Yahoo! Rumors
Get ready for another big change from Yahoo! very soon according to our sources. We feel very confident with this information as this is the same source that brought you the information just six days before Yahoo! did the big switch in October of 2002 – when they switched completely to Google results. This one will be as big.
As it now has been nearly a year since Yahoo! purchased search database Inktomi. Over the last several weeks, Yahoo! has been more and more aggressive with testing their new search results powered by Inktomi. Our source stated it is a “85% certainty” that Yahoo! is going to kick-off the new year by dumping Google and officially switching to their new search results.
This move is significant, and we have been preparing you for it for nearly a year. With the dominance Google has on the market, this will be a significant blow to the giant. Yahoo! has a 28% share of the market, and it will hurt Google’s market reach. There will be three major players again: Google, Yahoo! and MSN.
What You Should Do Now
:
If you haven’t already positioned your most important pages with Inktomi, we suggest you place this on your priority list to do within the next three days. If this information leaks out, there will be a strong push to register pages with Inktomi, causing a delay in indexing. Time is of the essence.
To register the pages on your own, simply go to Position Tech. The standard fee is $39.00 per year for the first page and $25.00 for each additional page. These rates are likely to increase once the announcement hits. Inktomi will then respider the pages every 48 hours.
If you have a very large site that you wish to be indexed, Inktomi has a Trusted Feed program. You can get more information at Position Tech.
LookSmart Announces Layoffs
Due to their officially losing the MSN account next month, LookSmart announced they are laying off half of their workforce. While this looks as it is due to Inktomi and Sprinks announcing they would no longer use LookSmart, this is directly due to the loss of MSN.
What You Should Do Right Now:
Check your web logs and calculate the amount of traffic coming to your site from the LookSmart partners. It is easiest to take your traffic report from LookSmart (what you paid for your billing period) and compare that to the total number of referrals from search engines during that same time period. If the number is greater than 8%, you must get aggressive now or risk seeing a significant change in traffic when MSN switches next month.
Ah-Ha Changes Name
Pay-per-click search engine Ah-ha changed their name to Enhance. Ah-Ha has never scored well in any test we have conducted. Despite the name change, their service will not improve.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.