to organic SERPS, but I have yet to confirm the same is true of the auction or the one box. More as I know more. "
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Innovation Weblog - Gates' Newsweek column touches on mind mapping:
"This week's issue of Newsweek magazine contains a special technology section, and in it there is a column by Bill Gates, in which he talks about the transformation of information into knowledge. Surprisingly, as part of this discussion, he touches on mind mapping. Here's the quote:
'...OneNote and a new generation of 'mind mapping' software can... be used as a digital 'blank slate' to help connect and synthesize ideas and data - and ultimately create new knowledge.'
If Bill Gates has identified mind mapping software as a key technology of today's knowledge economy, then you know that you better pay attention! In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft may be mulling an acquisition in this space. Lest you call me a rumor-monger, I'm not suggesting that they are exploring this avenue. It's just odd to hear Gates talking about a technology where Microsoft doesn't have a software program. Plus, the software giant does have a history of purchasing products to fill gaps in its business productivity offerings (i.e., PowerPoint originally came from a small developer called Forethought, and Visio was originally developed by a software company of the same name, and was acquired by Microsoft in 2000)."
"This week's issue of Newsweek magazine contains a special technology section, and in it there is a column by Bill Gates, in which he talks about the transformation of information into knowledge. Surprisingly, as part of this discussion, he touches on mind mapping. Here's the quote:
'...OneNote and a new generation of 'mind mapping' software can... be used as a digital 'blank slate' to help connect and synthesize ideas and data - and ultimately create new knowledge.'
If Bill Gates has identified mind mapping software as a key technology of today's knowledge economy, then you know that you better pay attention! In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft may be mulling an acquisition in this space. Lest you call me a rumor-monger, I'm not suggesting that they are exploring this avenue. It's just odd to hear Gates talking about a technology where Microsoft doesn't have a software program. Plus, the software giant does have a history of purchasing products to fill gaps in its business productivity offerings (i.e., PowerPoint originally came from a small developer called Forethought, and Visio was originally developed by a software company of the same name, and was acquired by Microsoft in 2000)."
AOL Coaxes Google to Try Busier Ads - New York Times:
"Users of Google's search engine will soon see something they are not used to on the notoriously spare site: advertising with logos and graphics. And the advertisers will not be limited to America Online, whose talks with Google prompted the change in policy, according to two executives close to the companies' negotiations.
As part of their deal, which is expected to be announced this afternoon, Google is providing AOL with $300 million in advertising on Google's Web sites, intended to use to draw Google search users to related content on AOL's sites, the executives said. That sum is on top of the $1 billion in cash that Google is to invest to buy a 5 percent stake in AOL..."
"Users of Google's search engine will soon see something they are not used to on the notoriously spare site: advertising with logos and graphics. And the advertisers will not be limited to America Online, whose talks with Google prompted the change in policy, according to two executives close to the companies' negotiations.
As part of their deal, which is expected to be announced this afternoon, Google is providing AOL with $300 million in advertising on Google's Web sites, intended to use to draw Google search users to related content on AOL's sites, the executives said. That sum is on top of the $1 billion in cash that Google is to invest to buy a 5 percent stake in AOL..."
Monday, December 19, 2005
John Battelle's Searchblog: Gauging The Size of the Google Economy:
"A Fortune Small Biz reporter, Justin Martin, called today and among other questions asked one that I did not have a ready answer for. But it seemed like a very good question, and it'd be neat to have an answer. In short, he asked, how big is the Google economy? We bounced it back and forth, and what he meant by that phrase is the aggregate amount of direct economic impact Google has on businesses large and small. Not an easy thing to nail down, but often you can create useful proxies if it's Friday and you're trying to avoid real work.
I was thinking that you might take Google's gross revenue number, which is projected to be more than $6 billion this year, and then the estimated number of AdWords customers, which I realize I don't have a reliable number for. The last time I wrangled something out of Google was two years ago, when it was about to cross 200,000. So, assuming decent growth (say 25% a year), we're now at what, nearly 300K (OK, 281K, but for all intents and purposes...)..."
"A Fortune Small Biz reporter, Justin Martin, called today and among other questions asked one that I did not have a ready answer for. But it seemed like a very good question, and it'd be neat to have an answer. In short, he asked, how big is the Google economy? We bounced it back and forth, and what he meant by that phrase is the aggregate amount of direct economic impact Google has on businesses large and small. Not an easy thing to nail down, but often you can create useful proxies if it's Friday and you're trying to avoid real work.
I was thinking that you might take Google's gross revenue number, which is projected to be more than $6 billion this year, and then the estimated number of AdWords customers, which I realize I don't have a reliable number for. The last time I wrangled something out of Google was two years ago, when it was about to cross 200,000. So, assuming decent growth (say 25% a year), we're now at what, nearly 300K (OK, 281K, but for all intents and purposes...)..."
John Battelle's Searchblog: Yow. Don't Jump the Shark, Google:
"Google, which prides itself on the purity of its search results, agreed to give favored placement to content from AOL throughout its site, something it has never done before.
If this is true, AOL will once again be the ramp over which a major company jumps the shark..."
"Google, which prides itself on the purity of its search results, agreed to give favored placement to content from AOL throughout its site, something it has never done before.
If this is true, AOL will once again be the ramp over which a major company jumps the shark..."
John Battelle's Searchblog: With AOL Deal, Google May Get to Go Public Again:
"Consider: AOL and Yahoo made hay when Google went public. Both owned substantial stakes in Google due to earlier traffic deals, and both cashed out major paydays after GOOG's IPO.
Consider also: The success of Ask Jeeves, from the time it tied its revenue fortunes to Google at around $5 a share (July 2002) to the point at which IAC purchased them at nearly six times that. Google did not own a piece of Ask, but given that Ask's fortunes rose as soon as it did a deal with Google, I bet it wished it has asked for some Ask back in 2002...
So now consider this: Google is not going to make the same mistake. Why invest $1 billion in AOL? Well, should AOL go public, Google stands to profit - a lot. The company knows that by guaranteeing its business to AOL for the foreseeable future, it has in essence guaranteed AOL's bottom line, providing a healthy earnings forecast for AOL and Wall St., should Time Warner decide to spin its erstwhile child back out as an independent public company..."
"Consider: AOL and Yahoo made hay when Google went public. Both owned substantial stakes in Google due to earlier traffic deals, and both cashed out major paydays after GOOG's IPO.
Consider also: The success of Ask Jeeves, from the time it tied its revenue fortunes to Google at around $5 a share (July 2002) to the point at which IAC purchased them at nearly six times that. Google did not own a piece of Ask, but given that Ask's fortunes rose as soon as it did a deal with Google, I bet it wished it has asked for some Ask back in 2002...
So now consider this: Google is not going to make the same mistake. Why invest $1 billion in AOL? Well, should AOL go public, Google stands to profit - a lot. The company knows that by guaranteeing its business to AOL for the foreseeable future, it has in essence guaranteed AOL's bottom line, providing a healthy earnings forecast for AOL and Wall St., should Time Warner decide to spin its erstwhile child back out as an independent public company..."
Friday, December 16, 2005
Google in talks to buy 5 pct of AOL: source - Yahoo! News:
"NEW YORK (Reuters) - Web search leader Google Inc. (Nasdaq:GOOG - news) is in exclusive talks to buy a 5 percent stake in Time Warner Inc.'s (NYSE:TWX - news) AOL Internet unit for $1 billion, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday.
A deal would shut out Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news), which was seeking its own arrangement.
News of the deal, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, propelled Google shares to a record high.
Under the terms of the proposed deal, which could close within days, Google would continue to provide AOL with its paid search advertising technology for five years, the source said..."
"NEW YORK (Reuters) - Web search leader Google Inc. (Nasdaq:GOOG - news) is in exclusive talks to buy a 5 percent stake in Time Warner Inc.'s (NYSE:TWX - news) AOL Internet unit for $1 billion, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday.
A deal would shut out Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news), which was seeking its own arrangement.
News of the deal, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, propelled Google shares to a record high.
Under the terms of the proposed deal, which could close within days, Google would continue to provide AOL with its paid search advertising technology for five years, the source said..."
John Battelle's Searchblog: Alexa (Make that Amazon) Looks to Change the Game:
"(Update: Alexa platform is now live)
Every so often an idea comes along that has the potential to change the game. When it does, you find yourself saying - 'Sheesh, of course that was going to happen. Why didn't I predict it?' Well, I didn't predict this happening, but here it is, happening anyway.
In short, Alexa, an Amazon-owned search company started by Bruce Gilliat and Brewster Kahle (and the spider that fuels the Internet Archive), is going to offer its index up to anyone who wants it. Alexa has about 5 billion documents in its index - about 100 terabytes of data. It's best known for its toolbar-based traffic and site stats, which are much debated and, regardless, much used across the web.
OK, step back, and think about that. Anyone can use Alexa's index, to build anything. But wait, there's more. Much more..."
