| The Axandra newsletter archive - 11 May 2004 |
| Welcome to the latest issue of the Search Engine Facts newsletter.
This week, we're trying to find out how search engines see your web site. In the news: Google prepares a new tool for large advertisers and updates its Blogger service, Verizon launches a self-service tool, AskJeeves now indexes PDF files and more. Table of contents:
We hope that you enjoy this newsletter and that it helps you to get more out of your web site. Please pass this newsletter on to your friends. Best regards, |
| 1. Facts of the week: How do search engines see your web site? |
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Are you sure that search engines understand your web site? Search engines see your web pages with different eyes than web surfers.
A web page that looks great to the human eye can be totally meaningless to search engines. For example, search engines cannot read the text on the images of your web site, and many don't understand web languages such as JavaScript or CSS. If you have a great looking web site that is meaningless to search engines, you won't be able to achieve high search engine rankings with that web site - no matter how good and interesting your web site content is. In general, search engines cannot see content that is presented in the following file formats:
Some search engines can index some of these file formats but in general, it's very difficult to obtain high search engine rankings if your main web site content is presented only in these formats. Search engines need text to index your web site. They cannot know what's written on your GIF or JPEG images or in your Flash movies. If you use a lot of images on your web site, you should also create some web pages that contain a lot of text. If you want to find out how search engines see your web site, you have to use a search engine spider simulator tool. A search engine spider simulator tool emulates the software programs search engines use to index your web site. They show you what elements of your web site are visible to search engines. If you don't have a search engine spider simulator tool yet, download the free IBP demo version now. The IBP demo version offers a fully functional spider simulator tool that is not limited in any way. Just enter the URL of your web site and IBP will tell you what text and which links search engines can find on your site. That allows you to quickly find out whether your web site lacks information that search engines need to properly index your web site. |
| 2. Search engine news of the week |
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Google preps new tool to juice revenue "Search engine leader Google is close to releasing new tools that could expand its profitable keyword-advertising business and fuel growth as it prepares for a highly anticipated initial public offering, according to sources familiar with the plan. The technology aims to enable Google to examine the Web sites of large advertisers and to develop automated lists of keyword combinations that are likely to turn up in search queries, the sources said. If successful, the system will match more searches to advertisements, and thus boost revenue."
"German meta search company metaspinner media accused Google of failing to comply with a preliminary injunction issued in Hamburg district court, as the search giant's trademark-related legal woes continue. The Hamburg court's judgment required Google to block bidding on the trademarked term 'preispiraten' by its AdWords advertisers until there's a final decision in the case. But metaspinner says Google has continued to allow advertisers to use the term, and the German firm will now take the case to court."
"Verizon is catching up with other players in the pay-per-click space, launching a self-service application Monday enabling marketers to start and manage their pay-per-click ad campaigns on Superpages.com. Until now, advertisers had to call or meet with a representative."
"It looks as if the folks at Jeeves/Teoma (same database used at both sites) have decided (finally) to include pdf content in their database. Documents are labeled with the text [PDF File] next to the title/hyperlink on the serp. At Teoma the text is in green and at Jeeves it's in red."
"Ask Jeeves Inc. [...] said it closed its $501 million purchase of Interactive Search Holdings, a move expected to double Ask Jeeves' share of the competitive Web search market." "The latest search engine survey conducted by iProspect shows that 60.5% of Internet users identified natural search results as most relevant to their query as compared to the 39.5% who selected paid search advertisements."
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| 3. Articles of the week |
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"After reading through the introduction of Google's public stock filing, I now see that juvenile pomposity did not go out of style with the passing of the Nehru jacket. Sergey Brin and Larry Page have turned it into an art form. Too much has already been made of the company's upcoming IPO--and this just in the first week after filing--but the so-called owner's manual they co-authored opens a remarkable window into the essence of Googlism. So let's take a closer look."
"Google Inc.'s initial public offering has a lot of people salivating for a piece of the action -- an appetite that the Internet search engine leader hopes to satisfy by inviting the masses to the bidding table. While an egalitarian auction may sound like a refreshing change after years of shady brokerage dealings, the approach could backfire if Google can't meet the intense demand or the bidding pushes the IPO price so high that the shares are perched to topple once they begin trading." "Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt has relinquished his role as company chairman of the board, according to the search engine leader's filing for an initial public offering last week. Schmidt, who joined Google as its chairman in March 2001 and became CEO four months later, has been named instead chairman of the executive committee, an administrative function of the board. Schmidt's change in roles shows a vacancy in the top seat at Google's helm."
"To the idealistic computer scientists who run Google Inc., the company's unusual plan to auction shares in its public offering is both more efficient and fairer than the traditional method in which investment banks set the offering price."
"In an interview before Google's IPO filing, Silverstein discussed the backlash against Gmail among privacy advocates, the company's cultural changes and its shifting reliance on PageRank, the mathematical algorithm that has helped Google shine." "With all the hype over Google's impending IPO, it's surprising that so little attention has been paid to the search engine's involvement in a lawsuit that could ruin its plans to be the next dot-com giant. The suit, filed in 2001 by Overture (now owned by Yahoo!), claims that Google infringed on the company's patent for ranking search results; should it lose, Google could be forced to pay enormous damages, sign an expensive licensing deal, or get out of the search engine business altogether--a result that would likely deep-six the company." |
| 4. Recommended resources |
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Another 5 star rating for IBP!
You don't have to wait any longer for weeks or months after making changes to your web site for resubmissions for higher rankings you resubmit immediately. Our business has used 3 other programs costing 3x more and combined they don't offer the complete package that's standard with IBP. This program is a 10 period."
Find affordable web hosting companies, get a bonus when you sign up on a pay per click search engine and more on the active webmasters directory. |
| 5. Previous articles |
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