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SearchWrite SearchNews
Caching Better Results in Search Marketing
Vol I, Issue 021 06.16.05
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CACHING THE LATEST RESULTS IN SEARCH MARKETING....

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Yahoo: Favorite Site, Google: Favorite Search
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A survey conducted by ChangeWave Research has confirmed that while Google is the search engine of choice (surprise, surprise), Yahoo! was voted as the web's overall favorite site.

According to InternetRetailer.com, out of the 1400 plus that were surveyed, 78% preferred Google as their search engine of choice, compared to a 14% rating for Yahoo! Search. This "disparity" was noticeable in toolbar usage as well. The study indicates 38% of those surveyed use Google's toolbar, while only 28% confessed to using Yahoo's.

However, the report also pointed out that while Google may be the most popular search engine, they are not the most popular web site. This accolade goes to Yahoo!, who garnered 32% of the vote, compared with 17% for Google.

Another area where Yahoo! out did Google was in email usage. Yahoo! Mail has 18% of those surveyed, while Google only received 5%. This probably has a lot to do with the fact that Gmail still operates on an invitation only basis., whereas anyone wanting a Yahoo! email account can go sign up at anytime.

Both entities scored extremely high on the user satisfaction ratings, with Yahoo! receiving a 94% percent rating and Google with 97%.

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AOL Going Portal Route
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After years of being a for-pay destination with content walled inside a monthly subscription, AOL will offer ad-supported content via its Web site. Advertising revenues will be the key to the move, according to service provider AOL. That's why a lot of previously shuttered content will be moving online.

It's a bold move, as dialup subscribers continue to leave AOL for faster or cheaper Internet connections. Music and video, and a great deal of other content, will be moved to AOL.com. The company plans a formal announcement on June 21.

Instead of competing with the EarthLinks of the world, AOL will compete with the Yahoo!s and MSNs. The potential for lucrative advertising revenue has become so great, the company feels it can make up for subscriber losses. And nearly as many people visit AOL and its affiliates as they do Yahoo sites.

Certain features will remain dedicated to subscribers. AOL.com e-mail addresses, technical support, and parental controls won't be part of the new portal. For e-mail, AOL recently launch AIM Mail for the 22 million users of its instant messaging client; the service offers 2GB of free e-mail storage.

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PriceGrabber grabs MSN as shopping partner
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PriceGrabber.com and MSN have formed a strategic partnership to add the shopping site's listings and review database onto MSN's shopping vertical site. The partnership, which hasn't yet gone live, was signed earlier this month. 

The new listings will go into effect before the fourth quarter, and are part of MSN's preparations for the end-of-year holiday shopping frenzy. The deal with PriceGrabber will add millions of listings to MSN's shopping categories, including home and garden, apparel, consumer electronics, and entertainment.

By the way, MSN Shopping also has a new blog -- http://blogs.msdn.com/msnshoppinginsider/  The first two entries cover the PriceGrabber alliance and how the beta of the new service has been closed to the public. 

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Current.tv to Launch with Google Ties
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Former Vice President Al Gore and partners  will launch a youth-oriented TV network Aug. 1 with Google tie-ins. The media venture, formerly called INdTV, will be called Current.tv, and will target an 18- to 34-year-old audience  with short-form content--15-second to five-minute segments--to be contributed by viewers.

Viewers will also be able to vote for their favorite videos and get tutorials via the Internet on how to produce their own segments, according to network officials.

Think of it as a big video blog that you don't need a computer to watch. Gore said he is aiming to bring interactivity to the TV set.

"The Internet opened a floodgate for young people whose passions are finally being heard, but TV hasn't followed suit," Gore, the network's chairman, said in a statement. "We intend to change that with Current, giving those who crave the empowerment of the Web the same opportunity for expression on television."

The new network reached a pact with Google to include the search firm's data on the most popular Web searches. The deal came despite early skepticism from Sergey Brin, a co-founder of Google, which earlier this year stepped into the realm of entertainment by releasing a test video search service that pulls up still shots from such content providers as Fox News, PBS and the NBA.

When first approached, "I thought it would be an extraordinarily challenging endeavor," Brin said. "Having seen some of the work they've now put together, I think it's an extraordinary opportunity."

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Google readying Web-only video search
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Google is expected to unveil a search engine for Web-only video this summer that will let people preview media clips from its Web site. The planned service will let visitors find free short-form videos such as the popular "Star Wars" video spoofs, according to sources who asked to remain anonymous. The engine will complement the search giant's existing experimental site that lets people search the closed-caption text of television shows from PBS and CNN, among others, and preview accompanying still images. The new capabilities will let people watch roughly 10 seconds of Web video clips for free before shuttling visitors to the video's host site, sources say. Video search has become a highly competitive field for many Internet companies because it's seen as a valuable new market for online advertising.

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SEO Tip of the Week - Managing Your Search Space
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Many people think of their website as their online presence. However they forget about the ‘search engine results pages' (SERP.) The SERP for your company name or your product name can be viewed as your ‘front page.' It is often the first impression that people get of your company. You would like it to be a good impression. Therefore it is important that you manage your search engine space. Here are three suggestions on how to do just that:

* Publish all your corporate communications on your website. Companies produce a large amount of written content such as press releases, articles, testimonials, case studies, white papers, etc. Often, this information is not published on a company's website nor optimized in a search friendly way. Therefore it is not indexed or listed by the search engines.

* Release regular press releases that are newsworthy and submit them to the online wire services. Optimize these press releases for your name or brand.

* Consider a paid listing for your company name or brand. Although this does not affect the ‘natural' listings it helps to add to your total domination of your search engine space.

You have been reading "SearchWrite SearchNews," a weekly compilation of the best in Internet Search Tips, Techniques & Technology published at http://www.searchwrite.com.  To subscribe, send e-mail to searchnews @ searchwrite.com with the word "subscribe" in the SUBJECT: line: The request must be sent from the account location you wish to add to the list.  To unsubscribe, send e-mail to searchnews @ searchwrite.com with the word "unsubscribe" (no quotes) in the SUBJECT: line.  Address questions, comments, requests, submissions, etc. to larry @ searchwrite.com

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