"(Update: Alexa platform is now live)
Every so often an idea comes along that has the potential to change the game. When it does, you find yourself saying - 'Sheesh, of course that was going to happen. Why didn't I predict it?' Well, I didn't predict this happening, but here it is, happening anyway.
In short, Alexa, an Amazon-owned search company started by Bruce Gilliat and Brewster Kahle (and the spider that fuels the Internet Archive), is going to offer its index up to anyone who wants it. Alexa has about 5 billion documents in its index - about 100 terabytes of data. It's best known for its toolbar-based traffic and site stats, which are much debated and, regardless, much used across the web.
OK, step back, and think about that. Anyone can use Alexa's index, to build anything. But wait, there's more. Much more..."
Search Engine Journal - Google Music Search & Google's Vertical Push:
"Google is introducing a new music feature according to Reuters and SEW. When users search for, say Madonna (the example used at SEW), they?ll see some information: a picture and links to a page about Madonna and a link to the alliterative ?more music results for Madonna.? (Click that link and note the ?search music? button.)
My colleagues will read this and wonder ?Why the @#$! is he writing about this?? Well, beyond this being an interesting ?content? play for Google and a way for Google to serve more of its users? needs (and get some more ad revenue down the line), it starts to clarify some things about what might be called Google?s ?vertical strategy.?...
...Google is offering what we might call “Page 2.”
You get a tease or a set of links on top of the search results page (similar to Local now) and then you’ll be taken into a specialized content area. This is how Google will keep users going to Google.com (where most go anyway) and also offer a competitive “vertical” experience (Page 2), where the features and content can be tailored to the specific topic: Cars, Jobs, Real Estate, Movies, Finance, Music, etc.
Google also starts to create very valuable ad inventory on these pages—inventory arguably much more valuable than that on Google.com..."
"Google is introducing a new music feature according to Reuters and SEW. When users search for, say Madonna (the example used at SEW), they?ll see some information: a picture and links to a page about Madonna and a link to the alliterative ?more music results for Madonna.? (Click that link and note the ?search music? button.)
My colleagues will read this and wonder ?Why the @#$! is he writing about this?? Well, beyond this being an interesting ?content? play for Google and a way for Google to serve more of its users? needs (and get some more ad revenue down the line), it starts to clarify some things about what might be called Google?s ?vertical strategy.?...
...Google is offering what we might call “Page 2.”
You get a tease or a set of links on top of the search results page (similar to Local now) and then you’ll be taken into a specialized content area. This is how Google will keep users going to Google.com (where most go anyway) and also offer a competitive “vertical” experience (Page 2), where the features and content can be tailored to the specific topic: Cars, Jobs, Real Estate, Movies, Finance, Music, etc.
Google also starts to create very valuable ad inventory on these pages—inventory arguably much more valuable than that on Google.com..."
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Portals: Hot Again:
" Published: December 08, 2005
(After January 07, 2006, this article will only be available to eStat Database subscribers.)
What goes around comes around, but portals came back faster than anyone expected.
Although Time Warner has acknowledged that it is considering the sale of AOL, the media giant is clearly reluctant to let the online division go. For good reason. As eMarketer's new Portals report shows, thanks to robust demand for online advertising, a broadband audience hungry for multimedia applications and an increasingly confident population of online shoppers, portals are hot properties again.
One look at the data should convince anyone that portals are no longer pass�.
Measured by sheer size of audience, Yahoo! continues to be the number one site on the Web, according to data from Nielsen//NetRatings. MSN, Google and AOL trail Yahoo! in terms of unique audience. The value of e-mail and instant messaging (IM) services can be seen in the varying levels of time per person.
The popularity of the big portals can be seen in another set of Nielsen data with a narrower time frame. During the week ended September 4, 2005, nearly half of all Internet users logged on to Yahoo! All of the Big Four portals had an active reach of more than 30% of all Internet users.
This audience build up is having impact on many other industries. For example, AOL and Yahoo! are the leading online music destinations ? and AOL has partnered with iTunes and MusicNet to create a free and paid music service.
News is one of the core content areas of the Internet, and as with music (and video), portals have captured the largest audience for news among the online audience. Yahoo! and MSNBC top the list.
Search has become a cornerstone, and perhaps the cornerstone, of Web use. More than half of all users access a search site during most or every online session. Just 4% say they don't use search engines.
Discover dramatic extent of the resurgence of portals and what it means for your business: read eMarketer's new Portals report today."
" Published: December 08, 2005
(After January 07, 2006, this article will only be available to eStat Database subscribers.)
What goes around comes around, but portals came back faster than anyone expected.
Although Time Warner has acknowledged that it is considering the sale of AOL, the media giant is clearly reluctant to let the online division go. For good reason. As eMarketer's new Portals report shows, thanks to robust demand for online advertising, a broadband audience hungry for multimedia applications and an increasingly confident population of online shoppers, portals are hot properties again.
One look at the data should convince anyone that portals are no longer pass�.
Measured by sheer size of audience, Yahoo! continues to be the number one site on the Web, according to data from Nielsen//NetRatings. MSN, Google and AOL trail Yahoo! in terms of unique audience. The value of e-mail and instant messaging (IM) services can be seen in the varying levels of time per person.
The popularity of the big portals can be seen in another set of Nielsen data with a narrower time frame. During the week ended September 4, 2005, nearly half of all Internet users logged on to Yahoo! All of the Big Four portals had an active reach of more than 30% of all Internet users.
This audience build up is having impact on many other industries. For example, AOL and Yahoo! are the leading online music destinations ? and AOL has partnered with iTunes and MusicNet to create a free and paid music service.
News is one of the core content areas of the Internet, and as with music (and video), portals have captured the largest audience for news among the online audience. Yahoo! and MSNBC top the list.
Search has become a cornerstone, and perhaps the cornerstone, of Web use. More than half of all users access a search site during most or every online session. Just 4% say they don't use search engines.
Discover dramatic extent of the resurgence of portals and what it means for your business: read eMarketer's new Portals report today."
Search, Search, Search?:
" Published: December 07, 2005
(After January 06, 2006, this article will only be available to eStat Database subscribers.)
Yeah, I've been searchin'
A-a searchin'
Oh, yeah, searchin' every which a-way
Most of today's online users probably aren't familiar with the Coaster's hit of the 60's, but they know the feeling.
According to a new study just released by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, "Search engines have become an increasingly important part of the online experience of American internet users." On an average day, nearly 60 million people use search engines.
Over the past year there has been a sharp increase in search activity. From June 2004 to Septemeber 2005 the use of search engines on a typical day rose from 30% to 41% of the internet-using population, which itself has grown in the past year.
At the same time, the total number of people using search engines on an average day jumped from roughly 38 million to about 59 million ? an increase of roughly 55%.
comScore Media Metrix data, derived from a different methodology, show that from September 2004 to September 2005 the average daily use of search engines jumped from 49.3 million users to 60.7 million ? an increase of 23%.
In either case, it is clear that the use of search engines is edging up on e-mail as the primary internet activity on any given day.
However, the Pew data shows that on a typical day, e-mail use is still the most popular internet activity. On any given day, about 52% of US Internet users send and receive e-mail, up from 45% in June of 2004.
Obviously, e-mail continues to be a powerful application accounting for a great part of users' online time and attention.
Overall, there is little difference between the sizes of the e-mailing population and the search-engine using population. Pew data shows that 91% of all Internet users have at one time sent or receive e-mail, compared to 90% of Internet users have used search engines.
To put e-mail use and search-engine use in perspective, Pew compared them to other Internet activities on an average day.
According to the latest comScore data, Google is the most heavily-used search engine. In October 2005 the site had 89.8 million unique visitors, followed by Yahoo! Search with 68 million unique visitors.
For more information on this topic, read eMarketer's Search Engine Marketing report."
" Published: December 07, 2005
(After January 06, 2006, this article will only be available to eStat Database subscribers.)
Yeah, I've been searchin'
A-a searchin'
Oh, yeah, searchin' every which a-way
Most of today's online users probably aren't familiar with the Coaster's hit of the 60's, but they know the feeling.
According to a new study just released by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, "Search engines have become an increasingly important part of the online experience of American internet users." On an average day, nearly 60 million people use search engines.
Over the past year there has been a sharp increase in search activity. From June 2004 to Septemeber 2005 the use of search engines on a typical day rose from 30% to 41% of the internet-using population, which itself has grown in the past year.
At the same time, the total number of people using search engines on an average day jumped from roughly 38 million to about 59 million ? an increase of roughly 55%.
comScore Media Metrix data, derived from a different methodology, show that from September 2004 to September 2005 the average daily use of search engines jumped from 49.3 million users to 60.7 million ? an increase of 23%.
In either case, it is clear that the use of search engines is edging up on e-mail as the primary internet activity on any given day.
However, the Pew data shows that on a typical day, e-mail use is still the most popular internet activity. On any given day, about 52% of US Internet users send and receive e-mail, up from 45% in June of 2004.
