From the Marketing Desk: Search Engine Update
Google:
This search engine receives 35.1100% of all search
engine requests (112 million/day). Since it works
by relevance and accepts free requests for listings,
Net2Business can still offer a great degree of success
in optimizing your key words and phrases for this
site. Plus, it is possible to buy what they call
AdWords. Based on the search phrase, your box ad
can show up to the right of the results. Limited
research indicates that the paid AdWords are less
effective than top placement in the search results,
but they remain a cost-effective way to make your
link available by topic. Google's recent partnership
with Overture* also makes it possible to buy your
way into a top-3 position directly by bidding for
it on the KeyWord Auction site.
YAHOO!
Is still the standby, receiving 32% of Search
engine traffic. The original directory has corrupted
its search by taking money every way it can. If
you were fortunate enough to get listed 2 or more
years ago, when listings were free but very slow,
you probably want to practice benign neglect. If
you bought your way in last year, you will be forced
to pay every year, or be bumped from the directory.
But all is not lost, since few actually use the
directory. Most of us type our Key Words in to the
search box, instead. And guess what? The results
that are returned are sponsored by Google and Overture*!
LookSmart
Listings with LookSmart, CNN, MSN, iWon, Alta
Vista & Juno. All of the rules changed in April!
This coalition of "search engines" actually only
includes one legitimate search engine - Alta Vista
Net2Business has great success optimizing for Alta
Vista Each page must be registered by hand. (If
any of the above mentioned sites seem to be included
in some robot buy, save your money!) MSN, Juno,
LookSmart & iWon look for a minimum buy-in of $150
against $0.15 minimum per click-through, effective
April 1, 2002.
*OVERTURE
is a major player, even though it only directly
handles 5% or 6% of search engine traffic (roughly
12 million search requests per day), because they
have partnered with Google, AOL, YAHOO! and a number
of other search engines for paid rankings of the
Top Three search results by KeyWord. If you pay
about $1 per click-through to be number 2 for the
search word "gifts" right now, you can expect the
benefit - and the charge - for roughly 50 queries
per day directly from Overture PLUS an additional
5,000 or so daily from the partner sites! To remain
in the number 1 spot in the run-up to Christmas
could easily cost over $100,000 per month. Underneath
the purchased Keyword results, the search engine
is based on Inktomi rankings and includes a large,
free database for legitimate research. So, if you
are offering information on genetic manipulation
of the color of fruit flies' eyes, you might expect
someone looking for that information to find your
site. However, commercial KeyWords and Phrases like,
"insurance", "mortgage lender", "gag gift", are
strictly ordered by the amount of money bid. Overture
will estimate your monthly cost per Keyword, if
you are ready to give them access to your credit
card. Net2Business can help you to stretch the value
of your paid advertising by doing some advance research
for your market.l
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