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Google is Just Soooo Last Year...  

:: Monday, March 08, 2004 ::

Google is Just Soooo Last Year...

It feels so good to have something fun to do besides beat the Google PageRank horse to death. Now, with Yahoo!'s new search engine jigsaw to figure out, each day is about studying new pieces and figuring out which ones fit where. And, how search engine optimization and submission fit into the whole shebang. Today, every page that will be submitted to Yahoo! requires some thought and planning. It's no longer who you know and who you can convince to link to your site. It's how much money you have to spend and if you were wise enough to hire someone to review each page for usability flaws before submitting it.

"The future of search is in verticals" is one idea mentioned in Garrett French's Yahoo! Talks BlackHat Optimization And Search As Media. This struck me as strange because verticals, vortals and theme engines were all the rage starting back in 1999 (when I started noticing the trend). They haven't caught on like some people banked on. What's changed? Apparently Yahoo! hasn't given up on the idea. Alta Vista and AllTheWeb will have different search results, when Yahoo! (who now owns them) rolls them out again. If those results are targeted to specific markets or media, you've got a vertical search.

The better part of the article touches, and only whispers briefly unfortunately, on "black hat" SEO (the kind that some people say is "unethical" and others insist is the only true way to search nirvana.)

     "In certain forums, he said, where veteran members discuss blackhat seo techniques freely, newer members use these techniques on their own sites and then get banned. I asked Tim about somehow warning webmasters that they're using blackhat techniques, thereby protecting those who inadvertently cross the line.

He said, 'we do warn them. We ban them.'"

And Google being uncool? Well, this may take some time.

They're changing their interface again (trying to be more usable) and still insisting on being free. The latter idea is worth a lot of loyalty. Forrester: Google To Weaken As War Rages
     "Its innovative search technology has gained Google several dedicated followers. However, those followers do frequent other search portals and can easily switch to another alternative should a better or more relevant search engine arise."

For me, whichever search engine delivers the most accurate results will be the one I use the most. This means dropping poor quality sites that spammed their way to the top. I don't like search engines that place paid listings on top for websites that offer a bare hint of what I was searching for. The next search engine that's actually usable will be sooooo this year.

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 3/08/2004 02:24:37 PM

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