Obviously, e-mail continues to be a powerful application accounting for a great part of users' online time and attention.
Overall, there is little difference between the sizes of the e-mailing population and the search-engine using population. Pew data shows that 91% of all Internet users have at one time sent or receive e-mail, compared to 90% of Internet users have used search engines.
To put e-mail use and search-engine use in perspective, Pew compared them to other Internet activities on an average day.
According to the latest comScore data, Google is the most heavily-used search engine. In October 2005 the site had 89.8 million unique visitors, followed by Yahoo! Search with 68 million unique visitors.
For more information on this topic, read eMarketer's Search Engine Marketing report."
The Cost of Keywords:
" Published: December 06, 2005
(After January 05, 2006, this article will only be available to eStat Database subscribers.)
With the rise of search engine marketing, millions of marketers around the world have one question: How much should they pay for a keyword?
Online marketers are starting to hear a new metric bantered about ? CPK, or cost-per-keyword. With search engine marketing (SEM) becoming an increasingly important ? and sizable ? part of the budget, CPK will soon become as ubiquitous around media planning conference tables as CPMs and CTRs.
DoubleClick's "Search Trend Report: Q3 2005" found that the average CPK as well as the average CPC (cost per click) showed steady increases throughout the third quarter. This could be due to a number of reasons, but the report stated that the most likely factors were "competition and a greater emphasis on higher-priced, higher-trafficked keywords that give advertisers the potential for greater visibility and brand awareness."
After a precipitous rise and fall in late '04 and early '05, CPK has been rising steadily throughout the year.
During the third quarter, CPK rose from $20 to $26 in DoubleClick's index.
The SEMphonic Keyword Pricing Index (SKPI), an index of cost-per-click and bids on selected industry-specific keywords, also showed a slow but steady rise across all industries in the first half of November.
In certain sections of the retail market, however, the SKPI shows keyword prices are rising more dramatically. Prices are up in kitchen, food, and wine (8%), arts and entertainment (8%) and most significantly in clothing and accessories (10%).
Comparing data from November 15 and November 1, SEMphonic noted a small rise in both top bids and average CPC, which rose from $0.49 to $0.53 on branded words, and from $0.96 to $1.00 on non-branded words. Overall, they report the average CPC rose about 4%.
A SEMphonic spokesperson said, "This shows a slow but steady rise in advertising costs as the holiday season approaches, but does not yet represent any significant jump in pricing."
To learn more about SEM, read eMarketer's Search Engine Marketing report."
" Published: December 06, 2005
(After January 05, 2006, this article will only be available to eStat Database subscribers.)
With the rise of search engine marketing, millions of marketers around the world have one question: How much should they pay for a keyword?
Online marketers are starting to hear a new metric bantered about ? CPK, or cost-per-keyword. With search engine marketing (SEM) becoming an increasingly important ? and sizable ? part of the budget, CPK will soon become as ubiquitous around media planning conference tables as CPMs and CTRs.
DoubleClick's "Search Trend Report: Q3 2005" found that the average CPK as well as the average CPC (cost per click) showed steady increases throughout the third quarter. This could be due to a number of reasons, but the report stated that the most likely factors were "competition and a greater emphasis on higher-priced, higher-trafficked keywords that give advertisers the potential for greater visibility and brand awareness."
After a precipitous rise and fall in late '04 and early '05, CPK has been rising steadily throughout the year.
During the third quarter, CPK rose from $20 to $26 in DoubleClick's index.
The SEMphonic Keyword Pricing Index (SKPI), an index of cost-per-click and bids on selected industry-specific keywords, also showed a slow but steady rise across all industries in the first half of November.
In certain sections of the retail market, however, the SKPI shows keyword prices are rising more dramatically. Prices are up in kitchen, food, and wine (8%), arts and entertainment (8%) and most significantly in clothing and accessories (10%).
Comparing data from November 15 and November 1, SEMphonic noted a small rise in both top bids and average CPC, which rose from $0.49 to $0.53 on branded words, and from $0.96 to $1.00 on non-branded words. Overall, they report the average CPC rose about 4%.
A SEMphonic spokesperson said, "This shows a slow but steady rise in advertising costs as the holiday season approaches, but does not yet represent any significant jump in pricing."
To learn more about SEM, read eMarketer's Search Engine Marketing report."
Turning MySpace into Ad Space:
" Published: December 06, 2005
(After January 05, 2006, this article will only be available to eStat Database subscribers.)
Not many significantly-sized sites have experienced growth of 609% in audience size over the last year. That's just one reason MySpace, with nearly 25 million members, is attracting so much attention.
Social networking Web sites like MySpace, Facebook, Friendster and Xanga allow users to set up personal Web pages listing biographical information about them, from what they look like (including the option, taken by most, of posting a picture) to their favorite TV shows, foods, places and much more. Users can then link up with their friends, and potential friends, through the Web site, creating a huge personalized online community and network.
The popularity of MySpace has exploded in the past year. Numbering under 3.5 million members in October 2004, it had over 24 million one year later, according to comScore Media Metrix. A crucial aspect of MySpace's success has been its tie-in with music and, increasingly, other forms of entertainment. By allowing bands to easily set up pages, including templates for uploading pictures, displaying upcoming shows and streaming songs, MySpace gives users another reason to surf through pages besides just looking at profiles. It has also created online fan clubs for various groups, bolstering membership and creating a feeling of being at the ground floor of building a group's fanbase.
The people using these sites are primarily young ? in October 2005, visitors to MySpace were 139% more likely to be under the age of 17 than among the general Internet population, while Facebook, which caters to a college-age crowd, had an audience with a 283% greater incidence of 18 to 24 year-olds than among the overall online populace.
While these Web sites offer an attractive opportunity for marketers, comScore notes that peers often have greater influences on these site's members than corporate entities. Employing alternate marketing techniques that spread praise for a product through users rather than traditional visual advertising could be more effective on social networking sites. Since many bands have used these sites to connect with listeners, and now companies are partnering with music groups, movies and television attractive to a young audience to get directly connected to social networking users, sometimes setting up their own profile that can become a "friend" of network members.
That being said, there is also plenty of opportunity for youth-oriented text, image and rich media advertising on MySpace, Facebook and other sites. Most band and personal sites on MySpace, for example, include a banner ad at the top, often including rich text, and the MySpace front page where users log-in has additional image and text ads. With the acquisition of MySpace by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. earlier this year, it remains to be seen how much the advertising environment on the site will change. As it stands now, the it seems to have found the recipe for success, and advertisers are very interested.
To learn about other new methods marketers are using to advertise on the Net, read eMarketer's Online Video Advertising report."
" Published: December 06, 2005
(After January 05, 2006, this article will only be available to eStat Database subscribers.)
Not many significantly-sized sites have experienced growth of 609% in audience size over the last year. That's just one reason MySpace, with nearly 25 million members, is attracting so much attention.
Social networking Web sites like MySpace, Facebook, Friendster and Xanga allow users to set up personal Web pages listing biographical information about them, from what they look like (including the option, taken by most, of posting a picture) to their favorite TV shows, foods, places and much more. Users can then link up with their friends, and potential friends, through the Web site, creating a huge personalized online community and network.
The popularity of MySpace has exploded in the past year. Numbering under 3.5 million members in October 2004, it had over 24 million one year later, according to comScore Media Metrix. A crucial aspect of MySpace's success has been its tie-in with music and, increasingly, other forms of entertainment. By allowing bands to easily set up pages, including templates for uploading pictures, displaying upcoming shows and streaming songs, MySpace gives users another reason to surf through pages besides just looking at profiles. It has also created online fan clubs for various groups, bolstering membership and creating a feeling of being at the ground floor of building a group's fanbase.
The people using these sites are primarily young ? in October 2005, visitors to MySpace were 139% more likely to be under the age of 17 than among the general Internet population, while Facebook, which caters to a college-age crowd, had an audience with a 283% greater incidence of 18 to 24 year-olds than among the overall online populace.
While these Web sites offer an attractive opportunity for marketers, comScore notes that peers often have greater influences on these site's members than corporate entities. Employing alternate marketing techniques that spread praise for a product through users rather than traditional visual advertising could be more effective on social networking sites. Since many bands have used these sites to connect with listeners, and now companies are partnering with music groups, movies and television attractive to a young audience to get directly connected to social networking users, sometimes setting up their own profile that can become a "friend" of network members.
That being said, there is also plenty of opportunity for youth-oriented text, image and rich media advertising on MySpace, Facebook and other sites. Most band and personal sites on MySpace, for example, include a banner ad at the top, often including rich text, and the MySpace front page where users log-in has additional image and text ads. With the acquisition of MySpace by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. earlier this year, it remains to be seen how much the advertising environment on the site will change. As it stands now, the it seems to have found the recipe for success, and advertisers are very interested.
To learn about other new methods marketers are using to advertise on the Net, read eMarketer's Online Video Advertising report."
