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SearchReturn Discussion List
"Understanding Internet Search Technology"
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Moderator: Published by:
Disa Johnson SearchReturn
http://www.searchreturn.com
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May 02, 2006 SearchReturn Issue #059
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.....IN THIS DIGEST.....
// -- FEATURED POST -- //
"Middle East SEO"
~ Adam Sherk
// -- CONTINUING DISCUSSION -- //
"Overly Broad Use Of The Term Spam"
~ Jennifer Laycock
// -- ESSENTIAL NEWS -- //
"Amazon Switches to Microsoft"
"Microsoft IE Team Answer Google"
"Yahoo! Tech"
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// -- FEATURED POST -- //
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==> TOPIC: Middle East SEO
From: Adam Sherk
Can anyone recommend some good sources on information on Middle
East/Arab world search engine usage, regional searcher behavior,
searching in Arabic, etc?
Thanks,
Adam Sherk
Global Strategies
www.globalstrategies.com
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// -- CONTINUING DISCUSSION -- //
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==> TOPIC: Overly Broad Use Of The Term Spam
"Should we be taking steps in our professional organizations to
protect the reputations of ethical search marketers?"
From: Jennifer Laycock
Quite honestly, I think his example is an isolated incident. I'm
really seeing a trend away from this sort of thinking rather than
towards this line of thinking.
I think the bigger danger that our industry is facing is the wall
that we're going to hit in another few years in terms of rankings
as the valuation of a successful campaign. People are starting to
understand search marketing, but they're a few years behind the
industry. Thus, I'm still seeing so much focus on rankings and so
little focus on results, that I worry sometimes about where we're
heading.
We've got a lot of work ahead of us as far as educating people
about things like the long tail and of valuing campaigns based on
positive ROI rather than top rankings. There are a zillion
keywords out there. Ranking in the top three for a particular one
or two phrases is easy to obsess about, but it's far from the
sign of a "great" SEM campaign.
-Jennifer Laycock
Editor, Search Engine Guide
http://www.searchengineguide.com
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// -- ESSENTIAL NEWS -- //
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==> Amazon Switches to Microsoft
http://battellemedia.com/archives/002525.php
Essentials: Amazon's Alexa and A9 search has been traditionally
powered by Google. Now that Windows Live has replaced Google over
the weekend, Microsoft continues to build on its search traffic.
The general consensus is that their search technology is poor by
comparison, and this gives them the opportunity to learn to
perform better.
With the changeover to Microsoft, one can once again sense the
tremendous power at Microsoft's disposal. Their laser focus on
Google helped usher in the most visible part of this new era for
search that was started when Yahoo! purchased Inktomi and
Overture (Altavista and FAST).
Amazon represented a very small portion of Google search. Still,
the incident with the world's most powerful software company
rings loud and clear as the warning bell that it is. Google has a
respectable war chest of its own to compete with. However, they
face the mighty Redmond company which destroyed so many
innovative rivals, (including Netscape in just a matter of a few
short years).
Yet Google can survive (or even thrive) under the pressure. For
this to be the case, they must earn revenue outside monetizing
their own Internet traffic. Ninety percent of their revenue is
collected from search at Google. To defend search at Google, the
once minimalist search engine, has turned itself into a veritable
portal. A loss in net neutrality and the release of Vista can
spell doom for the search leader. This is why forays into open
wireless access, mobile and local ad serving make sense as a
defense against increased competition in the search space.
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==> Microsoft IE Team Answer Google
http://www.searchreturn.com/digest/refs059.shtml
Essentials: As the release of Vista draws nearer, Google lodged
concerns about Internet Explorer 7 and its potential windfall in
search for Microsoft. The software giant stands to take away more
search market share from Google by bundling search similarly to
the way it bundled IE with Windows, (effectively extinguishing
Netscape). Robert Scoble has a collection of comments from the IE
team in response to Google.
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==> Yahoo! Tech
http://www.ysearchblog.com/archives/000298.html
Essentials: Yahoo! continues to advance the state of its
offerings by satisfying a demand for information on technology
products for consumers. Yahoo! Tech is a dedicated site
addressing that need. Along with the announcement, Yahoo!
declares that its shopping engine powers search behind the new
site. Getting products listed is thereby achieved through the
Shopping Web Services developer API.
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