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:

• Facts of the week
• Search engine news of the week
• Articles of the week
• Recommended resources
• Previous articles

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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."

Google releases new Blogger

"Google has redesigned Blogger, the free Web logging service it bought 15 months ago. Since then, competing services have added features, but Blogger stagnated. Now, the new version closes some of the gaps. It gives publishers the option of collecting readers' comments, includes 26 new templates from Web designers, and enables postings to be made by sending an e-mail."

Time Warner takes Google stake

"The media and entertainment conglomerate's struggling America Online unit exercised a previously disclosed warrant to purchase stock in Google [...] Each preferred share, says Time Warner, is convertible into one share of Google common stock at any time chosen by AOL, and converts automatically if Google completes an IPO with a certain minimum offering price and proceeds."

German firm vows to take Google to court

"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 launches self-service tool

"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."

MSN and FoxSports strike portal deal

"Microsoft has signed a deal for sports content with News Corp.'s FoxSports.com, which will replace Walt Disney's ESPN on the MSN Web portal."

Jeeves/Teoma database now includes PDF content

"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 closes $501 mln Web search acquisition

"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."

Natural vs. paid search

"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."

Search engine newslets

• A list of Google cease and desists notices
• Yahoo expanded its list of search shortcuts

The essence of Googlism

"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 stock auction: Setting up an IPO revolution or disaster?

"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."

For hire: Google chairman

"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."

For Google, going Dutch has its rewards and its risks

"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."

Google's man behind the curtain

"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."

Patently Problematic

"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."

Another 5 star rating for IBP!

The web site promotion tool suite IBP has just been awarded another 5 star rating. Reviewer William McLaughlin told us: "The keyword extraction tools have made my life much easier in only two days of using the product. This is a great product. Keep up the great work."

"This program rocks"

"This program rocks. If you are tired of paying someone monthly fees for the rest of your URL's existence and want to take total control of which search engines and directories you submit to then you need 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."
Dennis Begnoche, owner Palm Springs Art and Palm Springs Posters

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