Monday, December 12, 2005
Relona Search Engine Demonstrations:
"The research labs of Relona have created a number of breakthrough innovations in web-search and information retrieval. Browse the pages below to see our technology in action..."
"The research labs of Relona have created a number of breakthrough innovations in web-search and information retrieval. Browse the pages below to see our technology in action..."
John Battelle's Searchblog: MySpace:
"I'd like some way to confirm this, but if it's true, as has been claimed by the company, that MySpace has 10% of all available advertising inventory on the Web, then Murdoch got a deal at $600 million or so. The web is surely worth more than ten times that number...and MySpace is a very, very desired demographic by marketers."
"I'd like some way to confirm this, but if it's true, as has been claimed by the company, that MySpace has 10% of all available advertising inventory on the Web, then Murdoch got a deal at $600 million or so. The web is surely worth more than ten times that number...and MySpace is a very, very desired demographic by marketers."
Search Engine Journal - Yahoo Answers : Ask Yahoo, Get Answers:
"Yahoo Answers was launched about 30 hours ago and has already been hailed as a Web 2.0, beneficial and fun addition to the Yahoo Social Community. The Yahoo Answers service ties in a little bit of Google Answers, Yahoo Users, User Reviews, and Yahoo Local (up and coming) into one complete group informational source, with a little bit of social networking and blog feed ingredients thrown in.
Yahoo Answers is a Yahoo user community where one can ask questions and have them answered by other Yahoo members. Using Yahoo Answers, users can ask a question on any topic and real people will post an answer to that question. The service is a good fit for Yahoo, which prides itself on its registered member base and user generated content (like Yahoo User Reviews)..."
"Yahoo Answers was launched about 30 hours ago and has already been hailed as a Web 2.0, beneficial and fun addition to the Yahoo Social Community. The Yahoo Answers service ties in a little bit of Google Answers, Yahoo Users, User Reviews, and Yahoo Local (up and coming) into one complete group informational source, with a little bit of social networking and blog feed ingredients thrown in.
Yahoo Answers is a Yahoo user community where one can ask questions and have them answered by other Yahoo members. Using Yahoo Answers, users can ask a question on any topic and real people will post an answer to that question. The service is a good fit for Yahoo, which prides itself on its registered member base and user generated content (like Yahoo User Reviews)..."
Search Engine Journal - Vote : Search Engine Journal?s 2005 Search Blogs Awards:
"The Search Engine Journal?s 2005 Best of Search Blogs Awards nominations are in and its time to start voting (well, really rating) your favorite search engine blogs. Please review the following search blogs and rate them on a 1-10 basis, 10 being the best.
Some of these blogs you may read regularly, some you maybe have never heard of. If you are unfamiliar with some of the blogs, please visit them (we?ve listed all URL?s) and add their feeds to your reader if you like what you see.
Categories include Best SEO Blogs, Best Search Engine News Blogs, Best Blog Search Engine Blogs, and a couple of surprises which the search engine community should enjoy, including ?Which Search Employee?s Blog Most Likely to Flame You For Spamming??
Here are the nominated blogs.
Best Search Engine News Blogs:
Pandia (pandia.com)
MarketingPilgrim (marketingpilgrim.com)
SearchEngineBlog.com
Search Engine Lowdown (searchenginelowdown.com)
Search Views (searchviews.com)
John Battelle Search Blog (battellemedia.com)
Search Engine Watch Blog (blog.searchenginewatch.com)
Threadwatch (threadwatch.org)
Google Blogoscoped (blog.outer-court.com)
Search Engine Roundtable (seroundtable.com)
Research Buzz (researchbuzz.com)
Top Rank Blog (toprank.blogspot.com)..."
"The Search Engine Journal?s 2005 Best of Search Blogs Awards nominations are in and its time to start voting (well, really rating) your favorite search engine blogs. Please review the following search blogs and rate them on a 1-10 basis, 10 being the best.
Some of these blogs you may read regularly, some you maybe have never heard of. If you are unfamiliar with some of the blogs, please visit them (we?ve listed all URL?s) and add their feeds to your reader if you like what you see.
Categories include Best SEO Blogs, Best Search Engine News Blogs, Best Blog Search Engine Blogs, and a couple of surprises which the search engine community should enjoy, including ?Which Search Employee?s Blog Most Likely to Flame You For Spamming??
Here are the nominated blogs.
Best Search Engine News Blogs:
Pandia (pandia.com)
MarketingPilgrim (marketingpilgrim.com)
SearchEngineBlog.com
Search Engine Lowdown (searchenginelowdown.com)
Search Views (searchviews.com)
John Battelle Search Blog (battellemedia.com)
Search Engine Watch Blog (blog.searchenginewatch.com)
Threadwatch (threadwatch.org)
Google Blogoscoped (blog.outer-court.com)
Search Engine Roundtable (seroundtable.com)
Research Buzz (researchbuzz.com)
Top Rank Blog (toprank.blogspot.com)..."
Search Engine Journal » ZoomInfo Adds Business Relationships & Networking to People Search:
"The ZoomInfo people search engine now is exposing automatically built lists of colleagues and relationships in its summaries. According to their press release, the new ZoomInfo offering sounds like an interesting mix of a business person information search engine and LinkedIn: Enabling instant networking and discovery, the relationships that ZoomInfo has uncovered using artificial intelligence are published in search results along with photos and any personal information that individual users add to their summaries. Company summaries, formerly in limited beta release, now include financial information, key employees, competitor search and more.
Who you know, and who knows you, is a large measure of how you are valued today in business, said Jonathan Stern, founder and CEO of Zoom Information Inc. Discovering relationships on the Web and exposing them on ZoomInfo eliminates painful aspects of online social networking while elevating ZoomInfo summaries to an indispensable tool for everyone in business. ZoomInfo now provides more information about business people and companies, and allows searching in new ways, including:..."
Another interesting example of extraction on the Web
"The ZoomInfo people search engine now is exposing automatically built lists of colleagues and relationships in its summaries. According to their press release, the new ZoomInfo offering sounds like an interesting mix of a business person information search engine and LinkedIn: Enabling instant networking and discovery, the relationships that ZoomInfo has uncovered using artificial intelligence are published in search results along with photos and any personal information that individual users add to their summaries. Company summaries, formerly in limited beta release, now include financial information, key employees, competitor search and more.
Who you know, and who knows you, is a large measure of how you are valued today in business, said Jonathan Stern, founder and CEO of Zoom Information Inc. Discovering relationships on the Web and exposing them on ZoomInfo eliminates painful aspects of online social networking while elevating ZoomInfo summaries to an indispensable tool for everyone in business. ZoomInfo now provides more information about business people and companies, and allows searching in new ways, including:..."
Another interesting example of extraction on the Web
Search Engine Journal - MSN Spaces Now At 27 Million Blogs, 7.6 Active Bloggers:
"Microsoft?s blogging service has grown from an estimaited 18 million blogs in October to 27 million blogs and at least 7.6 million active bloggers, according to Dare Obasanjo from Microsoft in a post discussing server issues.
The service still remains in third position amongst blog providers, with Xanga and MySpace both believed to be hosting 40 million blogs each.
(note: calculations based on this line: ?I never expected [Spaces] that we?d grow to be three times as big [as Live Journal] and three times as active within a year.)"
"Microsoft?s blogging service has grown from an estimaited 18 million blogs in October to 27 million blogs and at least 7.6 million active bloggers, according to Dare Obasanjo from Microsoft in a post discussing server issues.
The service still remains in third position amongst blog providers, with Xanga and MySpace both believed to be hosting 40 million blogs each.
(note: calculations based on this line: ?I never expected [Spaces] that we?d grow to be three times as big [as Live Journal] and three times as active within a year.)"
Search Engine Journal - TrueLocal Making Its Local Search Move:
"TrueLocal is starting to make its move. After many months of ?beta'/under-the-radar status, the site is now getting attention and coverage. Today, Search Engine Watch has a nice write-up (plus one of mapping site Metrobot).
Recently, TrueLocal acquired the data services business of its parent, Geosign. The business licenses data to many of the large search players. Geosign remains the majority shareholder in TrueLocal and is remarkably successful, which gives TrueLocal the capacity to take the long view.
In addition, TrueLocal has launched an ad product called TrueTarget, which offers simplified bidding for SMEs and limits inventory to businesses with a physical presence. No 1-800-Flowers.com competing with local florists, for example.
TrueLocal President Jake Baillie has a long history in search/SEO and with Geosign?s backing has the luxury of being able to take a long-term, ?organic? approach to building consumer and SME awareness."
See the Geosign site for an interesting example of extraction on the Web
"TrueLocal is starting to make its move. After many months of ?beta'/under-the-radar status, the site is now getting attention and coverage. Today, Search Engine Watch has a nice write-up (plus one of mapping site Metrobot).
