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| The Axandra newsletter archive - 15 July 2003 |
| Welcome to a new issue of the Search Engine Facts newsletter.
The consolidation in the search engine market continues: Yahoo wants to acquire Overture, and Microsoft hired top scientists and mathematicians to compete with Google.
Table of contents:
We hope that you enjoy this issue and that it helps you to get more out of your web site. Please pass this newsletter on to your friends.
Best regards,
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| 1. Facts of the week: Yahoo to acquire Overture - What does it mean to you? |
| Yesterday, Yahoo announced that it plans to acquire Overture in a stock and cash deal worth US$1.6 billion. The deal required regulatory and shareholder approval but could be completed by the fourth quarter, the companies said.
This deal reshapes the search engines market. Yahoo is now clearly set up as a rival to Google and the relationship between MSN and Overture is likely to end with this deal.
MSN is Overture's biggest partner, delivering as much as one-third of Overture's revenue this year. Some analysts say that it is only a matter of time before MSN looks for alternatives, including replacing Overture with Google's paid listings on its web sites.
Microsoft might also respond by bidding for a second-tier search company such as FindWhat.com, LookSmart or AskJeeves. LookSmart's stock price rose nearly 25 percent yesterday.
Yahoo already owns the paid inclusion search service Inktomi, and Overture recently acquired two other search engines, AltaVista and FAST Search & Transfer. For Yahoo, the acquisition means that it now gains total control of its search services, from algorithmic to paid search to paid inclusion.
As a result, Yahoo is likely to drop Google as its provider for the normal search results in the near future.
For you, this deal might provoke changes in your search engine optimization strategy. Now that Yahoo becomes more important, you should consider optimizing your web pages not only for Google but for Inktomi, AllTheWeb and AltaVista as well.
No one knows which of the three search engines Yahoo will use (maybe all three at once?) but higher rankings on them can only bring more traffic to your site. Optimizing your web pages for Inktomi, AllTheWeb and AltaVista means that your web pages will be well prepared if Google loses market share in the nearer future.
You can read the official Yahoo press release here.
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| 2. Search engine news of the week |
Microsoft brains to take on Google
"Microsoft has hired top scientists in its quest for search algorithms that will allow it to compete directly with Google.
Microsoft is actively working on new search algorithms it will use to power its own search engine and enter into competition with Google, according to the head of the company's Theory Group."
Google cache raises copyright concerns
"[...] some Web site operators [...] say that cached pages at Google have the potential to detour traffic from their own site, or, at worst, constitute trademark or copyright violations.
In the case of an out-of-date news page in Google's cache, a Web publisher could even face legal troubles because of false data remaining on the Web but corrected at its own site."
LookSmart inks search deal with Lycos
"LookSmart [...] announced a multi-year search agreement with Terra Lycos to provide Web search and paid inclusion on the Lycos portal."
MSN, eBay expand e-commerce alliance
"MSN and eBay [...] announced plans to broaden their relationship and further integrate their services for online shoppers.
The expanded alliance would allow Microsoft's MSN customers to receive direct links to eBay for items related to their search queries from the MSN home page and its different sections. The Internet service will also showcase eBay's advertising across its network in contextually relevant places."
AOL stops linking to Amazon.com
"In a move that could mean less traffic for Amazon.com, AOL said that it quietly launched a shopping site for music and videos this week."
Search engine newslets
"Google is moving its Mountain View headquarters about a half mile away to a four-building complex being vacated by struggling Silicon Graphics."
Google News India is now online in a beta version.
For more than a month now, Google's "intitle:" and "inurl:" field searches are broken.
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"Dancing With the Google Devil"
"Google's [...] AdSense, a new program that enables publishers to serve text-based Google AdWords ads on their sites, is positioned as a grand opportunity for publishers to share in revenue generated by these ads.
Instead it ought to send shivers down the spine of every publisher who counts on classifieds for income."
"Google, Overture Eye Content-Based Advertising"
"Google Inc., Overture Services Inc. and other Internet advertising providers are racing to sign partners for new services that link commercial messages to content on Web pages, a still largely untested market that backers see poised for explosive growth."
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How to optimize your site after the Yahoo/Overture deal
As mentioned in the article above, higher rankings on AllTheWeb, Inktomi and AltaVista become more important for the success of your web site. But how do you optimize your web pages for these search engines?
Try the software program IBP to quickly get advice on how to optimize your web site for high rankings on these search engines under your important search terms.
Just enter the keyword for which you want to have a high ranking on AllTheWeb, select "AllTheWeb" in the search engine list and get detailed and concrete advice on how to get a high ranking for your keywords specifically on AllTheWeb.
Then use IBP to get specific pieces of advice for Inktomi, AltaVista or any other search engine. Just try the free Lite edition.
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