Recently, TrueLocal acquired the data services business of its parent, Geosign. The business licenses data to many of the large search players. Geosign remains the majority shareholder in TrueLocal and is remarkably successful, which gives TrueLocal the capacity to take the long view.
In addition, TrueLocal has launched an ad product called TrueTarget, which offers simplified bidding for SMEs and limits inventory to businesses with a physical presence. No 1-800-Flowers.com competing with local florists, for example.
TrueLocal President Jake Baillie has a long history in search/SEO and with Geosign?s backing has the luxury of being able to take a long-term, ?organic? approach to building consumer and SME awareness."
See the Geosign site for an interesting example of extraction on the Web
Search Engine Journal - MSN Search To Share Advertising Revenue With Users?:
"Bill Gates was speaking crazy talk last week during a trip to India when he eluded that MSN Search may be sharing advertising revenue with its users (isn?t that the iWon business plan?). According to the San Franscisco Examiner, Gates hinted that MSN Search may be looking to share the wealth with its users; ?When you use a search engine, if somebody is making lot of money from advertisers they ought to share it with you,?? Gates said during a business interview with Indian news channel NDTV Profit.
In a swipe at Google Inc. (GOOG), the world’s most-used Internet search engine, Gates said Microsoft’s search products may eventually give users software programs or even cash after they click on an advertisement.
Come to think of it, this revenue sharing crazy talk is not such a bad idea, however, I would not agree with sharing based upon clicks on search advertising. Doing so would lead to disgruntled advertisers and a new, higher plain of click fraud beyond the 3rd tier and bottom feeder search community and onto the web’s 3rd most popular search service. Instead, a points system based upon searches which lead to measureable actions on websites or percentages of product purchases gifted back to the consumer by MSN..."
"Bill Gates was speaking crazy talk last week during a trip to India when he eluded that MSN Search may be sharing advertising revenue with its users (isn?t that the iWon business plan?). According to the San Franscisco Examiner, Gates hinted that MSN Search may be looking to share the wealth with its users; ?When you use a search engine, if somebody is making lot of money from advertisers they ought to share it with you,?? Gates said during a business interview with Indian news channel NDTV Profit.
In a swipe at Google Inc. (GOOG), the world’s most-used Internet search engine, Gates said Microsoft’s search products may eventually give users software programs or even cash after they click on an advertisement.
Come to think of it, this revenue sharing crazy talk is not such a bad idea, however, I would not agree with sharing based upon clicks on search advertising. Doing so would lead to disgruntled advertisers and a new, higher plain of click fraud beyond the 3rd tier and bottom feeder search community and onto the web’s 3rd most popular search service. Instead, a points system based upon searches which lead to measureable actions on websites or percentages of product purchases gifted back to the consumer by MSN..."
Search Engine Journal - NY Times About to Relaunch About.com:
"Mickey Kahn at DMNews is reporting that the New York Times is about to relaunch About.com and pitch About.com to high profile national advertisers. The New York Times purchased About.com for $410 million nine months ago, and has since been working to reluanch the site and its 57,000 niche topics.
?We?re probably the biggest site that is least known in terms of what we can deliver to advertisers,? said Scott B. Meyer, president/CEO of New York-based About.com and a speaker at this week?s Search Engine Strategies show..."
"Mickey Kahn at DMNews is reporting that the New York Times is about to relaunch About.com and pitch About.com to high profile national advertisers. The New York Times purchased About.com for $410 million nine months ago, and has since been working to reluanch the site and its 57,000 niche topics.
?We?re probably the biggest site that is least known in terms of what we can deliver to advertisers,? said Scott B. Meyer, president/CEO of New York-based About.com and a speaker at this week?s Search Engine Strategies show..."
Search Engine Journal - NY Times About to Relaunch About.com:
"Mickey Kahn at DMNews is reporting that the New York Times is about to relaunch About.com and pitch About.com to high profile national advertisers. The New York Times purchased About.com for $410 million nine months ago, and has since been working to reluanch the site and its 57,000 niche topics.
?We?re probably the biggest site that is least known in terms of what we can deliver to advertisers,? said Scott B. Meyer, president/CEO of New York-based About.com and a speaker at this week?s Search Engine Strategies show.
An excerpt from the DMNews story, Times About Ready to Relaunch About.com Brand
What makes About.com especially different, now as well as before and under previous owner Primedia, is its personal attention to information. The company?s content is produced by 500 guides ? experts who run vertical sites within About.com for a CPM fee based on the page-view traffic they attract. Of course, these independent contractors follow church/state separation guidelines monitored by About.com.
?Their job is to create a 360-degree view of whatever subject they?re covering,? Meyer said.
This depth of original content attracted the Times to acquire About.com. Another reason was revenue diversification. Almost half of About.com?s revenue comes from Google?s contextual search AdSense program. By contrast, the Times? online revenue is generated mainly from display ads and classifieds in addition to its own AdSense partnership with Google.
?We?re one of Google?s largest AdSense partners,? Westlake said. ?[The Times?] cost-per-click revenue is very small, and for us it?s half the business.?
About.com has another charm. Its guides are experts at search engine optimization. The content they generate is found on engines, which means search referral traffic is huge. While a typical news site gets 40 percent to 60 percent of its traffic on its home page, About.com receives 80 percent of its traffic through search engines, Meyer said. Less than 5 percent comes through About.com?s home page. "
"Mickey Kahn at DMNews is reporting that the New York Times is about to relaunch About.com and pitch About.com to high profile national advertisers. The New York Times purchased About.com for $410 million nine months ago, and has since been working to reluanch the site and its 57,000 niche topics.
?We?re probably the biggest site that is least known in terms of what we can deliver to advertisers,? said Scott B. Meyer, president/CEO of New York-based About.com and a speaker at this week?s Search Engine Strategies show.
An excerpt from the DMNews story, Times About Ready to Relaunch About.com Brand
What makes About.com especially different, now as well as before and under previous owner Primedia, is its personal attention to information. The company?s content is produced by 500 guides ? experts who run vertical sites within About.com for a CPM fee based on the page-view traffic they attract. Of course, these independent contractors follow church/state separation guidelines monitored by About.com.
?Their job is to create a 360-degree view of whatever subject they?re covering,? Meyer said.
This depth of original content attracted the Times to acquire About.com. Another reason was revenue diversification. Almost half of About.com?s revenue comes from Google?s contextual search AdSense program. By contrast, the Times? online revenue is generated mainly from display ads and classifieds in addition to its own AdSense partnership with Google.
?We?re one of Google?s largest AdSense partners,? Westlake said. ?[The Times?] cost-per-click revenue is very small, and for us it?s half the business.?
About.com has another charm. Its guides are experts at search engine optimization. The content they generate is found on engines, which means search referral traffic is huge. While a typical news site gets 40 percent to 60 percent of its traffic on its home page, About.com receives 80 percent of its traffic through search engines, Meyer said. Less than 5 percent comes through About.com?s home page. "
Search Engine Journal - Answers.com Acquires Brainboost AI ?Answer Extraction? Search Engine Technology:
"Answers Corporation, creators of the Answers.com have acquired Brainboost Technology, LLC for $4 million in cash and 439,000 shares of restricted stock, including certain price protection rights. Answers.com plans to integrate the Brainboost answer extraction engine - artificial intelligence technology enabling natural language search - into its own product line. Mr. Assaf Rozenblatt, developer of the Brainboost proprietary technology, has joined the Answers.com team as Director of Natural Language Research..."
"Answers Corporation, creators of the Answers.com have acquired Brainboost Technology, LLC for $4 million in cash and 439,000 shares of restricted stock, including certain price protection rights. Answers.com plans to integrate the Brainboost answer extraction engine - artificial intelligence technology enabling natural language search - into its own product line. Mr. Assaf Rozenblatt, developer of the Brainboost proprietary technology, has joined the Answers.com team as Director of Natural Language Research..."
Search Engine Journal - More Google Calendar Rumors:
"...http://calendar.google.com/mapfiles/home.html is currently adding new fuel to the rumor fire that Google will be launching its calendaring, scheduling, and project management service, Google Calendar, some time very soon. Additionally, the Google Maps file URL brings some excitement to the launch, as we?ll more than likely see a maps or directions tie in to the calendar...."
"...http://calendar.google.com/mapfiles/home.html is currently adding new fuel to the rumor fire that Google will be launching its calendaring, scheduling, and project management service, Google Calendar, some time very soon. Additionally, the Google Maps file URL brings some excitement to the launch, as we?ll more than likely see a maps or directions tie in to the calendar...."
Search Engine Journal - Local News Sites and Search Threaten Newspapers:
"MediaPost (reg req?d) writes about a new Borrell report about the potential rise of ?independent local sites? as another threat to the newspaper industry (just add them to the list, right?). Well yes and no..."
"MediaPost (reg req?d) writes about a new Borrell report about the potential rise of ?independent local sites? as another threat to the newspaper industry (just add them to the list, right?). Well yes and no..."
John Battelle's Searchblog: Another Update: Yahoo Acquires Del.icio.us:
"Mike has the scoop. Here's Joshua's take.
Congrats to Fred and to Joshua. Here's Yahoo's post on it.
Update: Sources peg the acquisition price at around $30-35 million....similar to the size of the Flickr deal. If this is the case, it's pretty rich. I don't recall the size of del.icio.us's user base, but I doubt it's 250,000, which was the reported user base of flickr when it was acquired. If it *is* that size, then wow, it's grown much faster than I realized!
Second Update: OK, now I have *more* sources that say yes, the deal is similar to Flickr, but *that* deal was not really at 30-35 million, it was more like $17-19 million.
And - this is simply amazing to me - del.icio.us has 300,000 users. Holy sh*t."
"Mike has the scoop. Here's Joshua's take.
Congrats to Fred and to Joshua. Here's Yahoo's post on it.
Update: Sources peg the acquisition price at around $30-35 million....similar to the size of the Flickr deal. If this is the case, it's pretty rich. I don't recall the size of del.icio.us's user base, but I doubt it's 250,000, which was the reported user base of flickr when it was acquired. If it *is* that size, then wow, it's grown much faster than I realized!
Second Update: OK, now I have *more* sources that say yes, the deal is similar to Flickr, but *that* deal was not really at 30-35 million, it was more like $17-19 million.
And - this is simply amazing to me - del.icio.us has 300,000 users. Holy sh*t."
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
USATODAY.com - Group: Online content cannot remain free:
"By Helena Spongenberg, Associated Press
BRUSSELS - European publishers warned Tuesday that they cannot keep allowing Internet search engines such as Google to make money from their content.
'The new models of Google and others reverse the traditional permission-based copyright model of content trading that we have built up over the years,' said Francisco Pinto Balsemao, the head of the European Publishers Council, in prepared remarks for a speech at a Brussels conference.
His stance backs French news agency AFP, which is suing Google for pulling together photos and story excerpts from thousands of news websites.
'It is fascinating to see how these companies 'help themselves' to copyright-protected material, build up their own business models around what they have collected, and parasitically, earn advertising revenue off the back of other people's content,' he said.
'This is unlikely to be sustainable for publishers in the longer term.'
The news section of Google's website doesn't display ads. But the Mountain View, Calif.-based company depends on visitors clicking on ads in other parts of its website to generate a substantial portion of its revenue, which totaled $4.2 billion through the first nine months of this year.
Responding to Balsemao's remarks, Google spokesman Steve Langdon said: 'Search engines do not reproduce content. They help users find content by pointing to where it exists on the Web.' Google removes websites from its news index if a publisher doesn't want the content listed, Langdon said..."
"By Helena Spongenberg, Associated Press
BRUSSELS - European publishers warned Tuesday that they cannot keep allowing Internet search engines such as Google to make money from their content.
'The new models of Google and others reverse the traditional permission-based copyright model of content trading that we have built up over the years,' said Francisco Pinto Balsemao, the head of the European Publishers Council, in prepared remarks for a speech at a Brussels conference.
His stance backs French news agency AFP, which is suing Google for pulling together photos and story excerpts from thousands of news websites.
'It is fascinating to see how these companies 'help themselves' to copyright-protected material, build up their own business models around what they have collected, and parasitically, earn advertising revenue off the back of other people's content,' he said.
'This is unlikely to be sustainable for publishers in the longer term.'
The news section of Google's website doesn't display ads. But the Mountain View, Calif.-based company depends on visitors clicking on ads in other parts of its website to generate a substantial portion of its revenue, which totaled $4.2 billion through the first nine months of this year.
Responding to Balsemao's remarks, Google spokesman Steve Langdon said: 'Search engines do not reproduce content. They help users find content by pointing to where it exists on the Web.' Google removes websites from its news index if a publisher doesn't want the content listed, Langdon said..."
Friday, December 02, 2005
TechCrunch - Comparing Jookster to Wink:
"Jookster?s search engine launched yesterday. Like Wink, Jookster is aiming to provide more relevant search results by putting user-generated bookmarked links above normal results.
Unlike Wink, which allows users to add significant metadata to bookmarked pages (tags and reviews), Jookster determines relevance of bookmarked queries solely based on a keyword analysis of content on the bookmarked page.
Any web page may be bookmarked, or ?Jooked? by users. No additional metadata is requested at the time of bookmarking. These results are shows above normal search results on Jooked.
A key part of the service is associating with friends. When you perform a search, you have the option of determining who?s bookmarks are also included - just you, friends of friends, one more level out, etc.
The Jookster idea is great, but the lack of metadata associated with the bookmarks (particularly tags) means it will not return results nearly as relevant as Wink results. I also question whether users will have any real incentive to give up browser real estate to yet another bookmarklet, and bookmark pages.
John Cook also writes about Jookster today."
"Jookster?s search engine launched yesterday. Like Wink, Jookster is aiming to provide more relevant search results by putting user-generated bookmarked links above normal results.
Unlike Wink, which allows users to add significant metadata to bookmarked pages (tags and reviews), Jookster determines relevance of bookmarked queries solely based on a keyword analysis of content on the bookmarked page.
Any web page may be bookmarked, or ?Jooked? by users. No additional metadata is requested at the time of bookmarking. These results are shows above normal search results on Jooked.
A key part of the service is associating with friends. When you perform a search, you have the option of determining who?s bookmarks are also included - just you, friends of friends, one more level out, etc.
The Jookster idea is great, but the lack of metadata associated with the bookmarks (particularly tags) means it will not return results nearly as relevant as Wink results. I also question whether users will have any real incentive to give up browser real estate to yet another bookmarklet, and bookmark pages.
John Cook also writes about Jookster today."
Beta Overload:
"December 02, 2005 - Rob Hof
I love new Web services as much as the next guy, but doesn't it seem like all these alpha and beta sites have gotten a little out of hand? I've read dozens of stories and reviews (and blog posts) about Yahoo's new mail service despite the fact that most of the millions of Yahoo subscribers can't get it--me (sniff) included. Time magazine just ran a review of the Riya photo recognition service even though only about 1,000 chosen testers can try it because it's 'so alpha it hurts.' Mike Arrington seems to have made a career out of introducing new Web services just-outta-alpha, with names that are increasingly baroque. (Not that I mind--keep it coming, Mike!) But for the companies putting out all this stuff, I'm wondering if a little less coyness and a little more coding in the garage before the wraps come off would serve them and their eventual users better in the long run."
"December 02, 2005 - Rob Hof
I love new Web services as much as the next guy, but doesn't it seem like all these alpha and beta sites have gotten a little out of hand? I've read dozens of stories and reviews (and blog posts) about Yahoo's new mail service despite the fact that most of the millions of Yahoo subscribers can't get it--me (sniff) included. Time magazine just ran a review of the Riya photo recognition service even though only about 1,000 chosen testers can try it because it's 'so alpha it hurts.' Mike Arrington seems to have made a career out of introducing new Web services just-outta-alpha, with names that are increasingly baroque. (Not that I mind--keep it coming, Mike!) But for the companies putting out all this stuff, I'm wondering if a little less coyness and a little more coding in the garage before the wraps come off would serve them and their eventual users better in the long run."
Chitika publishers see drastically reduced earnings in audited reports - JenSense.com:
"When publishers first joined Chitika's eMiniMalls and saw the fact that Chitika would be auditing revenue, many publishers were not alarmed. AdSense has this as well, and I only know of a handful of publishers who have ever had their monthly income audited, and they were mainly for obvious click attacks. So I saw no reason to worry over audited income, and if I expected to see audited income, I would expect a drop in the 2% or maybe as high as 5% range..."
"When publishers first joined Chitika's eMiniMalls and saw the fact that Chitika would be auditing revenue, many publishers were not alarmed. AdSense has this as well, and I only know of a handful of publishers who have ever had their monthly income audited, and they were mainly for obvious click attacks. So I saw no reason to worry over audited income, and if I expected to see audited income, I would expect a drop in the 2% or maybe as high as 5% range..."
John Battelle's Searchblog: What Being an Entrepreneur Is About:
"This is an interesting and unusual meditation, a slice of Valley life. I'm rather surprised it made it to the light of day.
It's about the author's (John Flowers) attempts to negotiate a sale of his answer/search company, Kozoru. From a portion of it:
Still, there's something about people laying around on beanbag chairs and staring at huge, well-projected screens and talking with one another over Naked juice and Odwalla that one finds a little unsettling. Google is also nestled snugly into the old Silicon Graphics campus, which - if you've ever been there - adds to the otherworldly vibe one gets while tromping between buildings, through open-sand volleyball courts and around the ten-kinds-of-free-meal cafeteria they've created.
Everything we saw and heard and felt seemed like we were getting along great with everyone there. Everything, that is, until three weeks ago when - without warning - they stopped responding to e-mails or returning phone calls. They did, however, take the opportunity to log into our private interface and see what we were doing (after we shared it with them), even after the calls stopped and the radio silence continued.
I'd remove their access, but I like Megan and company and assume... some day... they might actually call back saying something like, "This is really cool."
..
I'm wondering if this kind of behavior (the not calling back part of it) is standard operating procedure for the Gubble, as I've heard more than one person say, "They threw out a tentative offer, about $1MM per engineer, and we didn't fall to their feet and we never heard back from them."....
...Until then, I'd appreciate at least a courtesy call, folks. I mean, seriously. "
"This is an interesting and unusual meditation, a slice of Valley life. I'm rather surprised it made it to the light of day.
It's about the author's (John Flowers) attempts to negotiate a sale of his answer/search company, Kozoru. From a portion of it:
Still, there's something about people laying around on beanbag chairs and staring at huge, well-projected screens and talking with one another over Naked juice and Odwalla that one finds a little unsettling. Google is also nestled snugly into the old Silicon Graphics campus, which - if you've ever been there - adds to the otherworldly vibe one gets while tromping between buildings, through open-sand volleyball courts and around the ten-kinds-of-free-meal cafeteria they've created.
Everything we saw and heard and felt seemed like we were getting along great with everyone there. Everything, that is, until three weeks ago when - without warning - they stopped responding to e-mails or returning phone calls. They did, however, take the opportunity to log into our private interface and see what we were doing (after we shared it with them), even after the calls stopped and the radio silence continued.
I'd remove their access, but I like Megan and company and assume... some day... they might actually call back saying something like, "This is really cool."
..
I'm wondering if this kind of behavior (the not calling back part of it) is standard operating procedure for the Gubble, as I've heard more than one person say, "They threw out a tentative offer, about $1MM per engineer, and we didn't fall to their feet and we never heard back from them."....
...Until then, I'd appreciate at least a courtesy call, folks. I mean, seriously. "
Answers.com Now Embedded into Firefox 1.5 Search Toolbar:
"A quick note from Answers.com that a link to this ready-reference database is now embedded directly and automatically into the new Firefox 1.5 search toolbar. Additionally, Firefox 1.5 users can download a plug-in and have an option to search highlighted text with Answers.com via a right-click. The agreement calls for an ad-revenue split between Answers and Mozilla on Answers traffic originating from the Firefox search toolbar..."
"A quick note from Answers.com that a link to this ready-reference database is now embedded directly and automatically into the new Firefox 1.5 search toolbar. Additionally, Firefox 1.5 users can download a plug-in and have an option to search highlighted text with Answers.com via a right-click. The agreement calls for an ad-revenue split between Answers and Mozilla on Answers traffic originating from the Firefox search toolbar..."
Locally Targeted Ads, Links, and Offers Coming to CBS Station Sites:
"DMNews reports in the article: Viacom Eyes Local Sponsored Links for CBS Station Sites, will soon launch locally targeted ads on CBS sites powered by Kanoodle.
Visitors will see on content pages and search results pages customized links and targeted advertiser offers.
It's at the intersection of local sponsored links as well as the explosion of locally targeted content,' said Mark Josephson, chief marketing officer at Kanoodle, New York. 'It's fast becoming a de facto component of all content on the Web.' The CBS sites will use Kanoodle's LocalTarget product, applying a topic-matching approach to listings on city-specific Web pages.
More in this news release from Kanoodle."
"DMNews reports in the article: Viacom Eyes Local Sponsored Links for CBS Station Sites, will soon launch locally targeted ads on CBS sites powered by Kanoodle.
Visitors will see on content pages and search results pages customized links and targeted advertiser offers.
It's at the intersection of local sponsored links as well as the explosion of locally targeted content,' said Mark Josephson, chief marketing officer at Kanoodle, New York. 'It's fast becoming a de facto component of all content on the Web.' The CBS sites will use Kanoodle's LocalTarget product, applying a topic-matching approach to listings on city-specific Web pages.
More in this news release from Kanoodle."
World Digital Library Project Announced, Backed By Library Of Congress & Google: "By Danny Sullivan, Editor & Gary Price, News Editor
November 22, 2005
The United States Library of Congress has announced the creation of the World Digital Library today, a project that's also just received its first $3 million in funding from Google.
The concept behind the WDL is to use public and private money to create a virtual library giving anyone access to the world's 'rare and unique cultural materials,' according to a joint press release about the project from the Library of Congress and Google. Google is only the first of what's hoped will be many donors...
...Over the past year, Google has digitized about 5,000 public domain books from the Library of Congress, material that may ultimately end up in Google Book Search, though it's not currently listed there yet. Google will continue scanning public domain books from the Library of Congress Law Library. Google said it's too early to tell if any of the scanning work it has already done will end up in the WDL..."
November 22, 2005
The United States Library of Congress has announced the creation of the World Digital Library today, a project that's also just received its first $3 million in funding from Google.
The concept behind the WDL is to use public and private money to create a virtual library giving anyone access to the world's 'rare and unique cultural materials,' according to a joint press release about the project from the Library of Congress and Google. Google is only the first of what's hoped will be many donors...
...Over the past year, Google has digitized about 5,000 public domain books from the Library of Congress, material that may ultimately end up in Google Book Search, though it's not currently listed there yet. Google will continue scanning public domain books from the Library of Congress Law Library. Google said it's too early to tell if any of the scanning work it has already done will end up in the WDL..."
Shopping Search Week 2005:
"By Chris Sherman, Associate Editor
November 29, 2005
By Chris Sherman, Associate Editor
November 29, 2005
This week, SearchDay features our annual roundup of new developments in the shopping and comparison search arena.
Although shopping and comparison search hasn't received quite the attention or press that other specialty search areas such as local search and mapping have seen, it's been a busy year in the space. We've seen mergers and acquisitions among the major players, and promising newcomers get into the game.
And with all of the attention focused on the resurgence of vertical and specialized search sites this year, it appears that shopping and comparison search is on track for an even more positive change going forward. To see just how much has changed, take a look at Shopping Search Week 2004 and Shopping Search Week 2003. Search Engine Watch members also have access to a categorized list of all of our blog posts on shopping and comparison search services.
A Year of Consolidation
The two largest players in the shopping and product comparison space were acquired this year. In June, eBay acquired Shopping.com for about $620 million in cash or $21 per share for all of Shopping.com's outstanding shares.
Shopping.com is somewhat unique in the space, being one of the few companies to successfully float an initial public offering of shares in October 2004. The company had originally filed to go public in 2000, but pulled the offering in the aftermath of the dotbomb crash of that year.
Just days after the eBay/Shopping.com announcement, Shopzilla agreed to be acquired by media company E.W. Scripps for $525 million in cash..."
"By Chris Sherman, Associate Editor
November 29, 2005
By Chris Sherman, Associate Editor
November 29, 2005
This week, SearchDay features our annual roundup of new developments in the shopping and comparison search arena.
Although shopping and comparison search hasn't received quite the attention or press that other specialty search areas such as local search and mapping have seen, it's been a busy year in the space. We've seen mergers and acquisitions among the major players, and promising newcomers get into the game.
And with all of the attention focused on the resurgence of vertical and specialized search sites this year, it appears that shopping and comparison search is on track for an even more positive change going forward. To see just how much has changed, take a look at Shopping Search Week 2004 and Shopping Search Week 2003. Search Engine Watch members also have access to a categorized list of all of our blog posts on shopping and comparison search services.
A Year of Consolidation
The two largest players in the shopping and product comparison space were acquired this year. In June, eBay acquired Shopping.com for about $620 million in cash or $21 per share for all of Shopping.com's outstanding shares.
Shopping.com is somewhat unique in the space, being one of the few companies to successfully float an initial public offering of shares in October 2004. The company had originally filed to go public in 2000, but pulled the offering in the aftermath of the dotbomb crash of that year.
Just days after the eBay/Shopping.com announcement, Shopzilla agreed to be acquired by media company E.W. Scripps for $525 million in cash..."
What's New in Shopping Search 2005:
"By Chris Sherman, Associate Editor
November 30, 2005
The second installment of Shopping Search Week 2005 features a rundown of key changes and new services offered by the major players in the comparison and shopping search arenas. Part one of the series is Shopping Search Week 2005..."
"By Chris Sherman, Associate Editor
November 30, 2005
The second installment of Shopping Search Week 2005 features a rundown of key changes and new services offered by the major players in the comparison and shopping search arenas. Part one of the series is Shopping Search Week 2005..."
New Players in Shopping and Comparison Search:
"By Chris Sherman, Associate Editor
December 1, 2005
Although established players continue to dominate the shopping and comparison search space, a number of new companies have launched promising alternatives that offer even more features for searchers and merchants. Part one of the series is Shopping Search Week 2005, and part two is What's New in Shopping Search 2005..."
"By Chris Sherman, Associate Editor
December 1, 2005
Although established players continue to dominate the shopping and comparison search space, a number of new companies have launched promising alternatives that offer even more features for searchers and merchants. Part one of the series is Shopping Search Week 2005, and part two is What's New in Shopping Search 2005..."
Humans Still Part Of Google Ad Review Process:
"Yesterday I posted about concerns over the relevancy of ads at Google and the question of whether human review was still being done. Yes, humans are still involved as part of the overall process, though it doesn't seem as if they review each and every ad. I plan to follow up more on this in the near future, but here's what Google sent over on the situation:..."
"Yesterday I posted about concerns over the relevancy of ads at Google and the question of whether human review was still being done. Yes, humans are still involved as part of the overall process, though it doesn't seem as if they review each and every ad. I plan to follow up more on this in the near future, but here's what Google sent over on the situation:..."
Complaints Over Wikipedia Accountability With Bios:
"Daniel Brandt's been upset over the accuracy and presence of a page about him at Wikipedia, and now John Seigenthaler, the former assistant to US Attorney General Robert Kennedy, is upset as well over his Wikipedia biography, venting his frustration in a USA Today article.
A false Wikipedia 'biography' has Seigenthaler sounding out his complaint, the 78 year old declaring that only one sentence in his bio was true. He managed to get Wikipedia to remove the material he objected to removed, though with Wikipedia's community editing system, I don't see anything that prevents that from coming back..."
"Daniel Brandt's been upset over the accuracy and presence of a page about him at Wikipedia, and now John Seigenthaler, the former assistant to US Attorney General Robert Kennedy, is upset as well over his Wikipedia biography, venting his frustration in a USA Today article.
A false Wikipedia 'biography' has Seigenthaler sounding out his complaint, the 78 year old declaring that only one sentence in his bio was true. He managed to get Wikipedia to remove the material he objected to removed, though with Wikipedia's community editing system, I don't see anything that prevents that from coming back..."
More On Microsoft Classifieds Service -- And Why Comparing To Google Base Doesn't Make Sense:
"More on the forthcoming Microsoft classified ads service is coming out, with some good remarks on why Microsoft's service may be more suited to classified searching than Google Base -- though as I'll explain, Google Base isn't what people should be using to measure Google's entry into the classified listings space..."
"More on the forthcoming Microsoft classified ads service is coming out, with some good remarks on why Microsoft's service may be more suited to classified searching than Google Base -- though as I'll explain, Google Base isn't what people should be using to measure Google's entry into the classified listings space..."
Vivisimo CEO Doubts On Personal Search:
"Searchblog has some comments including a link to a new paper by Raul Valdes-Perez, CEO of Vivisimo, titled, Why Search Personalization is a Dead End (PDF).
Valdes-Peres concludes (and points I tend to agree with):
If not search personalization, then what? Many companies, including my own, are placing bets on a display of search results that goes beyond simple ranked lists. The idea is to analyze the search results, show users the variety of themes therein, and let them explore their interests at that moment, which only they know. The best personalization is done by persons themselves.
In other words, let the content on each open-web page speak for itself. I'm still not sur that the masses will begin tagging all of their web page content.
Of course, in the specialty database arena, dynamic clustering can be enhanced with the metadata (aka cataloging info) associated with each record often applied from controlled vocabularies and professional catalogers. Vivisimo's ClusterMed shows this in action with the ability to cluster records in different ways based ot the metadata associated with each PubMed record
John's Searchblog post includes several comments agreeing with Raul's ideas ((to my somewhat surprise). One of those comments includes a link (from me) to another excellent and brief paper by Vivisimo titled, "Needed: A More Selective Ignorance (PDF)."
Finally, one of Vivisimo/Clusty's biggest challenges is what's known a s the dreaded learning curve. Their software can be powerful and useful but to some degree (not much) you have train people how to take full advantage of what's available. In an age where it's "type two words and that's your answer", Vivisimo's challenges are as much about developing great technology as they are about training. I can speak from experience that once people learn and understand Clusty, they love it. Another challenge? What happens if/when other companies debut clustering techonology. Sure, it's possible that Clusty might be the best in class but trying to keep-up with the pr juggernauts that others possess will also be a challenge Clusty must face..."
"Searchblog has some comments including a link to a new paper by Raul Valdes-Perez, CEO of Vivisimo, titled, Why Search Personalization is a Dead End (PDF).
Valdes-Peres concludes (and points I tend to agree with):
If not search personalization, then what? Many companies, including my own, are placing bets on a display of search results that goes beyond simple ranked lists. The idea is to analyze the search results, show users the variety of themes therein, and let them explore their interests at that moment, which only they know. The best personalization is done by persons themselves.
In other words, let the content on each open-web page speak for itself. I'm still not sur that the masses will begin tagging all of their web page content.
Of course, in the specialty database arena, dynamic clustering can be enhanced with the metadata (aka cataloging info) associated with each record often applied from controlled vocabularies and professional catalogers. Vivisimo's ClusterMed shows this in action with the ability to cluster records in different ways based ot the metadata associated with each PubMed record
John's Searchblog post includes several comments agreeing with Raul's ideas ((to my somewhat surprise). One of those comments includes a link (from me) to another excellent and brief paper by Vivisimo titled, "Needed: A More Selective Ignorance (PDF)."
Finally, one of Vivisimo/Clusty's biggest challenges is what's known a s the dreaded learning curve. Their software can be powerful and useful but to some degree (not much) you have train people how to take full advantage of what's available. In an age where it's "type two words and that's your answer", Vivisimo's challenges are as much about developing great technology as they are about training. I can speak from experience that once people learn and understand Clusty, they love it. Another challenge? What happens if/when other companies debut clustering techonology. Sure, it's possible that Clusty might be the best in class but trying to keep-up with the pr juggernauts that others possess will also be a challenge Clusty must face..."
Yahoo Impulse & Search Behavioral Ads:
"Yahoo using online behavior to target ads from Reuters covers briefly the 'new, new thing' according to Yahoo executive vice president Greg Coleman where Yahoo banner ads are targeted based on search behavior and other activities.
I guess it depends on how you define new. As even Coleman says, Yahoo's had variations on this for some time, literally years. But the latest rev of Yahoo Impulse that he's talking about has been running since at least June of this year..."
"Yahoo using online behavior to target ads from Reuters covers briefly the 'new, new thing' according to Yahoo executive vice president Greg Coleman where Yahoo banner ads are targeted based on search behavior and other activities.
I guess it depends on how you define new. As even Coleman says, Yahoo's had variations on this for some time, literally years. But the latest rev of Yahoo Impulse that he's talking about has been running since at least June of this year..."
Charlene Li's Blog: Why Microsoft's classifieds service will be better than Google Base:
"I spent some time a week ago with Microsoft discussing their new online classifieds service, code named ?Fremont?, which is in internal testing now. While the news is out there, I thought I?d provide my take on how this differs from ? and in my opinion, is better than -- Google Base. I do this with one HUGE caveat ? both of these services are brand new and beta, with Fremont not even available yet..."
"I spent some time a week ago with Microsoft discussing their new online classifieds service, code named ?Fremont?, which is in internal testing now. While the news is out there, I thought I?d provide my take on how this differs from ? and in my opinion, is better than -- Google Base. I do this with one HUGE caveat ? both of these services are brand new and beta, with Fremont not even available yet..."
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Google exec: 2005 the turning point for online ads | Tech News on ZDNet:
"Corporate marketers have made online advertising a standard part of media budgets as online spending looks set to accelerate further in 2006, Google's North American sales chief said late Tuesday.
Tim Armstrong, Google's advertising sales vice president, said in an interview before the Reuters Media and Advertising Summit that 2005 marked the turning point when advertisers switched from testing to investing in the decade-old medium.
"There is robust interest in online advertising and that interest is now turning into real dollars," Armstrong said, noting that market analysts are predicting a banner 2005 year with forecasts ranging from $10 billion to $15 billion.
"The experimenting and testing phase begun in the 1990s has ended. Corporate ad buyers are investing now," he said.
Jupiter Research estimates the U.S. online advertising market will grow 28 percent over last year, to $11.9 billion in 2005, moving to $13.6 billion in 2006 and $15.1 billion in 2007..."
"Corporate marketers have made online advertising a standard part of media budgets as online spending looks set to accelerate further in 2006, Google's North American sales chief said late Tuesday.
Tim Armstrong, Google's advertising sales vice president, said in an interview before the Reuters Media and Advertising Summit that 2005 marked the turning point when advertisers switched from testing to investing in the decade-old medium.
"There is robust interest in online advertising and that interest is now turning into real dollars," Armstrong said, noting that market analysts are predicting a banner 2005 year with forecasts ranging from $10 billion to $15 billion.
"The experimenting and testing phase begun in the 1990s has ended. Corporate ad buyers are investing now," he said.
Jupiter Research estimates the U.S. online advertising market will grow 28 percent over last year, to $11.9 billion in 2005, moving to $13.6 billion in 2006 and $15.1 billion in 2007..."
